Scroll to top
nl en

Constant


1920-2005

Bio

Constant is born in Amsterdam in 1920 as Constant Anton Nieuwenhuys. Between 1938 and 1941, he attends art school. In 1947, he has his first solo exhibition in Amsterdam. In 1948, he is co-founder of the Dutch Experimentele Groep and later that year of the international Cobra group. Together with the Belgian Christian Dotremont, he is the most important theorist of Cobra. In numerous manifests and articles, he investigates the social role of the artist and calls for the liberation of creativity and fantasy, as part of a continuously regenerating culture. In the work that he makes during this period, figures appear that seem to be derived from children’s drawings, characteristic of the Cobra members’ work.

In 1950, Constant settles in Paris. In this period he creates his ‘war paintings’, full of remnants of a destroyed world, in which helpless people raise their hands to heaven. During the late fifties, Constant develops ideas about ‘the ideal city’, New Babylon, in which man, freed from labour (the ‘homo ludens’), can explore and exploit his creative abilities – ideas that affect his artistic production of those days.
In the seventies, the aesthetic component in Constant’s work starts to prevail. The influence of the old masters is more and more noticeable.

Constant’s work has been exhibited in museums all over the world. An extensive overview, and a lot of information about his life and work, can be found on the website of the Stichting Constant (Constant Foundation).

Portret Constant bij biografie
photo Doriann Kransberg (Beeldbank Amsterdam)
Work

Conversatie

1965
Lithograph
60 x 84.5 cm

Figuren in labyrinth

1972
Etching with aquatint
54.8 x 39.2 cm (sheet), 26.9 x 28.1 cm (image)

Varkentje

1971
Etching
56.5 x 38.5 cm (sheet), 17.5 x 24.5 cm (image)

De filosoof

1992
Etching with aquatint
approx. 39.4 x approx. 27 cm (sheet), 13.6 x 13.8 cm (image)

De draad van Ariadne

1983
Etching with aquatint
29.8 x 23.5 cm (image)

Sade in het labyrint

1972
Drypoint etching
66 x 52 cm (sheet), 17.7 x 14.7 cm (image)

De Volksteller

1971
Drypoint and photo-etching
56 x 38.5 cm (sheet), 9.4 x 12.9 cm (image)

Conversatie

1971
Etching
56.5 x 38.5 cm (sheet), 17.5 x 21.8 (image)

Stoelen

1971
Etching with aquatint
56.5 x 38.5 (sheet), 15.3 x 21.8 cm (image)

Danser

1968
Lithograph
77 × 56.5 cm (sheet), 51.6 x 37 (image)

De verdwaalde haan

1992
Etching with aquatint
16.4 x 12.8 cm (image)

Untitled

1953
Lithograph on Vélin de Rives
32.7 x 40 cm (sheet), 28.6 x 36 cm (image)

Spelende honden

1991
Etching with aquatint
65.2 x 50.5 cm (sheet), 19.8 x 20.7 cm (image)

Justine

1970
Etching with aquatint
55.4 × 37.6 cm (sheet), 11.5 x 11.8 cm (image)

Japanese Love Call

1966
Lithograph
51.7 x 76 cm

Gastarbeiders

1970
Etching
56 x 45 cm (sheet), 17.6 x 15.4 cm (image)

Bruggetje

1971
Etching with photo-etching technique
56.4 x 38.4 cm (sheet), 8.8 x 11.5 cm (image)

Het uitzicht van de duif (I)

1952
Woodcut
34 x 26.7 cm

De ridder

1971
Etching with aquatint
54.5 x 38.2 cm (sheet), 18.6 x 26.4 cm (image)

Vrouw en hond

1985
Lithograph
51 x 65.5 cm (sheet), 35 x 45.2 cm (image)

Twee dieren

1965
Lithograph
56.6 x 77.2 cm (sheet), 34 x 45.6 cm (image)

Massacre

1972
Lithograph
56.5 x 78 cm (sheet), 50.7 x 67.7 cm (image)