Eric van der Wal

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Eric van der Wal (born November 12, 1940 in Bergen ) is a North Dutch artist and book maker. As a small publisher , he published works of book art : artistically designed and book illustrations provided Pressendrucke .

Life

After attending school, briefly studying art in Amsterdam and an apprenticeship as a printer in Alkmaar , Eric van der Wal has lived and worked as a freelance artist and book maker in Bergen / North Holland since the early 1960s . He is married and has two children. Eric van der Wal is a member of the Dutch association of small publishers and press printers "Drukwerk in de Marge", in the "Grafiekgroep Bergen" (formerly "Grafisch Genootschap Drukkerstroost") and in the "Kunstenaarscentrum Bergen (KCB)". His graphics and books have been shown in numerous exhibitions in the Netherlands and other European countries.

In 1992, the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture awarded Eric van der Wal a special award from the Lower Saxony Artists' Scholarship in recognition of his special services to promoting new literature from Lower Saxony.

Eric van der Wals graphics and books can be found in many public collections, including the Leibniz Library (Lower Saxony State Library) in Hanover, the library of the German Literature Archive in Marbach and the Lyrik-Kabinett in Munich , the Klingspor Museum , and the Königliche Library of the Netherlands in The Hague and the Zeeuwse Bibliotheek in Middelburg. They are regularly bought by the Museum Meermanno-Westreenianum in The Hague, which has a complete collection of the books.

plant

As a visual artist, after gouaches and collages , Eric van der Wal has primarily concentrated on prints and created an extensive, often exhibited oeuvre . After initial bird and animal motifs, the sea, coast and landscape of his Dutch homeland, but also Brittany and Normandy, are the subject of his etchings, woodcuts and linocuts. In doing so, he not only experiments with different print media (wooden slats, corrugated cardboard, etc.), but also transfers the initially realistically captured motifs in many series of works into expressively charged visual worlds that come close to abstraction. Elements of the landscape (for example fences, gates, bridges) thus become graphic forms and structures beyond their representational nature, which can often be read as letters or reduced symbols.

His work as a book maker, press printer and small publisher began in 1961 with the printing of poems by his father Theo J. van der Wal ( Vijf verzen ), a Dutch writer, journalist and critic, who in the following years was his literary advisor in the selection of manuscripts. After his death in 1984, the German author Hans Georg Bulla took over this work as editor and editor and since then has also determined the literary profile.

Since the publication of the book Hommage à by Karlhans Frank in 1968, Eric van der Wal has been printing and publishing almost exclusively manuscripts by German-speaking authors from the Federal Republic of Germany, the former GDR, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Austria, mostly first editions and often enough debuts. This peculiarity of his publishing activity earned him the title of “Outpost of New German Literature in Holland”. His authors include Hugo Dittberner , Maria Beig , Hannelies Taschau , Guntram Vesper , Hermann Kinder , Johann P. Tammen , Richard Pietraß , Peter Gosse , Henning Ziebritzki and Bert Strebe . Since his press began, he has published almost two hundred titles, each with an edition of sixty to ninety copies, and he has also produced numerous flyers, dedications and private prints. No two books are alike: For each new text, an independent, specific book and graphic idea is implemented, so that, for example, book objects (made of wood, in cardboard boxes) and books with various illustrations or additions are created. Despite all the book-artistic experimentation, the focus is on the texts that are printed on a Dresden Victoria platen press from the 1920s.

Quote

" " Van der Wal produces 25 to 90 copies per volume, in a simple, one could almost say: rural-Protestant handicraft, in which, despite all the artistry, straightforward, even sober products with clear writing are created. This prevents the lyrics from only playing a minor role. So luckily, they're bibliophile items, but not pretentious quirks and not perfect design. Eric van der Wal knows the art of making aesthetically beautiful things that at the same time exude a solid, sometimes almost robust charm. " "

- Peter Urban Hall

Exhibitions

literature

  • Kurt pg Brandt: Books that you can't find otherwise . In: Die Bücherkommentare , Volume 29, No. 2, 1980, pages 56–57
  • Hans Georg Bulla: A passionate book maker. Eric van der Wal and his hand press . In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung of January 21, 1985.
  • Hans Georg Bulla: Stubborn books from an idiosyncratic hand. About the press printer and book artist Eric van der Wal . In: Clams . No. 29, Viersen 1992
  • Hugo Dittberner: What became of the good and beautiful . In: Frankfurter Rundschau (supplement to the FR book fair) of October 7, 1987
  • Hugo Dittberner: The beautiful in the hand - Eric van der Wals book objects . In: Frankfurter Rundschau of January 5, 1988
  • Gerd Kolter : Fifty years of love for books - The artistic craft of Eric van der Wal . In: the hear . Journal for Literature, Art and Criticism, Volume 240, Volume 55, 4th Quarter 2010
  • Albert Spindler: Types - German-language presses since 1945 . Merlin Verlag Gifkendorf, 1988, pp. 157-159
  • Astrid Tümpel: Book and art - content and form with Eric van der Wal . In: Eric van der Wal - Book and Art . Exhibition catalog. Goch Stone Gate Museum, City of Goch 1986
  • Peter Urban-Halle: About Eric van der Wal Verlag in Bergen, Holland . In: Deutschlandfunk . Book market from December 15, 1994
  • Een Boekmuseum desolate. Aanwinsten 1987-1991 . Tentoonstellingscatalogus. Museum Meermanno-Westreenianum, The Hague 1992

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hans Georg Bulla: Twenty-five years of press Eric van der Wal - twenty-five years of headstrong book making. New German literature from a small Dutch publisher . In: Library News No. 283, University Library Münster 1986
  2. ↑ Peter Piontek: Reading with a pencil - Hans Georg Bulla has been Eric van der Wals' editor for 20 years . In: die horen - magazine for literature, art and criticism , volume 216, 49th year, 4th quarter 2004
  3. ^ Hans Georg Bulla: Outpost of new German literature in Holland . In: Philobiblon , Stuttgart, March 1990
  4. ↑ Ronald Meyer-Arlt: From Another Time - The Books of Eric van der Wal . In: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung of March 3, 2001
  5. ↑ About Eric van der Wal Verlag in Bergen, Holland . In: Deutschlandfunk. Book market . Broadcast on December 15, 1994
personal data
SURNAME Whale, eric van der
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch artist and book maker
DATE OF BIRTH November 12, 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH Mountains