Tentoonstellingen Archive - Cobra Museum voor Moderne Kunst

Open depot

Now on view

Deel:


Art
from the collection 

The Cobra Museum has an own art collection since the founding in 1995. This collection has now grown to over 2000 objects. The vast majority of this collection is in the depot, an art storage facility not open to the public where it is preserved under optimal conditions. The Open depot presents parts of the extensive collection on display here. It is not a permanent exhibition but a rotating, dynamic presentation. In addition to making the collection accessible, it also offers a look behind the scenes. New acquisitions and collaborations will be given space to be shown here.    

The museum’s collection policy is based on Cobra art. Besides the official Cobra members, there is also an emphasis on the artists who collaborated with them or were influenced by them. They can also be seen in this changing presentation. In addition to paintings and sculptures, the collection includes work on paper, ceramics, textiles, photography, films and archival material.  

Within the Cobra movement, besides unanimity, there are also contradictions and differences of opinion among its members. These different views and visions create a wide range of artistic expression. The Open depot gives visitors room for new comparisons and connections.  

Want to learn more about Cobra? Click here.


Foto: Niels Vis

Deel:

EXPECTED AUTUMN 2024

On 5 December 2024, Dutch actor, film director, documentary maker, painter and illustrator Jeroen Krabbé will reach the age of eighty. The Cobra Museum will celebrate this autumn with a presentation of eight paintings, each telling a decade of his life. The presentation will be framed by drawings and paintings from Krabbé’s early artistic development to his most recent work.

Jeroen Krabbé comes from a family of artists. Inspired by his grandfather Heinrich Martin Krabbé and father Maarten Krabbé, he has been drawing and painting since childhood and seems destined to follow in their footsteps. However, he chose the acting profession, but immediately after his international breakthrough in Soldaat van Oranje in 1977, he enrolled at the Rijksacademie voor Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam. Krabbé’s style develops from hyper-realistic minuscule works through portraits, Pop Art and fierce expressionism to colourful landscapes. The faraway countries he visits for his work as an actor also pop up regularly in his oeuvre. All these elements come together in the eight paintings that shed light on his life and development as a man, actor and artist.

Diana Blok – I challenge you to love me

vrijdag 31 mei 2024 t/m zondag 6 okt 2024

Deel:

The exhibition I challenge you to love me presents an overview of the work of photographer and artist Diana Blok (Uruguay, 1952). Blok was born in Montevideo and lived in Colombia and Guatemala. She studied sociology in Mexico City. In 1974, she emigrated to Amsterdam and developed into a highly successful photographer and artist. With her work, Diana explores topics such as identity, gender, sexual diversity and culture. The exhibition can be seen from 31 May to 6 October 2024.

 

Self-portrait, 1982, Diana Blok

Pierre Verger – The One That I Am Not

vrijdag 31 mei 2024 t/m zondag 6 okt 2024

Deel:

From 31 May to 6 October 2024, the Cobra Museum will show a selection of works from the extensive oeuvre of photographer Pierre Verger (Paris 1902 – Salvador 1996). Pierre Verger was born in Paris and eventually found his home in the Brazilian city of Salvador. The Pierre Verger – The One That I am Not is a celebration of his photographic legacy, his heart and his ceaseless quest for self-discovery. The exhibition features more than 160 works he made during various trips. This is the first time a solo exhibition has been shown in the Netherlands.

“I started travelling, not so much out of the desire to do ethnographic research or reportage, but out of the need to distance myself, to free myself and escape from the environment in which I had lived until then and whose prejudices and rules of behaviour did not make me happy…. However, the feeling that a vast world existed did not leave my mind and the desire to see and photograph it took me to other horizons.”

Pierre Verger. Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, 1950s © Pierre Verger Foundation

Amstelveen Triennale 2024

vrijdag 17 mei 2024 t/m zondag 7 jul 2024

Deel:

The ninth edition of the Amstelveen Triennale will open at the Cobra Museum on Friday 17 May 2024. The Amstelveen Triennale showcases professional artists working in Amstelveen. The Triennale is the triennial exhibition for professional visual artists living and/or working in Amstelveen. Since 1998, this event has been organised under the auspices of the Cobra Museum, in cooperation with the Municipality of Amstelveen.

The Triennale aims to offer a professional platform to artists working and/or living in Amstelveen and to give the public an overview of the state of affairs in local visual art. The exhibition provides a cross-section of art practice in Amstelveen. Triennale took place in 1998, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2014, 2017 and 2024

Since the fifth edition, the Cobra Museum aims to provide this event with an even larger and wider audience. In 2014, collaboration was therefore sought with fellow art institutions in Amstelveen. The Amstelveen Triennial is a collaboration between the Cobra Museum, Museum JAN and Platform C.

My Cobra adventure – Willemijn Stokvis

donderdag 1 jan 1970 t/m donderdag 1 jan 1970

Deel:
On Saturday, September 16, at 3 p.m., Willemijn Stokvis will give a lecture on her Cobra adventure.

Fifty years ago Willemijn Stokvis obtained her doctorate on the international Cobra movement. Since then she has written numerous publications and articles on Cobra and curated exhibitions in the Netherlands and abroad. Researching Cobra was one big adventure for Stokvis and runs like a thread through her life. 

