Untitled - Freddy De Vierman

Contents
Introduction by the artist
3
The artist and his themes
4
This is not Snowy Collection
Sydney Adventures
6
HERGEtekend
8
Dreams
10
Ei-Land
12
Windows & Frames
14
Look, Light!
16
Diptych
18
List of works
23
Résumé
24
Endnotes
26
Contact details
27
This is not Snowy is a collection of oil paintings by Freddy De Vierman
All works with Art Spectrum Professional Quality, Australian Oil paint, on Belgian flax linen
© AKA / Freddy De Vierman, 2004
This is not Snowy by Freddy De Vierman
I’m not really a fan of Tintin.
I don’t like guns in children’s stories
But I do love the “clear line” graphic style and the compositions of Hergé.
I’m not interested in the story itself and I find that the words distract from the picture.
I look at an open page of a comic book as an exhibition of images in window frames.
After I visit a couple of pages I lose interest, and close the book.
I have never really read a whole story of Tintin; a long train with too many floors is too busy for my eyes.
Comics are real storyboards (picture stories) where you can encounter beautiful pictures.
“This is not Snowy” is the title of my latest collection of 24 works, oil paint on linen, where the map of Australia
is associated with Snowy, Tintin‘s fox terrier. The original idea started from another project of mine, “Dinkum” in
which the map of Australia is constructed to make a face. In the first drafts for the Dinkum project, one of the
images reminded me of Snowy, which led to my interest in Hergé and rediscovery of Tintin.
Freddy De Vierman 2001
photo copyright © Ludo Geysels
In Belgium we grew up with lots of comic magazines, such as Robbedoes, TinTin, Nero, Suske and Wiske and
many others. This is not Snowy is a representation of images from such a comic strip adventure story.
The paintings are modifications from existing images, adopted out of the 24 adventures of Tintin and giving them
a new frame.
Within the collection, the “clear line” and the “frame” are analysed.
A mirror reflection of an image appears because the orientation of the map demands it.
In nature lines do not exists. The border between a light and a shadow, or the separation of different colours, can
be designated with a line. When we enlarge this line, new borders appear.
The title is reminiscent of “This is not a pipe” (“Ceci n’est pas une pipe”) a famous painting of the Belgium surrealist
René Magritte.
The number 24 is symbolic for the official books of Tintin that have been published.
This is not Snowy is a souvenir from a world where imagination plays the leading role.
It is a collection of greeting cards from the episodes of Hergé that went on their own adventure.
I hope it will set the audience free to colour their own perspectives in a new window.
- FDV 1/10/2004 (Tintin’s 75th Birthday)
3
The Artist
Freddy De Vierman was born on 9th June 1960 in Antwerp, Belgium. His
father was a painter-sculptor, his mother worked in theatre costume, and he
grew up surrounded by artistic heritage in the home of the Flemish Primitives1,
Surrealism2 and Symbolism3, Breughel4, Rubens5, Van Dijck6, Ensor7,
Magritte8, and the School of Latem. His artistic leanings were evident from a
very early age.
He studied at Antwerp’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts from 1975, graduating
(shortly after the time of the Academy’s “Antwerp Six”9), with Diploma Maxim
Laude in Painting before going on to teach painting and drawing as Master
of Fine Arts, Painting. He was appointed Director of the School of Fine Arts,
Niel in 1982, and became senior lecturer in painting and drawing at Antwerp’s
Academy of Fine Arts a year later. In 1991 he went to live in Sydney Australia
with his wife Susan, and spent 9 months working there on his “Snow White”
collection, which was shipped back to Belgium for exhibition in Antwerp’s
Cultural Capital of Europe year in 1993.
He continued lecturing in Antwerp for the next ten years, producing numerous
major solo exhibitions as well as featuring in numerous group exhibitions,
both locally in Antwerp, Gent and Brussels, and internationally in the
Netherlands, Germany and Japan. His work has won numerous awards and
commendations in the last 25 years, and he has featured prominently in the
media – press, TV and radio – in Benelux and Germany.
