Blog
Out of the Box: A Look at Works in Storage
January 31, 2022
Image credits, left to right: Ferenc Gögös, Untitled ; Guillaume Louis Le Roy, Untitled ; Marinus Fuit, Oorlogsobject Aan Zee (War Object By The Sea) .
The GVSU permanent collection has over 20,000 works of art. Many of the works of art are on public display. Ever wonder about the rest of the artwork tucked away in the GVSU Art Gallery storage facility?
Anyone who has been to art storage will tell you it’s a magical place; cabinets, drawers, boxes, shelves and even walls and crates full of artwork in a museum quality- temperature controlled warehouse. This new blog series, titled Out of the Box, will give you a behind the scenes look at artwork in the GVSU permanent art collection that is safely and securely locked away within storage.
This first selection of artworks is currently tucked away in Print and Drawing Cabinet C, Drawer 5. There are a total of 13 unique works on paper in this drawer, all part of our Print and Drawing Collection, or as it’s often referred to, the PDC. The PDC began with a series of donations made in 2001, all works on paper, including prints, drawings and photographs. These works are some of the most difficult to care for as they can easily fade, rip, tear, or crinkle when on display or handled too often. Because of this, works on paper from the PDC collection are only displayed on campus as part of temporary exhibitions or shared with students and faculty as in-person study collections via appointment.
These three featured prints come from the same donation of over 500 prints created by contemporary Dutch artists, donated by the Brooks Family in honor of Dutch artist, Cyril Lixenberg.
This first print (pictured on left above) is an untitled woodcut print by Ferenc Gögös (1936-2011). Gögös was born in Hungary, but left the country in 1957 to study at the academy of Arnhem in the Netherlands, where he would later become a well-respected artist and teacher. Gögös became known for his colorful images with a strong narrative that often included elements of folk art.
Ferenc Gögös, Untitled, 1967. Woodcut, 25” x 18”. The Cyril Lixenberg Collection of Contemporary Dutch Prints, a Gift of the Brooks Family (2002.0234.1).
View this Work in the Art Collection Database
This woodcut print (pictured center above), also from Cabinet C Drawer 5, is another untitled print by artist Guillaume Louis Le Roy (1938-2008), a Dutch graphic artist who lived and worked in Amsterdam. Growing up, Le Roy carved his first woodblocks on tables from his parent’s café in Amsterdam. His prints are almost always abstract, with hints of figures and architecture such as gates, doors and windows. While he went through a period using color, black, grey, and white remained prominent. Much of his work is published as illustrations in poetry books.
Guillaume Louis Le Roy, Untitled, 1983. Woodcut, 27.5” x 34”. The Cyril Lixenberg Collection of Contemporary Dutch Prints, a gift of the Brooks Family (2002.0242.1).
View this Work in the Art Collection Database
The last featured lithograph (pictured on right above) is titled Oorlogsobject Aan Zee (War Object by the Sea) by Dutch artist Marinus Fuit (b. 1934). Fuit is a self-taught illustrator and painter who later trained as a lithographer at the Amsterdam Graphic School. After originally being influenced by Cubism and Surrealism, he developed a style combing the two, often leading to mysterious unknown landscapes. He became known for larger-than-life compositions in predominantly bright primary colors. Like Le Roy’s abstract imagery, Fuit also depicts recognizable forms from everyday life often included architecture like buildings, fences and utility poles.
Marinus Fuit, Oorlogsobject Aan Zee (War Object By The Sea), 1982. Lithograph, 19.5” x 25.5”. The Cyril Lixenberg Collection of Contemporary Dutch Prints, a gift of the Brooks Family (2002.0232.1).
View this Work in the Art Collection Database
View more artwork from Cabinet C, Drawer 5 of the Print and Drawing Cabinet