As an art history student, Stokvis was there early on to study the Cobra movement. At a time when it was unusual to research contemporary art, she worked her way into the circle of Cobra artists and came up with new and unique insights. In doing so, Stokvis made a very significant contribution to the knowledge and appreciation of this group of artists.   

The exhibition shows a selection of the many publications and articles Stokvis wrote. Also on display from her own archive is a special collection of personal letters, which provide a unique insight into the lives and work of various Cobra artists and many others with whom she maintained extensive correspondence.

onder: v.l.n.r. Karel Appel, Rob Sneeps, Rik Fernhout en Willemijn Stokvis 1990 Gemeente Museum Den Haag.
foto Nico Koster.

Museum temporarily closed due to installing exhibitions

maandag 9 okt 2023 t/m donderdag 19 okt 2023

Deel:

From 10 October until 19 October 2023, the museum will be temporarily closed due to installing new exhibitions. The museum will reopen its doors on Friday 20 October.

Cobra 75: A Cry for Freedom!

vrijdag 20 okt 2023 t/m zondag 12 mei 2024

Deel:

On 8 November 2023 it is exactly 75 years ago that the Cobra movement was founded in Paris. Its members were artists and poets from various European countries. The joy of complete spiritual and artistic freedom and spontaneity was their counterbalance to the nightmare of the war. Cobra caused quite an uproar in the Netherlands. The Dutch press spoke of ‘scribble, claptrap and splotches’.

“We had non-stop discussions and disagreed on almost all points. But the cooperation was fruitful as long as we were able to keep it up. The point was that we wanted to understand each other in order to agree. This attitude created an inspiring cooperation of an incredibly broad scope.” Asger Jorn, in 1967.

The revolutionary Cobra movement is now entrenched in European art history. Cobra is mainly associated with colourful, expressive-spontaneous painting that continued to have an influence for a long time. With the exhibition, the Cobra Museum in Amstelveen shows that Cobra was much more than that ‘cheerful colourful art movement’ it became to the general public.

The founders had very different ideas about the meaning of Cobra. For some the meaning could be found in Cobra’s contribution to artistic developments, for others in Cobra’s spirit of absolute freedom and for yet others in the collaboration between the members and the cross-pollination between poets and painters. One thing is certain: there was never any unanimity about the meaning of Cobra. Perhaps it is precisely the contradictions and disagreements between its members that determine Cobra’s character, since these give Cobra its vitality. 

This exhibition focuses on the diverse, sometimes diametrically opposed perspectives on Cobra. The selection of 90 works and archive material emphasises the period when the movement officially existed (1948-1951), although works from earlier and later dates are also included. 

Handout
Especially for this exhibition, there is a handout with more in-depth information. This handout can be downloaded by clicking on the image.

Open Ateliers Amstelveen 2023

vrijdag 9 jun 2023 t/m zondag 18 jun 2023

Deel:

This exhibition as part of Open Ateliers offers an overview of recent work by 53 Amstelveen artists working in a variety of disciplines, including sculpture, painting, ceramics, glass and photograph. This exhibition offers an introduction to the practice of these creators who participate in the Open Ateliers. From abstract to figurative and from sculpture to textile, this presentation shows the diversity of techniques, subjects and styles of artists in Amstelveen in one overview.   

Atelierroute
For more than thirty years this biennial studio route has been organized. Professional artists from Amstelveen open their studios to the public for a whole weekend. In addition, there are selected locations where artists collectively exhibit their work. This is an opportunity to get acquainted with their work and to get a unique look behind the scenes of their artistic practice.  
 

 On June 17 and 18 between 11.00h and 17.00h the artists’ studios will be open to the public. Naturally, the studio route also offers the opportunity to buy art directly from the artists themselves.


For more information about the atelierroute go to openateliersamstelveen.nl

All children are artists

vrijdag 2 jun 2023 t/m zondag 8 okt 2023

Deel:

Jeroen Krabbé and Annefie van Itterzon present children’s drawings at the Cobra Museum. This exhibition fits seamlessly into our programme of summer exhibitions: Freedom without Borders and The Other Picasso, which are on show at the Cobra Museum at the same time.

Children’s drawing Jeroen Krabbé (11 years), Chagall Vis, 1957

Actor, painter and art programme maker Jeroen and Annefie van Itterzon selected 40 children’s drawings that give a beautiful impression of how children around the world make drawings. Two of his own children’s drawings are added to these. This selection comes from a collection of over 900 drawings collected between 1983 and 2021 by art educator Annefie van Itterzon. Last year, Van Itterzon donated this unique collection to the Cultural Heritage Agency (RCE).

Toverfee valt coronavirus aan, Whanzi (5 jaar), 2020

The uninhibited child
This exhibition not only offers a fascinating insight into the drawing art of children worldwide, but is also a tribute to their uninhibited and spontaneous nature. Children are not concerned with perspective and form, which is why their drawings are so direct, original and pure. Artists like Picasso, Klee, Kandinsky and the members of Cobra therefore looked to children’s drawings for inspiration. It is a joy to shine a spotlight on this wonderful art.

Let’s draw!
Children can also do some drawing of their own at Atelier CoBrA on Wednesdays and Sundays. Together, these drawings form a huge collage artwork that continues to grow throughout the exhibition and can be seen by all visitors in the museum. It is exciting to see how children can express their creativity and contribute to this exhibition with their own artwork.

For this exhibition, we would like to thank the National Cultural Heritage Collection for its support.