4
This is not Snowy
His work over the last 25 years shows tremendous range and diversity,
covering a wide spectrum:
•
•
•
in theme, from challenging, critical or controversial examinations of
religion, bigotry, and corruption through to humorous, surrealistic
and unusual explorations of icons from fairy tales. comic strips,
mass market brands, or other artists or artistic styles,
in scale – from small works in oil on lead (e.g. ex voto Madonna
1995) to more extensive collections of large-scale canvases (Snow
White collection 1992, The Cycle of the Boomerang, 2004),
in media, in 2-dimensions - painting (mostly in oils, but also
tempera, aquarelle, pastel, acrylic) on canvas, lead (metal), wood,
paper, and other surfaces; graphics etchings, lino, screenprints,
offset posters and prints on clothing; more drawing, digital (i.e.
computer-generated) and mixed media – and 3-dimensions (see
his butterfly box collection); installations, video (shop window), and
environmental (Cadzand beach installation).
In June 2002 Freddy once again migrated to Australia with his wife Susan
and 2 daughters Anais (now 8) and Phoenix (6). After his arrival he started to
experiment with computers, and developed a comprehensive range of digital
imagery, drawing upon the Australian and world maps and popular icons for
his imagery. This imagery led him to explore similar themes on canvas, and the
direct result was his “This is not Snowy” collection of oil paintings which are to
be exhibited for the first time in Australia in Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens
in April 2004.
Themes of the artist
The year 2004 marks the 75th anniversary of Hergé’s comic book character
Tintin and his dog Snowy.
Inspired by the artwork of his compatriot, the Belgian artist Freddy De Vierman
has created an extensive collection of oil paintings combining imagery from
the Tintin albums with an Australian theme and a variety of other artistic
influences. This collection is to be previewed Art Gallery of New South Wales
on Wednesday 21st April 2004, followed by an exhibition of the complete
collection of 24 items (30 paintings) in the Palm House, in the heart of the
beautiful Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney’s Domain.
Conscious that perception is vital in the way that the art is viewed, the artist
regards the environment in which the art is viewed as all-important. Hence his
decision to exhibit his “This is not Snowy” collection in the greenhouse location
in Sydney to reflect the collection’s subject location and recurrent themes of
windows, frames, and the quality of light.
It is always rewarding to examine the art of Freddy De Vierman in its original
form, to study it closely, and from different perspectives. It is otherwise difficult
to pick up all of the details, nuances, references and alternative perspectives
from images which have been moved from their original form onto paper or
into digital form and scaled down to fit the page or monitor. For this reason
the images presented here are accompanied by notes, which highlight some
of the detail that might be missed. But it is left to the viewer to draw his or her
own interpretations and conclusions from the art.
The artist is noted for recurrent themes, influences and associations in his
work, which give it consistent threads and links running through two and a half
decades of collections, most of which feature in this collection:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Icons and symbols.
Artistic references and styles.
Painting, drawing and printing techniques.
Images within images.
The framing of images or packaging of objets d’art.
Double vision, mirages, mirror images and the reversal of the
normal order or direction of things.
Deconstruction and reconstruction as a technique to find the
meaning behind an image - for instance, to reveal the “soul’ of
an icon - followed by reconstruction with new connections and
associations to affect the viewer’s perceptions of the image.
Displacement of familiar images into unfamiliar settings to inspire
curiosity.
Trompe l’oeuil10 and the crossing of dimensions.
Connections, associations and juxtapositions.
Transparency, luminosity, chiaroscuro11, and the quality of light.
Metaphors in imagery.
Criticism through humour.
Deliberate “mistakes” or simulated errors.
Surrealism.
5
Sydney Adventures
1 - Sydney Adventures is a series in which the map of Australia, This is not Snowy, and the city of Sydney are associated with images from Hergé’s
Tintin comic-strip albums. This episode forms one work within a total of 24. In the penultimate book “Flight 714” Hergé’s heroes are flying to Sydney
Australia. The story begins with a stopover in Jakarta, and ends with Tintin and company on Qantas flight 714 to Sydney.
Treasure Map This keynote image is based on the
first image from the artist’s digital “Dinkum” project
in which the map of Australia is constructed to
make a face resembling a dog holding a bone.
The dog is reminiscent of Snowy, but is not Snowy.
On the map one can see the ship from “Secret of
the Unicorn”. Tintin’s face is found in the middle of
the compass in the lower left corner. Offshore, in
the lower right corner of the map, a little arrow is
pointing Northwest on the chart towards Sydney,
and the island of Tasmania is transformed into a
heart.
Adventures On the covers of the last five
“Adventures of Tintin” books, the faces of Tintin
and Snowy are together represented as a logo.
