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“The building of New Babylon can only begin once the economy is exclusively aimed at the satisfaction of our needs, in the widest sense of the term. Only such an economy permits the complete automation of non-creative activities, and consequently the free development of creativity”

Constant Nieuwenhuys

Sculptures and drawings for New Babylon

Back in Amsterdam after his stay in London, Nieuwenhuys started to focus mainly on architecture and the urban environment. The focal point of his work was finding out what potential added value art can provide in intensifying daily life, in which there is room for creative expression. He abandoned painting to work solely on his New Babylon project from 1956 to 1974.

With New Babylon Nieuwenhuys envisioned a “world wide city for the future” where land is owned collectively, work is fully automated and the need to work replaced with a nomadic life of creative play. New Babylon is inhabited by homo ludens, who, freed from labor, will not have to make art, for he can be creative in the daily practice of his life.

The New Babylon project consisted of a series of models, constructions, maquettes, collages, drawings, graphics and texts expressing Constant’s theories of urban development and social interaction. A few examples of spatial constructions for which he used modern materials like stainless steel, aluminum and perspex are Het Ruimtecircus (1956) (Spatial Circus) and Het Zonneschip (1956) (Sunvessel).[1]

In 1974 the New Babylon project officially came to an end with a large exhibition in the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag. Because he lacked room to store the vast collection of constructions, maquettes, maps and structures he sold them all to the museum. In 1999 Constant’s New Babylon: City for Another Life, opened at the Drawing Center in New York. It was his first solo exhibition in the United States and was curated by Mark Wigley. There was a symposium conducted in conjunction with the exhibition.

According to the Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, Nieuwenhuys has made a lot of architects think with his New Babylon: “He was an example of courage”.

VIA

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Oil Paintings by Kristoffer Zetterstrand (2003)

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Mark Laver, "I'm gonna shine out in the wild silence" / "Everything looks beautiful, when you're young and pretty" / "I may never be unhappy again"

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Steven Mayer (American, 1986) - The Green Room (2019)

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Robert Tatin (1902-1983)  —  Pop Musik  (oil on canvas, 1971)

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Aristide Caillaud (1902-1990) — Le Port de Dieppe   (oil on canvas, 1963)

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In 1962 at the age of 71, Joseph E. Yoakum (1891–1972) reported having a dream that inspired him to draw. Thereafter the retired veteran began a daily practice and over the next 10 years produced some 2,000 works.

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If you don't see love, climb a tree. Jeremy Miranda Fine Art

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welcome home

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John Zoller, Clearing Sky, 2020, Acrylic on canvas, 66 x 66 in,

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Lawrence English - Viento

Room40

2022

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Leonid Berman (Russian, 1896-1976), Dieppe Coast, 1938. Oil on canvas, 81 x 60 cm.

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Königstein Railroad Station in the Taunus, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner