Eindhoven artist Remy van Zandbergen is one of just a few contemporary artists, whose works were selected to be part of a The Hague exhibition. This exhibition can be found inside the The Hague Historisch Museum, near the Mauritshuis.
The world behind a dolls house’ shows several of over twenty dolls houses Lita Ranitz’ collected. Her recently restored large doll house, takes pride of place.
Dolls houses and real miniature art
The story about the lady and her dolls houses are told in the exhibition’s first few rooms. Her ‘large’ miniature home dates from 1910. Part of the miniature building is based on a real house: Toys Hill House in Kent.
What makes this miniature home even more special: it contains real, miniature art. Some of it bought; other items donated.
Art includes miniature paintings. A few of the paintings are by Lita’s husband, Dutch artist Willem Bastiaan Tholen. Other paintings were created by friends like Toorop, Jongkind and members of the The Hague School. Large examples are exihbited on nearby walls.
The last exhibition room displays modern miniature buildings. These include a miniature museum. Artists Ria and Lex Daniels own over 2000 miniature works of art by contemporary artists. Only about 300 are exhibited here, but include works by famous Dutch artists like Karel Appel.
Remy van Zandbergen’s press
Opposite this miniature museum, stands Remy van Zandbergen’s miniature printing press.
Though miniature, it has several floors. At the top sits a designer behind his desk. The floors below contain machines which are part of the printing process.
A video shows this designer studio and press in full swing. At the top, the designer works out his idea. Then machines start whirring, till a printed card is ready to be collected – at ground floor level.
As a child, Remy van Zandbergen loved watching Dutch ‘Buurman en Buurman‘ and the famous Wallace and Gromit films. These inspired this mini-press and continue to influence van Zandbergen’s new projects.
Van Zandbergen was impressed by the care, love and attention for detail which were part of for instance the Wallace and Gromit films. He now applies the same care, attention for details and dedication to his own stop motion installations and videos.
This miniature building was Remy van Zandbergen’s graduation project. After graduating in 2014, he remained in Eindhoven. He and fellow artists now have their own studio at Eindhoven’s Section C.
Remy van Zandbergen’s magical printing press can be admired in the ‘The world behind a dolls house’ exhibition till the 10th of June 2018.
For more information about Remy van Zandbergen and his latest projects, visit his website.
For information about the museum: Haags Historisch Museum