In the painting, This is not Snowy is reversed as
a mirror image of the original face of Snowy in
the logo, and is biting a boomerang. The raster
(texture) of the background reminds the viewer of
an aboriginal dot painting. The light is to resemble
the shine on a book cover.
Back from Manly This image comes from the
penultimate frame in the book “Tintin in America”,
but New York is replaced in the painting by Sydney,
and the view of the Opera House, as seen coming
on the ferry from Manly, is the backdrop. Tintin
6
This is not Snowy
wears a Driza-Bone coat. The upper corners of the
painting have an aboriginal dot texture. The broken
edge of the boat between Tintin and his dog is
reflective of the movement of the boat on the
water. The picture has elements of surrealism. The
artist has the displaced dog’s head in the painting,
to suggest that it is floating in Dreamtime.
Message in a bottle This image comes from
“The Crab with the Golden Claws”. In the 60th
anniversary of Hergé the original image was
changed at the request of the American publisher
because drinking alcohol from the bottle was not
considered “politically correct”.
On page 19 of the later editions one sees a new
version of this picture. Captain Haddock leans over
the lower border of the painting. An image of This
is not Snowy takes the place of the anchor on his
sweater. The image in the bottle is a trompe l’oeuil
showing a view of Sydney harbour.
Bring Your Own bondi This image also comes
from “The Crab with the Golden Claws” where (on
page 32) Tintin dreams that Captain Haddock is
about to uncork him. The speech bubble has been
removed and Haddock emerges like Neptune from
the sea. This is not Snowy appears as a label on
the bottle. We find ourselves on Bondi beach, with
the sea and coastline in the background.
Coooeee! In the last frame of page 19 in
“Destination Moon” we see Tintin looking into a
valley, rucksack on his back, saying “Aha! From
here there’s an unrestricted view, so now to work!”
The text is missing in the painting, and Tintin looks
now from Echo Point, Katoomba, at the Three
Sisters rock formations in the Blue Mountains, lying
inland to the West of Sydney. It is as if one can
hear, emanating from the Three Sisters, a Lyrebird
calling “Coooeee!” (from an Aboriginal Dreamtime
story and their call Cooee!)
“To be precise” is the favourite expression of
Thomson and Thompson (known as Jansen and
Janssen in the artist’s home country), normally
heralding one of their classic unwitting witticisms.
Their image comes from a picture in the book
“Land of Black Gold”. There they are going for a dip
in a desert oasis, which turns out to be a mirage.
“Fiddlesticks! … another mirage”
To be precise: Yes.
Sydney Adventures
Treasure Map 76x91
Message in a bottle 76x91
Adventures 76x91
Bring Your Own bondi 76x102
Back from Manly 76x102
Coooeee! 76x102
To be precise 76x91
7
HERGEtekend
(Redesigned / Drawing Hergé)
The strips from the first of the Tintin books,”Tintin in the Land of the Soviets” up until the Second World War were always uncoloured line drawings.
However, after 1942, paper shortages resulted in pressure to shorten the books to 62 pages, and as a result, colour was introduced and the books
were reformatted with a new grid. Old images were reformatted and in some cases updated and replaced for new, and the picture books acquired
their now timeless character. Publishers requested improved pictures to fit the new framework. In the album “The Black Island” even the story
received a fairly radical re-working, and there now exist 3 published editions of the book.
2 - Cowlick race Taken from “Tintin in the Land of the Soviets”, page 11, which was all drawn in black and white, Tintin’s
trademark quiff was introduced for the first time. On the preceding pages of the book his hair had flopped down onto his
forehead, but in this frame the windswept hair acquired its “cowlick” which became his permanent trademark. This first
adventure appeared on 10th January 1929 in the Belgian newspaper Le Vingtième Siècle (20th Century). The colouring
of this painting is suggestive of newspapers of this time. In the bottom left we see reproduced the signature Hergé, the
phonetic way to say R.G., the initials of Georges Remi (Remi, Georges) in French.
In this painting This is not Snowy has replaced the speech bubble, and is wearing a crown. Above this picture we see
part of the frame above in the album, and light lines show the image on the reverse of page 11 showing through.
Cowlick race 76x91
8
This is not Snowy
In the background stand two policemen, who have the appearance of Thomson and Thompson, the detectives who
appeared later in the Adventures: one of them has been painted into the trunk of the tree, with a heart under his belt.
