Joost Baljeu

Joost Baljeu (1 November 1925 – 1 July 1991) was a Dutch painter, sculptor and writer. He is known for his large outdoor painted steel structures and his book on Theo van Doesburg.

Life

Joost Baljeu was born in Middelburg on 1 November 1925. During World War II (1939–45) he began painting in an expressionist, realistic and semi-abstract idiom. After Cubism he evolved to constructivism. He made his first reliefs in 1954-55. From 1957 to 1972 he was a professor at the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague in the Hague. The Canadian artist Eli Bornstein began to make three-dimensional "structurist" reliefs during a sabbatical in Italy and the Netherlands in 1957. He met and was influenced by artists such as Jean Gorin, Anthony Hill, Kenneth Martin, Mary Martin, Victor Pasmore and Georges Vantongerloo.

In 1958-59 Baljeu was a guest lecturer at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada. In 1966 he was visiting professor at the Minneapolis School of Art in the US. He died on 1 July 1991 in Amsterdam.

Work

Exhibitions 1965 Zonnehof, Amersfoort 1975/1976 Gemeentemuseum, The Hague 1979 Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo 1991 Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam 2000 Steel in Picture (group) in Old Slot Heemstede: F19 (model 1986/87)

Museums The Mondriaan House in Amersfoort Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo. Two works are part of the museum: Synthetic Construction F5-2 CD (1966/68) and Synthetic Construction F15 No. 1. (1983/87), The Sculpture F26 1990 was donated to the museum in 1991 by Baljeu's widow.

Public spaces

Lightning (1955), Wijkcentrum Open Vaart, Meidoornplein in Amsterdam-Noord Synthetic construction F8-1B (1978), Plesmanweg, The Hague Wall sculpture (1980), police Burg. Wegstapel Square in Zoetermeer (architectural design of colored plexiglass panels in a two-story aluminum construction) Synthetic construction F11 (1981), courtyard Vest in Dordrecht - reinstated in 1999 Synthetic construction F13 (1984), Avenue of the United Nations in Dordrecht - reinstated in 1999 F26 (1990) in the sculpture park of the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo Spacetime (I) (1989) in Rotterdam, Prince Alexander district Spacetime II (restored in 2004) in Rotterdam, Prince Alexander

Publications Mondrian or Miró (1958): book published by De Beuk, Amsterdam Structure (1958-1964): editor of a journal on new art Attempt at a theory of synthesist plastic expression (1963): book published by Alec Tiranti, London Theo van Doesburg (1974): book published by Studio Vista, London