Publication

PROJECT 05

IN ORDER – A RATIONAL APPROACH

Jaap van den Ende

19-02-17 > 16-04-17.

Five decades of painting; one unified approach. Over the past fifty years, Jaap van den Ende (b. 1944) has built up an inimitably varied yet consistent oeuvre. His works include strictly systematic abstract paintings as well as canvases that bring together realistic painting and abstraction in a highly original manner. Van den Ende’s early and recent work differs to such an extent that you might think you were looking at paintings made by a group of artists. Yet amid the diversity of styles, we can discern a steadily recurring theme: a markedly rational approach to painting. In his work he is making use of systems, methodologies and logics to organise and determine spatial arrangements and variations in shape and colour.

The combination of coherence and diversity, combined with the quality of Van den Ende’s oeuvre, makes his work fascinating to follow, to study, and to collect. In Order is the first survey exhibition of the work of Jaap van den Ende, born out of a collaboration between the artist and his biggest collector.

Together, they selected key works from private collections that reveal the distinct periods through which Van den Ende’s oeuvre has evolved: the systematic paintings of 1967–1977; the works made in 1978–1986, which combine systems with a methodical painting style; those from 1986–1996, in which figuration is integrated into systematic and methodical paintings, and the series Van den Ende has been working on since 1997, which combines figuration with methodical abstraction. In Order showcases the artist’s impressive range and ability to visualise his understanding of the world.

Review on Chmkoome’s Blog (in Dutch only)
Review op Jegens en Tevens (in Dutch only)
Article in Den Haag Centraal, 02-03-2017 (in Dutch only)