Corner of a Canal (Hoek van een Gracht)
Lithograph, 1919-1920, edition unknown. 25 x 19 1/2 in. Signed in ink within the image, lower left. This is a fine impression of this very rare work printed on a thick wove paper. The margins are trimmed to the image and that was probably the artist's intent. The condition is good. There's a modest wrinkle in the upper right corner of the sheet and the back of the print is darkened from an early non-archival backing. Bendien lived and worked in Amsterdam, Paris and Berlin. In addition to his work in a surrealist, dreamlike style as seen here, Bendien explored degrees of abstraction. His abstract work, called absolute painting, shows theosophic influence. In the thirties he used the word Meditism in connection with his imagery. In addition, Bendien published many articles and was a connoisseur of the work of Piet Mondriaan. An impression of this print is in the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. This work is illustrated and discussed in Jakob Bendien 1890-1933 (1985), an important retrospective catalog put together by the Fries Museum in Leeuwarden and the Centraal Museum in Utrecht. He produced very few prints and this work is exemplary.
SOLD