Welcoming the Stedelijk Museum: 'Druksel prints' by Werkman

11 July 2008 - 12 October 2008

This presentation of works from the Stedelijk Museum is dedicated to the 'druksel prints' of Hendrik Nicolaas Werkman (1882-1945). Werkman made a name for himself as printer for 'De Ploeg' ('The Plough'), an association of artists that revitalised the cultural scene in Groningen in the early years of the 20th century.  After his printing business went bankrupt in 1923, Werkman started experimenting with found materials from his workshop.

He developed a technique born of a passion for the printer's trade that was simultaneously new, simple and sophisticated. Werkman printed parts of a print one at a time to compile his total image on the page. His artistic development can be clearly traced in the works on display. The first sheets are typographical, abstract compositions, but from the 1930s onwards the images became increasingly figurative. The presentation also shows graphics from the period spanning the Second World War, prints for which Werkman is most well known.

Publications in Dutch
The presentation has been compiled to mark the publication of the complete catalogue of Werkman's oeuvre and a collection of his correspondence with leading artists he numbered among his circle of friends:
H.N. Werkman. Het complete oeuvre, Dieuwertje Dekkers, Anneke de Vries and Jikke van der Spek. 480 pages, NAi Publishers, ISBN 978-90-5662-004-2. Price: € 69.
H.N. Werkman / Brieven rond de Blauwe Schuit (1940-1945), Mieke van der Wal, Frans Blom en Willem van Koppen. 1150 pages, 2 volumes in cassette, SUN Publishers, ISBN 978-90-8506-479-4. Price: € 95.