HERGEtekend
3 - Logos Taken from the original black and white edition of “Cigars of the Pharaohs”, this is a mirror image of a frame on
page 16. In later versions, the composition was slightly changed and the frame is now found on page 9. In this picture,
Tintin is hallucinating under the influence of the smell of cigars found in the mummy’s tomb. The presentation of a dream
image becomes a style within a style – a surrealist element of Hergé’s own style.
In the painting, the cigar box has been replaced by This is not Snowy, and a thread has been stretched in the form of a
triangle connecting three nodes in the picture, suggestive of a ‘hot-line’ connection.. Horus peers in through a blue-grey
window.
Logos 76x91
The close observer might find sinister elements in the Egyptian eye and the 666 (or is it 999?) symbolism. The blue-grey
tint of the painting is suggestive of a printer’s draft colours.
4 - Tele Vision Taken from the first (black and white) edition of “The Black Island” (page 107), Tintin stands face to face
with a television. The composition was subsequently completely re-drawn with a completely modernised interior and
is found in later editions on page 54.
TV in pictures became a playful subject for Hergé in the later story “The Castafiore Emerald”. The painting is in mirror
image to the original, and the revolver has been replaced by This is not Snowy hanging from a shoulder strap, taking
the form of the shadow of the dog.
The pyramid on the screen forms a perspective, and the colour of the image simulates an ambient backlight. It is
also interesting to note the changing dress style, physique and gender characteristics of Tintin as the earlier editions
were re-drawn.
Tele Vision 76x102
9
Dreams
5 - Pearly Gates Tintin seems to be always running in his adventures – even when he is sporting wings. This image
comes from the key album in the series “The Blue Lotus”, which marked a progression to a more serious Tintin. Tintin
is seen flying in someone’s dream, and he takes the form of the young Chinese character Chang in the book “Blue
Lotus”, who helped Tintin in the book, and was based on a real-life friend of Hergé who enlightened him and gave him
new racial insights and balance.
Pearly Gates 76x91
On the key hangs a ticket for the Pearly Gates (of heaven). The opening in the top part of the key is in the shape of This
is not Snowy: the lower “tab” part of the key is in the shape of a fox terrier, symbolising friendship, opening and discovery
or transcendence. Pearly Gates is symbolic of a master key for friendship and trust, which opens one to come closer to
others and to one’s self. (Within the Dutch text explaining this painting, the artist makes play of the word “loper” which
means both “runner” and “pass-key”)
6 - Dreamland Based on an image in “Destination Moon” (page 17). Professor Calculus is in dreamland after an
explosion in his bedroom. The text balloon with “Who is it? Did someone knock?” has disappeared in smoke. The
hole in the wall caused by the explosion appears as a window in the form of This is not Snowy through which a full
moon appears.
The artist chose this composition to paint because he was taken by the way that the division of the image gave a
geometric abstract in another frame, suggestive of Mondrian’s12 forms and triangles.
(See also the painting The Fool for more artistic references to Mondrian.)
Dreamland 76x102
10
This is not Snowy
Dreams
7 - The End The image is taken from Hergé’s last book, “Tintin and Alph-art”, (75th anniversary
edition) page 3, in which Hergé makes associations with a woodpecker. The drawings in the book
were sketches, full of a new-found vigour and enthusiasm, in pencil and black ball-point, occasionally
heightened in red, black or blue felt pen. In the painting, the kookaburra replaces the woodpecker
(reversed in mirror image), and takes the silhouette of the Australian map, rotated anti-clockwise.
The opera singer Bianca Castafiore also has the appearance of a pecky bird – half chicken, half
woodpecker.
The centre of the picture is dominated by Haddock’s dream castle – the famous Molensloot in Belgium
– but its drive has been painted longer and wider than the original to deepen the perspective, and an
eye appears over the window on the left. A slightly surreal touch is added by the appearance of an arm
with a bottle coming into frame in the lower right-hand corner.
The End 102x137
The bird represents re-incarnation - perhaps an apt theme, as the creator died in 1983 before this book
was completed.
11
Ei-land
A series of paintings in which the artist plays with the map outline of the island of Australia.
Wordplay also crops up again, as the Dutch word “ei-land” sounds like the English ‘island’ or ‘eye-land’, but carries the meaning ‘egg-land’.
8 - This is not Snowy Taken from “The Shooting Star” (page 62). Haddock is
looking though his binoculars and spots land in sight. Here the map of the
island becomes an image of This is not Snowy. In the left-hand frame Captain
Haddock is holding the dog’s nose, which can also be seen as an island in its
frame, instead of binoculars. Is he actually looking through the dog’s nostril?
