Elsje Drewes

A couple of years ago I started to research the oeuvre of the Dutch sculptor Frans de Wit (1942-2004) and published a monograph about him at Primavera Pers, Leiden, in 2021.

After that I worked toghether with a team to launch a website, so De Wit's work is more visible on the internet:

Website sculptor Frans de Wit Please take a look to see his breathtaking site specific landart works.

aereal view Vierkant eiland in de plas

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Nachtboek / Nightbook

Last year I wrote an article for the artist-booklet Nachtboek (Nightbook) of the Dutch artists Maaike van de Gevel and Sonja van der Burg that was (and is) accompaniying the exhibition Nachtboek.

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In the making:

I'm also working on a new book about the Dutch artist Willem Schrofer (1898-1968) of whom I wrote a monograph in 1998 (published at Walburgpers).He played an important role in the The Hague art scene in his time.

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About myself

I'm specialized in a broad area of art- and fashionhistory because of the lectures and guided tours I give at Kunstmuseum Den Haag. Besides that I'm head of the education department at Museum Bredius.

What interests me most is concentrated looking at an artwork before I dive into the history or meaning of it all. The sculptor Frans the Wit calls that way of looking 'Luisterend kijken' (Listening with your eyes). When I look intensely like that, I discover a lot of things that I did not see before. It opens new perspectives and worlds that I can connect to the time it was made, and to what happened before and after in history. Soon enough you discover that everything is interconnected when you zoom in or zoom out in a certain time, at a certain place. It feels a bit like being a detective who discovers layers of meaning step by step.

For more information you can check out my website: Buro Tijdbeeld

And I hope to meet you some time at a Sculpture Network activity.