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Off the picture: A trip through time to the world in which painter/graphic artist Jan Mankes (1889-1920) lived and worked; documents, art, prints, maps, books and postcards provide an image of Jan Mankes' time. This exhibition comes with a hefty volume about Mankes (in Dutch only).
In the picture: A guest exhibition with work by Jaap Deelder, Siemen Dijkstra, Han van Hagen, Reinder Homan, Henk Helmantel, René Jansen, Rob Møhlmann, Pieter Knorr, Pieter Pander, Peter van Poppel. A smaller book will be accompany this exhibition (also in Dutch).
Jan Mankes - Off the picture is a unique exhibition, if only because this time the focus is not on the artist's work itself, but on the world in which he worked and lived. It is the first time that such an exhibition is organized around the work of one artist. As is more often the case, the immediate cause was only a minimal one, which  however had a maximal effect.
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De Knijpe, 1909 |zoom | |
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A grubby little postcard
In December 2008 artist, publicist and museum owner Rob Møhlmann stumbled across a tattered 100 year-old postcard: The road to Knijpe, dated 1909. The name of painter/graphic artist Jan Mankes (1889-1920) immediately came to mind, because he had moved to Knijpe around this time and must have known this road. All the way to the right, between the trees, you can see part of the Knijpster canal, which Mankes had immortalized repeatedly. |
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| Meppel, around. 1900 |zoom | |
Delft, 1902 |zoom | |
Eerbeek, 1920 |zoom |
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Not your average country boy
On impulse, Møhlmann bought the card, not knowing then that this spark would ignite a raging fire. He returned to his books with new eyes, this time focusing not on Mankes' art but on the working and living environment of this untimely deceased artist. Thus, he quickly found that Mankes had been born in the city of Meppel. But where? And what did Meppel look like then? The fact didn't merit more than a single sentence in Mankes' biography. Nevertheless, Mankes spent his entire childhood there, which is half of his short life. After that he spent 5 years in Delft, 6 years in De Knijpe, a year in The Hague and almost 4 years in Eerbeek. Not counting the many trips he took. 'Timid' Mankes proved not to be the 'country boy' who hardly ever travelled more than 5 kilometres from his village. |
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Handwritten envelope 1914
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Catalogue 1913 |zoom | |
Dissertation 1918
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Gowan Booklet 1907 |zoom | |
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Unique items
One postcard became ten, became one hundred, became four hundred postcards! And it didn't stop there. Newspaper clippings were unearthed, as were books which Mankes had seen or read. All of them originals from that period. At times, this search resulted in the aquisition of a unique item, like the catalogue accompanying the International Art Exhibition which was held in München and in which Jan's work (he was 23 at the time) was shown. Another item was the dissertation written by his wife (and first female minister in the Netherlands) Annie Zernike-Mankes in 1918. Also, an envelope written by Mankes, addressed to his Maecenas A. Pauwels in The Hague, postmark De Knijpe 18 December 1914. Or take the old, English Gowan booklets, which he read till they fell apart, about garden birds and woodland birds. |
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| Chis Lebeau |zoom | |
Dirk Boode |zoom | |
Theo van Hoytema |zoom | |
Pieter Dupont |zoom | |
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Jan Mankes' contemporary colleagues
There is also the image of Mankes the hermit. Didn't he encounter, or keep in touch with, any colleagues? He certainly did: as a young artist he even sold work to some of them. For this exhibition, work made by these artist colleagues was found and acquired. Among others: etchings made by Derkzen van Angeren (who advised Jan to give up his day job), lithos and a painting by Van Hoytema (who bought a piece by Jan, and inspired him), drawings by Van Konijnenburg (who then was called 'the Leonardo of the Low countries', and also bought Jan's work), prints and a drawing by Dupont (who inspired him), woodcuts by Dirk Boode (who also worked in the 'factory' in Delft), prints made by Jan's friend Chris Lebeau (who helped him print his graphic work), an etching and a cartoon by Tjeerd Bottema (famous at the time, although Mankes did not like his work), and even a painting by the unknown painter and photographer Jurriën Burghoorn, who lived in the same street as Mankes in Delft; furthermore a painting by Bernard Schregel, painter/art dealer, who was the first to buy ten (!) of young Mankes' works in one go. |
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Rembrandtzaal 1905-10
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Pastorie Beneden Knijpe, 1915 |zoom | |
Langezwaag, 1911 |zoom | |
Winter Slaughter |zoom | |
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Everyday things and a hefty volume
All in all Jan Mankes' short life could be visualized almost literally. That called for a book and that call was answered. The result is the 320 page volume Jan Mankes' Buitenbeeld (Jan Mankes off the picture) with 500 reproductions that effectively illustrate the living and working environment of Jan Mankes. Unfortunately, Møhlmann couldn't get hold of the letters that Mankes wrote, so instead he worked out the story chronologically based on the short, loving biography that Annie wrote in 1923, shortly after her husband's death. Inconspicuous little facts like a journey from De Knijpe to Sloten, or a visit to the Rijks Museum in Amsterdam, are captured by old and sometimes rare postcards. It is as if we are looking through the eyes of Mankes himself. At the same time, an attractive image of the time around the penultimate turn of the century is evoked. The book is full of all sorts of 'everyday things', like pictures of the 'winter slaughter': the slaughtering of a pig in order to be able to make it through the winter, an event that took place at Jan's parents house as well. Another example is the passenger list of the Nieuw-Amsterdam, which lists Jan's brother Cornelis Mankes who emigrated -like so many Frisians- to America in 1911. Further examples: the parsonage of minister Annie in Bovenknijpe, an accident with 'Jan's' steam tram in the nearby village of Langezwaag. Even Van Gogh's stay in the province of Drenthe is shown, indirectly, because Jan Mankes made a pilgrimage there in 1915, on his honeymoon.Another Jan Mankes
Worth mentioning are also the two pages of genealogy of Jan's mother's family as well as his father's, which goes back as far as the end of 1700. That provided a rather startling footnote. 1887 is not only the year Jan's older brother Cornelis was born, but also the year of birth of another Jan Mankes, who died immediately - it is likely that Jan was named after this other Jan.
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10 Modern brothers in art and Mankes lovers, plus another book
Finally Møhlmann invited 10 brothers in art, and Mankes lovers, to show their work in this exhibition. These are not just any artists: woodcutter Jaap Deelder; graphic artists Siemen Dijkstra, Han van Hagen en Reinder Homan; painters Henk Helmantel, René Jansen, Rob Møhlmann, Pieter Knorr, Pieter Pander, Peter van Poppel. These ten artists are the subject of a book as well: Jan Mankes in the picture, in which every artist gives his thoughts on Jan Mankes, accompanied by reproductions of their own work.
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| Apart from the Jan Mankes subject, but fitting in with the theme, beautiful wooden vases made by Jos Handgraaf will be exhibited. |
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Jan Mankes, Kraai
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Jan Mankes, Nestkuiken |zoom | |
Jan Mankes, Herfsttuin |zoom | |
Jan Mankes, Jonge kraai |zoom | |
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And Also: work by Mankes
Although Mankes' work is not central to this exhibition, at least twenty original works of art by Mankes, mostly prints, are shown. These are on loan from the artists mentioned above, as well as from the Museum Møhlmann collection.All in all, an original, versatile and surprising exhibition that no art lover should miss.
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