10 - Citadel Taken from “Red Rackham’s Treasure” (page 25), in which Tintin
and Haddock are digging a hole on the beach. The hole has been given the
form of This is not Snowy, and a reflection of the moon can be seen inside
the hole.
The forward-looking eye of the dog has become a thought bubble in which
a question mark signifies Tintin wondering what has become of his canine
friend.
A vertical beam emanates upward from the hole, dividing the picture in two
and giving the impression of a castle’s ramparts. The outlines and colours in
the picture are more pastel and lighter than is usual in comic books, giving
the characters an ‘embossed’ appearance, and creating the impression of
peering into another dimension.
9 - Lost in words Taken from “The Crab with the Golden Claws” (page 28),
the book in which Tintin first met the accident-prone, hard-drinking Captain
Haddock.
11 - Next Morning Taken from “The Calculus Affair”. On page 10 of the book,
a new chapter starts and a picture of a robin singing is used to signify the start
of a new day, and the commencement of a new episode.
The white border round this picture takes the form of a text balloon, in reversal
of the normal placing of the bubble within the frame. Tintin’s eyes take the blue
colour of the sky. Haddock has fallen over, into a This is not Snowy contour,
creating a visual pun of him being Down Under.
The robin’s breast bears an image of This is not Snowy, and the background is
representative of a map, with marks representing places on the map.
This same image also inspired the artist’s painting “The Fool”.
12
This is not Snowy
Ei-land
This is not Snowy 76x91
Lost in Words 76x91
Citadel 76x91
Next Morning 76x91
12 - Down Under water The element water is strongly presented in the images of Hergé. In the album
“Cigars of the Pharaohs”, page 12, the last image shows Tintin and Snowy in the sea with an enormous
wave crashing over them. This image reminded the artist of the Japanese woodcut known as “The Great
Wave” by Hokusai.13
Down Under water comes from “Red Rackham’s Treasure”, and is the upper half of page 32. The
colour of the painting is blue and green grey. The frames and speech bubbles are fading in the air and
water, and the artist has painted the top of the picture with a dark blue stroke in the traditional Japanese
woodcut style of representing the sky.
The painter has depicted the shark in the form of the map of Australia; the frames have the appearance
of washing away under water; and the pictures weave together. The overall look and feel of the picture
is very different than the original comic book imagery, but it reflects the influence that the Japanese artist
Hokusai had upon Hergé.
Down Under water 102x137
13
Windows & Frames
13 - Les étages Taken from “Red Rackham’s Treasure”, page 58. The title of this piece is French for Levels. In this
composition, we see the reporter (Tintin) through a screen which represents the layout of page 58 in the story. The
painting has the shade of an old newspaper, and on the back page of the paper we see This is not Snowy appearing in
the column as a picture from a story, or perhaps, a weather map.
“Well what about that?”
Les étages 76x91
14 - Broken Window Taken from “The Castafiore Emerald”, painted in a red-brown earth colour. In this picture Tintin is
crawling up a poplar tree looking for the missing emerald in the magpie’s nest.
The painting is divided into three and a half vertical frames, and the shape of a cross is the dominant form in the first three
vertical frames taken together. The top window in the left-hand vertical also has a cross shape within it, and appears
lighter than each of the frames below it. In the second vertical frame, Tintin hangs from the tree, making a shape like a
small chapel of the type that is often seen in trees in the artist’s home country. The third vertical has the appearance of
a broken window, through which one can see Tintin creeping up the branch towards the nest (in the form of This is not
Snowy): the topmost square in this frame develops as a splinter in the middle and its shape suggests a speech bubble.
In the fourth vertical, the lower frame has a reflection appearing in the glass of the window.
Broken Window 76x91
This picture is strongly suggestive of the images of the “Stations of the Cross”14, the religious images found in churches,
portraying the story of the final days of Christ.
14
This is not Snowy
Windows & Frames
15 - Shark Rose Taken from “The Castafiore Emerald”, page 24. In this composition the face was left incomplete, and
the picture gives the impression of an unfinished children’s colouring book with watery colours.
Bianca Castafiore smells a rose, which takes the shape of This is not Snowy. Her face takes the form of a white shark,
and one of her fingers is shaped like a swan. In a section of the following frame we are looking over the shoulder of the
photographer, whose glass frames have become rose coloured. Together these pictures become bonded by a red
screen, rather like a grid for drawing, or perhaps, a shark net.
