Jan Dibbets
Montreal
1989
Colour photograph, watercolour and graphite on paper on panel. 125 x 125 cm. Verso on panel signed, dated and titled 'Jan Dibbets 89 "Montreal"'. - Minor traces of age.
'The views of floors, ceilings, inner courtyards, facades, domes, arcades and sections of buildings taken by Jan Dibbets in the 1980s and mounted in squence on paper-covered chipboard in the form of spiral-shaped and circular fans represent part of the history of European architecture: churches, monasteries, castles, palaces and museums in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Ireland, Italy and Spain are places whose innermost essence Dibbets imbues with a dynamism, enveloping them in a Rembrandt-light and rendering them enchantingly mysterious for the observer. The chipboard on which these works are mounted is now covered with paper that has been textually worked with diluted pigment so as to more effectively accentuate the structural lines and the crystalline clarity and luminosity of the photograph sequences. Jan Dibbet's oeuvre challenges our viewing habits and in so doing pays homage to the great traditions of European architecture and painting.' (Renate Petzinger, in: Ingrid Mössinger and Renate Petzinger (texts), Jan Dibbets, Perpektive Korrekturen, exhib.cat. Kunstverein Ludwigsburg and Städtische Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, Mainz and München 1997, p.12)