Exhibitions
Design Museum Dedel was opened on 1 July 2019 by Mrs. Hedy d’Ancona.
Now showing
from november 13, 2024
Richard Roland Holst, His Craftsmanship
The dining room is dedicated to the graphic works of Richard N. Roland Holst (1868-1938).
Biography
Roland Holst was an admirer and friend of Jan Toorop and one of the first to recognize the importance of Vincent van Gogh. He was a towering figure in the Dutch artistic landscape and was involved in numerous leading positions in that field culminating in his appointment first as teacher and then as chief director of the Academy for the Visual Arts (Academie voor Beeldende Kunsten) in Amsterdam from 1918 to 1934.
Craftmanship
In graphic design he promoted craftmanship in the monumental style. Posters should be drawn on the lithographic stone by the artist himself and not by an employee of a printing firm. From his position as teacher at the academy he influenced a whole generation of Dutch designers.
Hand-printed posters
As his posters were to be pasted outside, soon to be pasted over with others, the paper used was not of the best quality. Bad paper made for a bad impression of the poster. To preserve his intentions as an artist Roland Holst hand-printed a small number on better quality paper. Those posters could be obtained in the trade, although most he gave away to friends as he was financially independent.
Calve
Roland Holst has designed a certificate for the Dutch Public Limited Company Fransch Hollandsche Oliefabrieken Calvé, which was awarded for many years of faithful service.
from november 13 2024
Jan Toorop and the Monumentalists
The salon is dedicated to the graphic works of Jan Toorop (1858-1928). He was one of the most influential painters from the turn of the century. He designed only few posters and all of them are shown in this room. Toorop went through different phases in the development of his art converting to Catholicism in the process. This is illustrated in his posters.
Delft Salad Oil Poster
His poster for the Delft Salad Oil Company became famous and the Dutch version of art nouveau sometimes still is called “salad-oil style” or “spaghetti style”. Toorop had his indoor posters printed in subdued colours and for outdoors in darker shades. An art critic at the time called them “caviar for the people”.
Pandorra
Special is his poster for the play Pandorra in 1919. It was printed in nine colors, which was very expensive and quite exceptional. Only few copies survive as the poster was never used. The reason lies in a strike by the workmen at the theaters and/or the closure of theaters as a result of the Spanish Flu pandemic. Nobody seems to know for sure. Some even suggested that the poster was banned because of the daring nudity of the design.
Work for Females
In 1898 Toorop made a design for the exhibition on female labour. On this draft is shown Marguérite Helfrich, whom he used as a model.
In 1924 Toorop was too weak physically to draw the design for the Eucharist Congress poster on the stone without help. Gerard Rutten (1902-1982) was an artist and skilled lithographer who created part of the design. As his work is closely related to that of Jan Toorop two of his posters are also shown. Later in life Gerard Rutten became a film director.
from november 13 2024
Bart van der Leck, designs for posters
The family living room is dedicated to the graphic works of Bart van der Leck (1876-1958). Bart van der Leck started his career in the decorative arts with stained glass windows and illustrations. Starting in earnest as a painter from 1906 onwards during the years 1913-1918 he changed his style gradually but also dramatically from figurative to abstract art. He was hired by the shipping firm Müller & Co in 1914 and this led to the commission of his first poster. His vision of abstract art included the choice in 1916 to only use the primary colours red, yellow and blue in its purest form. In this way he influenced Piet Mondrian and Theo van Doesburg, with whom he founded the art movement De Stijl in 1917. He left the group already in 1918 as he decided to return to semi-abstraction and to keep diagonals, to which especially Mondrian was very much opposed.
Delft Salad Oil Company
The commission in 1919 to design a poster for the Delft Salad Oil Company could have catapulted Van der Leck, as Jan Toorop before him, into the realm of eternal poster fame as his design was in more than one way revolutionary.
The poster was however never printed and the lettering he created was kept from the public. It is not clear if the design was just judged to be to “modern” or that it was also caused by the decision to change the name of the brand from Delftsche Slaolie to Calvé Delft as happened shortly after. Van der Leck was very disappointed.
Exhibition poster
In 1919 he designed a poster for his own exhibition in Utrecht. This clearly shows his style described above. The image represents a horseman on a horse. The red is probably a pedestal, in the blue above we can see the sky.
Batavier-line
A year later he found that Müller & Co, without consulting him, had changed his Batavier poster. He felt that not just as another disappointment but as a clear insult as he had worked for the Kröller-Müller family, and especially art-collector Helene, in, what he thought of, as a close and friendly relationship. Today Bart van der Leck as a poster designer is known for a version of the Batavier-line poster that he did not approve of. This exhibition is a first step to change that view. A publication is to follow.
from juni 5 2024
A Century of Swiss Posters
Design Museum Dedel presents over 200 very rare posters from Switzerland.
from juni 5 2024
A Century of Swiss Posters
Design Museum Dedel presents over 200 very rare posters from Switzerland.
Design Museum Dedel presents over 200 very rare posters from Switzerland. The oldest is from 1885. It is the first exhibition in a series in which a different country will be the theme. The posters on the bel etage are arranged chronologically, so that the visitor is given an impression based on the advertisements of the time.
Three themes have been highlighted: the fashion posters, political posters and the artistic development around the Avant Garde and the Bauhaus. The Swiss posters are striking because of their quality: they were printed on better paper than elsewhere in Europe and on a larger standard size.
In the chronological section (Salon and Hall), products that Switzerland is known for are advertised: chocolate, watches, travel and the railways. This results in interesting confrontations. Famous designers such as Emil Cardinaux, Charles Loupot, Otto Baumberger and Otto Morach have provided posters for this.
An important aspect are the posters for fashion. A grand advertising battle took place between clothing companies PKZ and Grieder that has resulted in spectacular posters. Fritz Seigner shows a poster in three parts that he made for PKZ. These can be found in the Bedroom on the front right.
The third theme is politics (Middle Room front). Referendums are a typical Swiss phenomenon. Poster campaigns were conducted around the consultations, of which speaking examples can be seen here, including by Burkhard Mangold and Melchior Annen. The poster AGAINST women's suffrage remained anonymous.
permanent exibition
Art nouveau, a source of inspiration
In the library is a permanent exhibition of Art Nouveau posters.
Art Nouveau is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and flowers. Other characteristics of Art Nouveau were a sense of dynamism and movement, often given by asymmetry or whiplash lines, and the use of modern materials, particularly iron, glass, ceramics and later concrete, to create unusual forms and larger open spaces. It was popular between 1890 and 1910 during the Belle Époque period, and was a reaction against the academicism, eclecticism and historicism of 19th century architecture and decorative art.
One major objective of Art Nouveau was to break down the traditional distinction between fine arts (especially painting and sculpture) and applied arts. It was most widely used in interior design, graphic arts, furniture, glass art, textiles, ceramics, jewellery and metal work. The style responded to leading 19-century theoreticians, such as French architect Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc (1814–1879) and British art critic John Ruskin (1819–1900). In Britain, it was influenced by William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement. German architects and designers sought a spiritually uplifting Gesamtkunstwerk ('total work of art') that would unify the architecture, furnishings, and art in the interior in a common style, to uplift and inspire the residents.
permanent exibition