Twin visions: printed ephemera at the Stedelijk

At Skylona we house a significant collection of modern art exhibition catalogues and ephemera from the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, mostly from the 1950s and 1960s.

The catalogues are wonderful objects in their own right – experimental typography, pared-back layouts, uncoated stock, unconventional printing techniques for items produced more than half a century ago – they still look and feel modern today. Evidence, as if we needed it, that great design doesn’t age.

The depth and breadth of artists represented in these catalogues is equally remarkable, from famous names such as Kurt Schwitters, Richard Hamilton, Gerrit Rietveldt, Josef Albers, to far less well known artists, both then and now.

Into modernism

Although it opened its doors in 1895, the post-Second World War period is often regarded as something of a ‘golden era’ for the Stedelijk; when it rose to international prominence under the stewardship of its visionary director, Willem Sandberg (below).

Under Sandberg, the Stedelijk also made bold acquisitions, with its CoBrA collection becoming one of the museum’s core collections. CoBrA was a short-lived (1948–1951) yet highly influential movement whose work was characterised by vivid colour, loose gestural brushwork, and imagery that blended human figures, animals, and fantastical creatures in a raw, expressive manner.

In 1958, Sandberg began acquiring photography for the museum’s collection, making the Stedelijk one of the first western European modern art museums to collect photography.

Unusually for a museum director, Sandberg also designed the exhibition catalogues, posters and other printed material for the Stedelijk. During his tenure he designed more than 250 catalogues, sometimes collaborating with other designers, including Wim Crouwel. 

The next chapter

Sandberg stepped down in 1963, superseded by Eduard de Wilde. The new director continued the work of building the Stedelijk’s reputation as major force in modern art, focusing on works from the 1960s onwards, but with a shift towards internationalism – notably American artists including Warhol, Judd, LeWitt, Oldenburg and Lichtenstein.

Sandberg’s eye had been primarily trained on European modernism, so de Wilde’s embrace of the New York art world represented a real expansion of the museum’s horizons.

Sandberg’s departure also heralded a new design direction for the Stedelijk, with the appointment of Wim Crouwel and his company, Total Design. 

Where Sandberg’s work was expressive and gestural, Crouwel’s approach was rigorously systematic, yet no less progressive, impactful and beautiful.

Crouwel became one of the founding figures of Swiss-influenced Dutch modernist typography, and his work influenced the direction of graphic design and typography from the 1960s through to today.

Together, Sandberg and Crouwel gave the Stedelijk one of the most distinguished runs of printed ephemera of any museum in the 20th century; their contrasting approaches somehow forming an entirely cohesive body of work. 

These are items that are rightly appreciated by collectors worldwide, examples of which you can find here at Skylona. 

Stedelijk catalogues and ephemera at Skylona >