z.t.

Description

At the end of 1987, René Daniëls suffered a brain haemorrhage from which he would never fully recover. He lost the use of his right hand, the one he used to draw and paint with, and suffered from aphasia, so he was no longer able to talk. He learned to communicate through gestures and nods and complemented this by drawing or writing down a few words with his left hand. He also sketched and made notes for himself every day. He started painting again in 2006. In his previous series of works from 1987, under the heading "Lentebloezem" (Spring Blossom), Daniels painted titles of his earlier paintings as blossom on branching lines. They form a kind of inventory of his oeuvre. It is here that he picks up from where he left off. Around the tree in the middle of the work shown here he writes the words E'ven and A'dam, which he had used previously on an invitation card and in paintings. These abbreviations for the cities of Eindhoven and Amsterdam, also sound like Eve and Adam, or even in A’dam. The caption ‘The Most Contemporary Picture Show’ is the title of a painting from 1983. In the top left and bottom left corners, we can see two shapes each with a half shaded black. They allude to previously painted motifs by Daniëls: the film camera and the bow tie/room motif (see various other works by Daniëls). In the bottom right corner, we can see the silhouette of a figure looking at all this.

[2020]

Does this page contain inaccurate information or language that you feel we should improve or change? We would like to hear from you.