: ''For the online writer/blogger, see

Daily Kos Daily Kos ( ) is a group blog and internet forum focused on the U.S. Democratic Party and liberal American politics. The site includes glossaries and other content. It is sometimes considered an example of " netroots" activism. Daily Kos was ...

.'' Armando (18 September 1929 – 1 July 2018), born Herman Dirk van Dodeweerd, was a Dutch painter, sculptor and writer. Armando, geboren als Herman Dirk van Dodeweerd

Armando, geboren als Herman Dirk van Dodeweerd

Biography

Armando was born in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

, and as child moved to

Amersfoort Amersfoort () is a city and municipality in the province of Utrecht, Netherlands, about 20 km from the city of Utrecht and 40 km south east of Amsterdam. As of 1 December 2021, the municipality had a population of 158,531, making it the second- ...

. There he saw, during the

German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 ...

of the Netherlands, how the Nazis set up a "transition camp" for prisoners who were to be sent to

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...

s. The suffering of the victims and the cruelty of the Nazi camp guards, so near his home, influenced him for the rest of his life. After the liberation (1945), he studied art history at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

. His first solo exhibition was at the Galerie Le Canard, Amsterdam, in 1954. At this time he also started to write

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meani ...

. He was influenced by the CoBrA art group, and made abstract drawings—with his left hand, in the dark. He was also influenced by

Jean Dubuffet Jean Philippe Arthur Dubuffet (31 July 1901 – 12 May 1985) was a French painter and sculptor. His idealistic approach to aesthetics embraced so-called "low art" and eschewed traditional standards of beauty in favor of what he believed to be a ...

and

Jean Fautrier Jean Fautrier (May 16, 1898 – July 21, 1964) was a French painter, illustrator, printmaker, and sculptor. He was one of the most important practitioners of Tachisme. Early life Jean Fautrier was born in Paris in 1898. He was given his unwed ...

, producing thickly

impasto ''Impasto'' is a technique used in painting, where paint is laid on an area of the surface thickly, usually thick enough that the brush or painting-knife strokes are visible. Paint can also be mixed right on the canvas. When dry, impasto provide ...

ed paintings. In 1958 he was one of the founding members of the Nederlandse Informele Groep (Informelen), with the painters , ,

Henk Peeters Henk Peeters (8 December 1925 – 13 April 2013) was a Dutch artist. He was an active member of the ZERO movement. Peeters was born in The Hague. He studied Fine Art at the Koninklijke Academie voor Beeldende Kunsten in The Hague and taught from 1 ...

, and others. By 1959 he had joined the

Situationist International The Situationist International (SI) was an international organization of social revolutionaries made up of avant-garde artists, intellectuals, and political theorists. It was prominent in Europe from its formation in 1957 to its dissolution ...

(SI) and attended their Third conference, held in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...

17–20 April 1959. With Anton Alberts, Constant and Har Oudejans he wrote ''First proclamation of the Dutch Section of the SI''. However, he was expelled from the SI in the Spring of 1960, though continuing to contribute to other Situationist publications like the '' Situationist Times.'' He also contributed to ''Podium'', ''Gard Sivik'', ''De Nieuwe Stijl'', and ''Barbarber''. He lived partly in

, partly in

, and until 1989 also in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

Fire at the Armando museum, 2007

Amersfoort, the place of his childhood, hosted a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make th ...

devoted to his work. On 22 October 2007 a large fire struck the museum and burned thirteen Armando paintings. At the time of the fire there was also an exhibition with works of painters like

Ruisdael Ruisdael or Ruysdael is a Dutch surname. Notable persons with that name include: * Jacob Isaackszoon van Ruisdael ( 1629–1682), Dutch Golden Age landscape painter, best-known of his family * Salomon van Ruysdael ( 1602–1670), Dutch Golden Age ...

, Dürer, Seghers and Kiefer, which were all lost, with damages estimated at about three million euros (US$4,000,000). ''(Source: Dutch TV News NOS, 24 October 2007)'' A final balance of the damage by the fire was made on Tuesday 20 November 2007. According to a Dutch newsarticle, 63 paintings were lost, 8 were recovered. 6 of the recovered paintings are badly damaged, two are lightly damaged.

The new Armando museum: Museum Oud Amelisweerd (MOA)

Since 2014 the Armando Collection has been housed in a new home, the Museum Oud Amelisweert near Bunnik (NLD). The MOA regularly organizes exhibitions with works by Armando, sometimes in relation with works by other artists.

Honours and awards

Honours

*1990 - Knight of the

Order of Oranje-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau ( nl, Orde van Oranje-Nassau, links=no) is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has ...

*2006 - Knight of the

Order of the Netherlands Lion The Order of the Netherlands Lion, also known as the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands ( nl, De Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw, french: L'Ordre du Lion Néerlandais) is a Dutch order of chivalry founded by King William I of the Netherlands on ...

*2009 - The Honorary medal for Arts and Science of the Order of the House of Orange

Awards

*1987 - The Gouden Ganzenveer voor his contribution to the Dutch culture and the distribution throughout Europa.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Armando 1929 births 2018 deaths Dutch artists Modern artists Artists from Amsterdam Ferdinand Bordewijk Prize winners Recipients of the Order of the House of Orange Knights of the Order of Orange-Nassau Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Members of the Academy of Arts, Berlin