Belle Epoque

The 'Belle Epoque' exhibition is a unique collaboration between the photographers' collective Nomads of Sehnsucht and poets from the Literature Department of the Haagse Kunstkring.

Together they go in search of the atmosphere of the Belle Epoque, the beautiful time at the end of the nineteenth century. A time of prosperity and tranquility, in which art and literature flourished. The Hague writer Louis Couperus is an important exponent of this era. The poets of the Haagse Kunstkring selected and created poems for this exhibition that fit the atmosphere of the Belle Epoque and Couperus' oeuvre.

The photographers of Nomads of Sehnsucht, in turn, made work inspired by the poems. They experiment with the limits of photography, partly out of curiosity about the medium and partly out of a desire to arrive at their own visual language, suitable for depicting indefinable desires – Sehnsucht. The work is made with digital and antique cameras, high-tech or developed and printed by hand in the darkroom. In this way an interesting, associative image of the Belle Epoque has been created, which can be viewed and read. The works of art and poems are presented side by side.

My work for this exhibition is related to 'Antiquair', a poem by poet Hans Frans. For my contribution I made a diptych of related flower still lifes with the titles Fin de Siècle and Belle Epoque, based on the poem by Hans Frans and the theme. The atmosphere from Couperus's books, art movements such as Symbolism and Impressionism, was the breeding ground for memories of my grandfather's antique shop and workshop in Noordeinde, mixed with fragments of childhood spent in the Archipelbuurt in The Hague.
With pleasure I gathered my materials, artificial flowers and props from thrift shops, and composed the still lifes in my studio in Delft! The flower still lifes are part of my project Preserved.

Many thanks go to the poets of Haagse Kunstkring: Corina Engelbrecht, Edith de Gilde, Gerrit Vennema, Hans Franse, Jan Bervoets and Mariet Lems.

In The Hague, Sehnsucht members exhibit: Annemarie van Buuren, Dieter Provoost, Helma Vlemmings, Jacqueline Louter-Hoos, John de Vos, Mariska Pool, Mark van Hattem, Nicole Hagesteijn and Olga Rook.

On February 13, our exhibition will be the stage for a lecture by Anita Poolman about Louis Couperus with fragments from moving letters written during the outbreak of the First World War, and moving short stories.

Grand Finissage on February 27, 2022, 3.00 - 5.00 PM

Matinee: Sunday, February 13, 2022, 3:00 – 5:00 PM
Period: 2 - 27 February 2022
Address: Denneweg 64, 2514 CJ The Hague
For more information:  www.galeriesehnsucht.com  &  www.haagsekunstkring.nl