Carel Hendrik Blotkamp (born 1945) is a Dutch artist, art historian, writer and critic. He was a professor at the

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam The Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (abbreviated as ''VU Amsterdam'' or simply ''VU'' when in context) is a public research university in Amsterdam, Netherlands, being founded in 1880. The VU Amsterdam is one of two large, publicly funded research ...

between 1982 and 2007. Apart from his academic career Blotkamp is known for his work in art critique, writing for several newspapers and magazines. He also co-founded several art magazines. Blotkamp is considered an authority on ''

De Stijl ''De Stijl'' (; ), Dutch for "The Style", also known as Neoplasticism, was a Dutch art movement founded in 1917 in Leiden. De Stijl consisted of artists and architects. In a more narrow sense, the term ''De Stijl'' is used to refer to a body o ...

'' and magic realism, and wrote several books on modern artists.

Career

Blotkamp was born in

Zeist Zeist () is the capital and largest town of the municipality of Zeist. The town is located in the Utrecht province of the Netherlands, east of the city of Utrecht. History The town of "Seist" was first mentioned in a charter in the year 83 ...

in 1945. At an early age he started going to museums on his own. While in high school he started attended painting classes at the . At the end of his high school period he was doubting on what to study, and was eventually persuaded by Utrecht University lecturer of art history, Pieter Singelenberg, to study art history at Utrecht University. In the 1960s he was one of the few in the Netherlands to study modern art. During his final years of study he became a part-time lecturer at the Rotterdam Academy of Visual Arts. In 1968 he obtained his degree. The next year he started as scientific employee at the university. He later became a lecturer of modern art history at Utrecht University. Blotkamp obtained his PhD at Utrecht University in 1973 under Jan Gerrit van Gelder with a thesis titled: "

Pyke Koch Pieter Frans Christiaan Koch, better known as Pyke Koch (July 15, 1901October 27, 1991), was a Dutch artist who painted in a magic realist manner. Pyke Koch and the painter Carel Willink are considered to be the foremost representatives in the ...

; een studie van zijn schilderijen, met oeuvrecatalogus". Blotkamp became a part-time professor of modern art history at the

in 1982. He took up emeritus status in May 2007. In this position he became known as a proponent of an emancipatory position of modern art. Due to his part-time position Blotkamp was able to continue his work in art and writing. He worked as art-critique writer for ''

Vrij Nederland ''Vrij Nederland'' (Free Netherlands) is a Dutch magazine, established during the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II as an underground newspaper. It has since grown into a magazine. The originally weekly and now monthly magazi ...

'' between 1967 and 1975, producing articles almost every two weeks. Blotkamp also wrote critiques for the newspapers ''

NRC Handelsblad ''NRC'', previously called ''NRC Handelsblad'' (), is a daily morning newspaper published in the Netherlands by NRC Media. It is generally accepted as a newspaper of record in the Netherlands. History ''NRC Handelsblad'' was first published on 1 ...

'' and ''

de Volkskrant ''de Volkskrant'' (; ''The People's Paper'') is a Dutch daily morning newspaper. Founded in 1919, it has a nationwide circulation of about 250,000. Formerly a leading centre-left Catholic broadsheet, ''de Volkskrant'' today is a medium-sized c ...

''. In 1975 he won the Pierre Bayleprijs for his efforts. Blotkamp is considered an authority on ''

'' and magic realism. He also wrote books on Ad Dekker, Pyke Koch,

Piet Mondriaan Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (), after 1906 known as Piet Mondrian (, also , ; 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), was a Dutch painter and art theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He is known for being o ...

Carel Visser Carel Nicolaas Visser (3 May 1928 – 1 March 2015) was a Dutch sculptor. He is considered an important representative of Dutch abstract-minimalist constructivism in sculpture. Life and work Visser was born on 3 May 1928 in Papendrecht. From 194 ...

and

Daan van Golden Daniël (Daan) van Golden (4 February 1936 – 10 January 2017) was a Dutch artist, who has been active as a painter, photographer, collagist, installation artist, wall painter and graphic artist.

. Blotkamp was co-founder and editor of several art magazines. Blotkamp started working as an artist in 1967. He frequently uses text as the basis of his works. Blotkamp also incorporates the history of modern art. In his more recent work Blotkamp regularly uses

sequin A sequin () is a small, typically shiny, generally disk-shaped ornament. Sequins are also referred to as paillettes, spangles, or ''diamanté'' (also spelled ''diamante''). Although the words sequins, paillettes, lentejuelas, and spangles can ...

s. Blotkamp was elected a member of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences ( nl, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, abbreviated: KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed ...

in 2002.

Personal life

Blotkamp married Hoos Blotkamp-de Roos in 1967. Amongst other positions she served as director of the Dutch Film Museum. She died in 2014.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blotkamp, Carel 1945 births Living people Dutch artists Dutch art critics Dutch art historians Dutch male writers Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences People from Zeist Utrecht University alumni Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam faculty