Cor Jaring - Photo: A man with a painted face (Robert Jasper Grootveld)

Gelatin silver print by Cor Jaring. Depiction of a man with a painted face, This is: Robert Jasper Grootveld, looking out of a window. Dimensions photo: H30.5 x w40.5cm. The work is provided with a studio stamp on the back, by the artist. The authenticity of the work offered is fully guaranteed. A certificate of authenticity can be emailed on request.

Robert Jasper Grootveld:

Robert Jasper Grootveld (Amsterdam, 19 July 1932 – ibid., 26 February 2009) was a Dutch artist who became known for his happenings on the Spui in Amsterdam. Grootveld was a forerunner of the Provo movement, which he later joined.

Biography
Grootveld was the son of Frits Grootveld, an Amsterdam carpenter and member of the freethinkers' association De Dageraad. In 1954 Grootveld became an ice cream vendor and earned a good living, but was dissatisfied. During a bicycle ride to Paris by cargo bike he realised that he wanted to become famous. First he made a foray into journalism: commissioned by Jan Vrijman he investigated the followers of Lou de Palingboer. Grootveld then became a window cleaner for the Hirsch building on Leidseplein and in 1961 he became an anti-smoking magician, as he called it himself. On all kinds of posters advertising cigarettes he put a large letter 'K' (for cancer). In December 1961 he was arrested and imprisoned for this.

He then organised demonstrations, so-called 'happenings', in a workshop of Nicolaas Kroese on the Korte Leidsedwarsstraat in Amsterdam that had been renamed an 'anti-smoking temple'. Among the spectators were Harry Mulisch and Ramses Shaffy. A few weeks after it was put into use, Grootveld accidentally set the temple on fire. He was sentenced to a suspended prison sentence for this. Grootveld was also in contact with Bart Huges during this period, with whom he designed a symbol - an apple in a triangle - for Amsterdam as a magical centre in the delta. Grootveld, who according to himself had been captivated by Sinterklaas since he was three years old, had been preaching for several years that "Klaas is coming".

From 1964 onwards, Grootveld's happenings took place on the Spui. Grootveld danced strangely dressed around the statue Het Lieverdje in a cloud of his own cigarette smoke, while shouting all kinds of incantations, which were taken up by the audience. The best known were: "Uche, uche, uche" and "Klaas komt". In these ceremonies, he made himself, in his own words, an exhibitionist of his own addiction: by ritualising his own addiction, he addressed the larger social addictions of the consumer society and the power of advertising & media within it, the 'publicity, publicity, publicity'. In 1966, Grootveld set up the so-called 'Klaasbank', and on 3 November 1966 he took a speakers' corner into use in the Vondelpark.

With the painter Theo Kley he founded the Exotic Kitsch Conservatory, which in turn became the Insect Sect/expertological laboratory, in which Aat Veldhoen, Simon Vinkenoog, Max Reneman and Ernst Vijlbrief were also involved.

As early as 1955, Grootveld developed into a raft builder. His first raft, Freya, made of waste found in the canals, was towed to the dump by the municipality. He made his later "floating gardens" from blocks of polystyrene wrapped in synthetic cloth, after which a net was tied around the whole. Soil was poured onto the rafts so that plants could grow there. The Zeeburg district used some of his floating gardens for the redevelopment of the Eastern Docklands.[1]

Grootveld lived the last years of his life in the Sint Jacob nursing home, where he died in February 2009. He was buried in the Zorgvlied cemetery.[2]

Upon purchase, the work can be picked up in 's-Gravenzande (near The Hague (Scheveningen), Rotterdam and Delft and 5 minutes from the beach). The period for collection, with advance payment, is very generous, in other words, the buyer can collect the work weeks or even months later and, if possible, combine it with a visit to one of the above-mentioned cities or the beach.
The work can also be sent with Postnl. Our shipping days are Tuesday and Thursday.