From 4 October 2014, Museum Belvédère in Heerenveen-Oranjewoud and the Fries Museum in Leeuwarden will join forces to present the work of Gerrit Benner in a paired exhibition. The Fries Museum will focus on his early fairy-tale-like work, and Museum Belvédère will exhibit his later abstract landscapes and horses. A richly illustrated book will accompany the exhibitions. Both museums honour the most famous 20th-century Frisian painter in this unique collaboration.
The Fries Museum will highlight work from Benner’s early period when he was active as an artist in Friesland. The exhibition shows his explorations, his experiments and his sources of inspiration, revealing how his style became increasingly more colourful and expressionistic.
The exhibition in Museum Belvédère focuses mostly on the landscapes Benner created during his later Amsterdam period. This exhibition shows how his improvisations on the rural Frisian landscape and the moors evolved. His initial landscapes were intuitive responses to what he saw, and in time he worked with surfaces and colours more and more.
This unique collaboration between the two most important modern art venues in Friesland provides an opportunity to shed light on all aspects of Benner’s artistry. The museums regard this paired exhibition as a stepping-stone to greater cooperation in the field of contemporary art.
