This too is Jan Wolkers – on stamps

I have compiled this article in response to the stamp blog article '100 years Jan Wolkers: sculptor, painter and writer' from October 22 by fellow author Randy Koo. You will undoubtedly be asking yourself: “Why?” Well, Jan Wolkers (1925 – 2007) is more than just a book writer! Fellow columnist Koo highlights his literary activities. In this article, I will highlight the artistic aspect of his paintings on stamps. 1) Artistic life of Jan Wolkers in stamp sheet format The stamp sheet 'Weken van de kaart' (nvph 2518) depicts the artistic life of the painter Jan Wolkers (1925 – 2007) in a stunningly insightful manner on stamp sheet format, which I will review section by section as follows: * the poem written especially for this stamp issue. * the snow paintings full of memories and thoughts. * the special and changing depiction of light on Texel and the beach. * two Jan Wolkers stamps. The goddess Venus (born from sea foam and standing on a shell) is blown to the coast of the island of Cyrus by wind gods. Goddesses of the seasons will await her there and clothe her in a floral cloak. A gust of wind already scatters flowers through the air in welcome and makes her hair flutter. * Both the painting and the stamp are supported by delicate and sweet transitional colors in the background, reminiscent of tinted rainbow colors. * On Botticelli's painting and Wolkers' stamp, Wolkers' beloved visual fragments such as sea, space, light, and the nude can be found. * Wolkers' emotional reaction when he first saw the stamp sheet: “This is truly wondrous. And how beautiful that it all flows together like a horizon. Particularly well captured, Lex. Kudos!” 2a) Poet / writer In a poetic outpouring, Jan Wolkers (1905 – 2007) provides a description of the painting 'The Birth of Venus' by the Italian painter Botticelli (1445- 1510). Wolkers wrote this poem especially for this stamp issue and subsequently had it printed on the stamp. In it, the sea, the light, and the space of the island of Texel, where Wolkers has lived since 1980, play an important role. 2b) Painter of snow paintings At the bottom of the stamp sheet are four fragments from snow paintings featuring whimsical relief structures with high and low sections, in which shadows can be discerned. From a distance, however, this work appears to be quite uniform in color, which Wolkers characterizes as “Snowstorms of color, filled with thoughts and memories.” * Visualizations of Wolkers' primary school memories can be found in the snow paintings: “For hours I could watch the teeming of life when I turned over a tile: You saw beetles, worms, woodlice, and snails wriggling as they moved forward. From 1961 to 1980, the Wolkers family stayed on the island every year in May and September. In 1981, the Wolkers family settled permanently on Texel near Den Burg in the country house 'Pomona' (goddess of tree fruits), hidden at the edge of the forest along the Rozendijk, in the hamlet of Westermient, situated between the village of Den Burg and the dunes. The main color from each painting fragment recurs in the horizontal stripes on the stamps: from blue, purple, red to yellow, corresponding to the depiction of the humid climate of Texel and the beach. Wolkers: “If you squint your eyes, you see the sand with the foam of the surf, the azure of the waves with the blue sky above and the special light of Texel. It is a visual staging of the poem; the colors of the sea change constantly due to that light. They are never the same for a single minute.” * The order of the colors on the snow paintings should be read from left to right, following the direction of Western script. With this, graphic designer Lex Reitsma refers to Wolkers' literary work. * Because the horizontal stripes extend across the three stamps, a panoramic effect is created across the entire width of the sheet, which significantly reinforces the idea of ​​Texel's spaciousness. * The vertical stripes in yellow represent either rolling sea waves or sand drifts. * A stamp impression of Wolkers' signature with the rooster, which he uses at book signing sessions (also as a literary reference). The origin of the rooster is unknown and has nothing to do with his sculpture of a naked boy holding the rooster on top of his head. However, Wolkers was certainly a pioneer in numerous artistic fields! 2c) In summary Typographic designer Reitsma manages to present Wolkers' talents on this stamp sheet * as a poet (through the poem), * as a painter (through horizontally tinted rainbow stripes), * as a literary writer (through the painting sequence & 'cock-stamp' impressions of book signing sessions), * as a visual artist (through the rendering of light in an abstract beach scene of Texel) in a varied and insight-enhancing abstract or figurative manner, using allegorical / metaphorical references, allusions, and/or comparisons. 3) Two more Wolkers stamps The Year of the Film stamp (nvph 1635) features a filmed scene from Wolkers' influential book 'Turks fruit' (1969). In this book, active love is given taboo-breaking and varied attention. The kissing figures on the stamp are Rutger Hauer (1944 – 2019) and Monique van der Ven (1952). On the Year of the Book 2016 stamp sheet (nvph 3453), alongside other books, the front and back covers of the book 'Turks fruit' by the writer Jan Wolkers appear on the 2nd stamp, in the top right corner of the sheet.