Where the rose grows into Australia, the sharks stick their thorns out on the coast.
Once again, the artist has developed dualities in his imagery.
Shark Rose 76x91
16 - Double Vision Taken from “The Secret of the Unicorn” page 23.
Snowy has become tipsy from drinking alcohol while his owner’s attention was elsewhere, and is now
seeing double. His head has been replaced by This is not Snowy in two frames, and the frames of the
page above and below have not been filled in.
The borders of the main frame have been displaced, reflecting Snowy’s double vision, and the painting
has the appearance of erroneous mis-register in the printing of the book.
We see in Snowy’s twisted speech bubble This is not Snowy as a black hole.
Double Vision 102x137
15
Look, Light!
More and more we are confronted with an image as an element within a network of images. The question is how can we look at one image in isolation
of its environment and the other images surrounding it. Where can we find the time in the hectic rhythm of life to fully observe the daily images
which we encounter?
17 - Look! The painting “Look!” is all about images within images. The image comes from page 6 of the
book “Secret of the Unicorn”, where Tintin looks at the painting and Haddock says, “Look!” The original
contours are retained as much as possible except the image in the small frame behind Haddock’s head,
and the image that Tintin is looking at. The speech bubble has been replaced by a spotlight shining
upwards, like a funnel. The painting is dark, employing chiaroscuro for atmosphere. Haddock looks like
a tour guide, wearing a miner’s headlamp to illuminate the picture, explaining or showing the way into the
image at which Tintin is gazing. In the frame behind his head we see a block construction, suggesting a
brick wall, or alternately, a comic strip. The shadow on the picture forms a perspective and reminds one
of a mirror. Tintin looks with his face against the picture frame. His nose has disappeared, and a short
vertical white border separates him from the image in the frame. Haddock’s hand appears to enter into
the painting, and an illusion is formed, as the colour of the hand becomes part of the painting. Tintin
looks into the framed images. Initially one sees an X-ray of This is not Snowy.
Transparency has been used in the image to give it more space and depth. The cloud reminds one of
either a speech bubble, or alternatively, an island in the frame. Or it can resemble looking into a crater, or
alternatively looking up from a crater at a full moon with a ghost image of Snowy. It has a deliberate look
of being an undercoat, or unfinished image. Above the hand of Haddock there are 6 dots, representing
the 5 stars of the Southern Cross, with the sixth point on his hand representing a mirror image.
The lower frame is white, like a silver photo frame. Within the frame we can see the contours of the
Sydney Opera House and the bow form of the Harbour Bridge. Haddock has his arm over the frame,
and in his hand his pipe glows black, yellow and red, the colours of the Belgian flag.
18 - The Reinforcement This image originated in filmstrips. The pose is also found in the book “King
Ottokar’s Sceptre” on page 12. Tintin runs together with Snowy in a floodlight. The head of Snowy in
the shadow is removed, and This is not Snowy forms the shadow of Tintin’s head. The darker shadow
on the background is divided horizontally in two: the undercoat is tinted red. The colour of the painting
has reference to the unofficial flag of the Aborigines – dot-painted black, yellow red – the colours of both
the Australian Aboriginal and the Belgian flag. The reinforcement is the coming together of the light and
the shadow.
16
This is not Snowy
Look! 102x137
The Reinforcement 102x137
Look, Light!
19 - Flash Back Taken from “The Calculus Affair”, page 10. In the painting, the top strip reappears in
mirror image in the lower strip. Snowy’s head is missing, but its silhouette appears as the hole in the
hedge. There is a strong blue cast to the painting.
The light beam is again a dominant feature, and has the appearance of a road heading off into the
horizon in the bottom left corner. If we follow the images in the painting clockwise, it forms a loop,
referring to a film strip.
Flash Back 102x137
20 - The Rendezvous Taken from “Tintin in America” Every painting has its story, and in a comic every
image tells its own story that is part of the overall story. The Rendezvous is about an image that calls
to mind a miner.
This déjà vu reminded the artist of childhood days when he was about 10 years old and reading
comic strips in school was forbidden. He says, “This picture comes from page 3 of ‘Tintin in America’
and I remember that I took this picture to my father and asked him “What is a boomerang?” I thought
it was some sort of magic trick - a strange flying object that could bring someone down and then fly
back? I thought there must be elastic attached. I don’t remember how he answered, but that is my first
recollection of hearing of the land of Australia.”
