Johannes Jacobus (Joop) Beljon (11 January 1922 - 12 December 2002) was a Dutch artist, academy lecturer, director of academy and writer. As artist he was active as sculptor, fiber artist, lithographer, jeweler, environmental artists, and jewelry designer. [1] Under the name J.J. Beljon and the pseudonym Bernard Majorick, Beljon was also writer. Beljon had taken over that pseudonym from the writer Godfried Bomans.
Beljon was born in Schoten (Haarlem) in 1922. His father was a blacksmith, who had worked at Walden commune of Frederik van Eeden in Bussum. Beljon began his secondary education at the Triniteitslyceum at the Zijlweg in Haarlem. [2] In Haarlem he dropped out to become a pupil of the sculptor Theo van Reijn, and of the painter, draftsman Floris de Groot. [1] At age 18 these educational opportunities for Beljon were interrupted by the Nazis' 1940 invasion of the Netherlands. [3] After the Nazi’s invaded, Beljon became part of a resistance group called onderduikers (the hidden). Beljon went into hiding and attempted to interrupt Nazi activity by forging travel documents for the Dutch. After the Allied Forces relieved the Netherlands in 1945, Beljon worked at a stoneyard. [3]
Beljon settled as independent artist in Haarlem, and later moved to Haarlemmermeer in the 1940s. In 1948, he was listed as one of the foremost Dutch contemporary sculptors in a publication by Theo van Reijn. [4] In 1960, he moved to The Hague, where from 1961 to 1985 he served as director of the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague. At the art academy, he also lectured environmental design from 1978 to 1980, and design from 1978 to 1980. In 1969, he had moved his art studio to Capelle aan den IJssel, and in 1993 to Oud-Beijerland. He made study trips to Italy and Switzerland. [1]
In 1998, he received the lifetime achievement award for Dutch sculpture, the Wilhelmina-ring, for which he was commissioned a sculpture in the Sprengenstein Park in Apeldoorn (see image). Beljon was married to Gabriëlle Dernison, and died in Oud-Beijerland on 12 December 2002. [1]
Beljon has described himself as an integrationist. [5] Beljon was an environment artist and he worked extensively with architects on projects commissioned by the Government Buildings Agency, among others in The Hague, Arnhem, Apeldoorn, Nijmegen, Groningen and Utrecht.
He carried out work in various countries, such as:
Beljon, as a writer and integrationist, has referenced multiple inspirations for his work “Homage to Sam Rodia”. Sam Rodia is obviously one influence. In the months prior to Beljons arrival in Long Beach, Rodia had passed away. Beljon was excited by Rodias spontaneous and intuitive process which he employed in creating the design for this wall. [3] There is a detail in a niche of the wall of two interlocked rococo style hearts that are a motif in Rodia’s work Nuestro Pueblo. [3] Rodia’s famous Watt’s Towers are not far from Long Beach. According to Beljon, this work was done in the spirit of the great American authors. [3] Beljon also said that he was inspired by light on the streets of New York. [5] Homage to Sam Rodia is made of 19 concrete pieces, each individually named by Beljon. The curtain of concrete is spread over 60 meters/ 395 feet in length and weighs roughly 260 tons. [3]
De Stijl, incorporating the ideas of Neoplasticism, was a Dutch art movement founded in 1917 in Leiden, consisting of artists and architects. The term De Stijl is also used to refer to a body of work from 1917 to 1931 created in the Netherlands. Proponents of De Stijl advocated pure abstraction and universality by a reduction to the essentials of form and colour. They simplified visual compositions to vertical and horizontal, using only black, white and primary colors.
The Hague School is a group of artists who lived and worked in The Hague between 1860 and 1890. Their work was heavily influenced by the realist painters of the French Barbizon school. The painters of the Hague school generally made use of relatively somber colors, which is why the Hague School is sometimes called the Gray School.
The Royal Academy of Art is an art and design academy in The Hague, offering programs at both the HBO bachelor's and master's levels, as well as PhD programs.
Lucien Armand Marco den Arend is a geometric abstract sculptor. As is the case with concrete art, his work is not modeled after any existing object – his sculpture represents only itself. Most of his sculptures and Land art projects were made as public art.
Hildebrand Lucien (Hildo) Krop was a prolific Dutch sculptor and furniture designer, widely known as the city sculptor of Amsterdam, where his work is well represented.
Beelden aan Zee museum in the Scheveningen district of The Hague, founded in 1994 by the sculpture collectors Theo and Lida Scholten, is the only Dutch museum which specialises in only exhibiting sculpture.
Paul Joseph Constantin Gabriël or Paul Gabriël was a painter, draftsman, watercolorist, and etcher who belonged to the Hague School.
Jonkvrouwe (Lady) Cornélie Caroline "Cox" van Asch van Wijck was a Dutch artist and sculptor.
Desiree Dolron is a Dutch visual artist who lives and works in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Her photographs portray a variety of styles and subjects, including documentary photography, still life, portraits and video works. Dolron is best known for her series Xteriors (2001-2018).
Theo van Reijn was a Dutch sculptor.
Carel Nicolaas Visser was a Dutch sculptor. He is considered an important representative of Dutch abstract-minimalist constructivism in sculpture.
Jan Cornelis Snoeck was a Dutch sculptor and ceramist.
The New Hague School was a movement in the Dutch fine arts of the 1950s and 60s. It opposed the Cobra avant-garde movement and found its inspiration in 17th-century art and the experiences of the Barbizon School and the resulting Hague School.
The Wilhelmina-ring is a bi-annual lifetime achievement award granted to a prominent Dutch sculptor. The prize was initiated in 1998 by the Foundation Wilhelmina-ring to memoralize that year Wilhelmina of the Netherlands was inaugurated as queen 100 years earlier.
Helena van der Kraan-Maazel born Helena Jirina Mazl was a Czechoslovakian-born Dutch photographer and partner in the artist duo Axel en Helena van der Kraan.
VV SHO, or in the long form Voetbalvereniging Steeds Hooger Oud-Beijerland, is a Dutch football club from Oud-Beijerland. It was established on 18 July 1930 and plays on Saturdays. The first squad competes in 2017-18 Eerste Klasse Saturday.
Marten Ykes "Max" Nauta was a Dutch painter, especially noted for his portraits, and stained glass artist.
Hendrik Albertus van den Eijnde or van den Eynde was a Dutch sculptor. His work was part of the sculpture event in the art competition at the 1936 Summer Olympics.
Helen Shafter Feyler-Switz was an American artist and art instructor, based in California.
Media related to Joop Beljon at Wikimedia Commons
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
