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2 special screen prints Bob Kemper
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Bergen op Zoom, NetherlandsOn Whoppah since January 2022 • 62 sales
Product description
Bob Kemper
Title: "Cooling Unit" and "Gashouder" (Gas Holder).
Edition: 54/100 and 69/100
Year: 1984 (both)
Technique: Silkscreen
Signature: Hand-signed
Image size: 32 x 42 cm.
Frame size: 52 x 62 cm.
Condition: Very good.
This lot consists of two silkscreens by Bob Kemper.
Both silkscreens are neatly framed in a black aluminum frame without any signs of wear. This beautiful set is ready to hang.
Bastiaan Jan (Bob) Kemper (Poortugaal, August 22, 1936) is a Dutch visual artist. He works as a painter, graphic artist, draftsman, sculptor, and muralist. His work is considered abstract expressionism and magical realism. It includes dynamic cityscapes and harbor scenes with industrial forms and color contrasts, as well as Mediterranean landscapes and monumental fruit still lifes with symbolic significance. Since the 1960s, Kemper has exhibited in the Netherlands and internationally; his work is held in corporate and private collections.
Biography
Kemper was born on August 22, 1936, in Poortugaal, the son of Jan Kemper and Janna Brand. He grew up near Pernis and the Rotterdam port area, where the industrial landscapes had a lasting influence on his early work.
From 1950, he attended the Saturday afternoon academy and later the Academy of Fine Arts in Rotterdam (later the Willem de Kooning Academy). During his studies, he briefly worked as an apprentice decorator at the fashion house Wisbrun & Liffman and as an apprentice photojournalist with Kees Molkenboer (International Photopress Office). In 1957, he joined the Drawing & Painting department of the academy, where he studied with, among others, painter and instructor Gijs Voskuijl.
From the 1960s onward, Kemper had several studios in Rotterdam, initially on Oranjeboomstraat, later on Molenwaterweg and Berkelselaan, and subsequently also in Hoogvliet. In the 1970s, he also acquired a second studio in the rural hamlet of Pech Castan near Mayrinhac-Lentour, in the French department of Lot.
Kemper traveled to Mexico in 1978 and 1979, where he also exhibited at venues including the Museo de Ciudad in Mexico City.
In 1986, the publication "Bob Kemper, a Survey" was published. A year later, he spent a month working in New York.
As of 2025, Kemper is still working as a painter and illustrator.
Oeuvre
Bob Kemper works in a variety of disciplines, including painting (with oil and acrylic), graphics (primarily screen printing), drawings, sculpture, and monumental murals.
A distinct category within his oeuvre is his organic-graphic visual works: detailed drawings and wooden assemblages with layered structures and a delicate interplay of lines. He also regularly employed mixed media, combining painting, drawing, and collage elements. In some works, he also incorporated newspaper and photographs, adding an extra layer of depth and texture to his work.
Kemper's works are held in corporate collections—including Caldic Nederland—and in various private collections.
Theme and Development
Kemper's oeuvre encompasses both individual works and series, ranging from cityscapes and industrial panoramas to abstract landscapes and fruit still lifes. His early work was strongly connected to urban and industrial motifs, but over the years his themes shifted to organic and nature-themed subjects, often with a symbolic and poetic dimension.
He often works from memory, which leads to an abstract processing of concrete observations. In his more figurative work, for example, he combines Mediterranean and Spanish landscapes with still lifes in which fruit takes on monumental proportions. These paintings balance between abstract expressionism and magical realism, with a layered and sometimes mystical quality.
Exhibitions (selection)
1960 – First solo exhibition, Arti et Amicitiae, Amsterdam
1962 – Paintings and gouaches by Bob Kemper (solo), AMVJ, Rotterdam
1962 – Duo exhibition with Jan Wolfers, AMVJ, Rotterdam
1965 – Kingsley Gallery, Provincetown (United States)
1976 – Galerie Keerweer, Rotterdam
1976 – Group exhibition, Exhibition Hall R.S. Stokvis, Rotterdam
1977 – Stedelijk Museum, Mexico City; Universidad, Mexico City
1980 – Pulchri Studio, The Hague; Van Reekum Museum, Apeldoorn
1982 – Rhoon Castle, Rhoon; Polk Public Museum, Lakeland, Florida (United States)
1985 – Travel Gallery, Dallas, Texas (United States)
1988 – Avant Garde, Antwerp (Belgium)
1992 – Bothof Modern Art, Schiedam; Maison des Consuls, Saint-Céré (France)
2011 – Landscape Architectures, aux couleurs des villes, Galerie Orlando, Saint-Jean-Lespinasse (France)
2018 – Bob Kemper Exhibition, Atelier Kunst & Vorm, Dordrecht
2022 – Retrospective Exhibition, Rhoon Castle, Rhoon
2025 – Group Exhibition, Galerie De Overkant, Ouddorp, in collaboration with Regio Art Rijnmond
Specifications
ConditionVery goodColorsRed, BlackMaterialPaperNumber of items2OrientationLandscapeArt sizeMediumHeight52 cmWidth62 cmSigns of usageScratches
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About this seller
Bergen op Zoom, NetherlandsOn Whoppah since January 2022 • 62 sales