THE HAGUE.- Dürst Britt & Mayhew is presenting ‘What you own is on its way to others’, a solo exhibition by renowned Dutch artist and poet Willem Hussem (1900-1974).

This exhibition brings together a group of works spanning a period of thirty years; from Hussem’s foundational calligraphic ink drawings of the 1940s, through to his hard-edge paintings of the early 1970s. Mostly known for his works from the 1960s, this exhibition aims to show the breadth and line within Hussem’s oeuvre. Drawings, paintings and sculptures from different eras have been juxtaposed in a non-chronological order. The exhibition also includes several of Hussem’s poems. Gallery artist Paul Beumer has been commissioned to create a colour scheme for the exhibition walls.

Willem Hussem (NL, 1900-1974) continually experimented and produced highly diverse works of art. A constant aspiration towards simplicity and purity underlies his entire oeuvre. It was in Hegel’s philosophy and Zen Bhuddism that he found the intellectual basis for the universalistic outlook on the world that would determine his thought and work.

Throughout his life Hussem was in search of a manner of working that tied in with his philosophical views. In poetry, he found this in short lyrics, while in art he initially found it in a style that steered a middle path between expressionism and constructivism, and finally in geometrical abstraction.

From 1936 until 1974 Willem Hussem lived and worked in The Hague, where he was considered a frontman of the cultural avant-garde. During his lifetime he had solo exhibitions at Gemeentemuseum in Den Haag, Museum Het Princessehof in Leeuwarden and Stedelijk Museum in Schiedam and participated in major group exhibitions in Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam, Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven and Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. Hussem also exhibited twice at the Carnegie International in Pittsburgh, US and in 1960 he represented The Netherlands at the Venice Biennial.

After his death the ‘Hussem Committee’, which consisted of influential artists, art historians and museum directors, kept his legacy alive. Retrospectives were mounted at Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam, Centraal Museum in Utrecht and most recently at Museum Belvedere in Oranjewoud.

Hussem’s work is held in many private and public collections, including Centraal Museum, Utrecht, Gemeentemuseum, Den Haag, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam and Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. Recently the AkzoNobel Art Foundation acquired three works for their collection.