The painting is in colours that look as though they have faded with time. The map of Australia weaves a
route in the background. The borders of the comic strip fade so that the frames almost merge into one.
The boomerang becomes a metaphor for time. The head of Snowy in the third frame is missing, and
in the fourth frame Snowy has completely disappeared. This is not Snowy appears, biting on a bone,
in the outline of the picture.
The Rendezvous 102x137
17
Diptych
21 - The Fragment Taken from the “King Ottokar’s Sceptre”, pages 10 and 11.
Here a ditptych15 has been made from 2 separate canvases, showing images from
two and a half comic book frames.
In the left hand frame, we see the last illustration from page 10: the hole in the window
takes the form of This is not Snowy, which also appears in place of the dog’s head.
The Fragment 76x193
In the right-hand canvas we see the first, and part of the second, illustration from
page 11: the broken glass has disappeared and only a fragment remains underfoot,
transposed from the first frame to re-appear above Tintin’s head. In the third image,
part of the speech bubble reflects the window frame of the middle image.
The painting is dusty in colour, with an aged feel, and is painted to resemble a printprocess, with first grey blue drawing line then the colour is laid on in a soft “smudged”
manner, giving the impression of printing errors.
18
This is not Snowy
Diptych
22 - Come, quick! Taken from “Prisoners of the Sun”, page 15.
The back cover image from the publishers Mammoth, this image replaced the image on the
cover of the book “Tintin in the Land of the Soviets”
This picture is two joined canvases in which one is a mirror image of the other.
Three images of Tintin appear in the painting, running in two opposite directions.
The left hand Tintin is overpainted and fades into the background.
The middle Tintin is painted in mid-tones and overlaps with the right-hand Tintin, running in the
opposite direction. This “butterfly” picture suggests a Rocharch ink-blot test.
Come, quick! 91x153
The blush in the overlapping cheeks makes a red nose, giving a clownish appearance to the
image. Or alternatively, when viewed with the thin vertical line below, it can be seen as a flower.
Tintin runs on a dark line, chasing into the shadow opposite, towards an apparent vertical drop.
The overlapping heads form a liquid circle, symbolising the sun. Or alternatively it can be seen as
the number zero - the number of The Fool in tarot cards, the card which also features a sun, a
small white dog, and the subject in jeopardy of going over the edge of a cliff.
Tintin is holding Snowy in his hands, and the head of the dog appears as This is not Snowy.
19
Diptych
23 - The Fool
The painting is, (like “Come,quick!”), inspired by the card
The Fool (the Tarot card equivalent to the Joker in playing
cards), which is a symbol for All That Is.
The picture is taken from “The Crab with the Golden
Claws”, page 28 – the same image that inspired the
painting “Lost in Words” – which sits facing the image that
inspired “The Couple”
Haddock has fallen into a hole in the shape of the
Australian map – the Fool has fallen Down Under.
Tintin’s usual single tuft has been replaced by double
tufts. This can be seen as reminiscent of Rupert Bear – or
perhaps, a crown – or possibly a Mickey Mouse…
Once again, the artist has used dots, but this time they are
more suggestive the spots of a clown than the Aboriginal
spots used elsewhere in the collection.
The Fool 152x198
Within this large-scale painting, we see the painter moving
further away from the traditional Hergé style of imagery into
a more modern pop art style, strongly influenced by the
style of Piet Mondrian, leader of the modern abstract art
movement, who is noted for his simplistic forms, colours,
equilibrium and geometric shapes.
20
This is not Snowy
Diptych
24 - The Couple
Like “Lost in Words” and “The Fool” this picture is taken from ‘The Crab with
the Golden Claws’ this image is a full page (page 29), facing the page from
which “The Fool” was derived.
Haddock and Tintin are walking in the desert, which bears the unmistakeable
colours of Australia’s red centre. Snowy is no longer beside them but
instead becomes their guiding light underfoot. Haddock, Tintin and their
shadows become one, and it is left to the viewer to decide the direction of
their travel.
In the original picture Haddock wears a knotted handkerchief to protect
himself from the sun. Now we see the handkerchief become one with the
landscape to form Uluru, the sacred Aboriginal landmark rock in Australia’s
red centre (previously known as Ayers Rock), on the horizon.
“The Couple” is the last painting of this collection, “This is not Snowy”…
And an introduction to the theme of the artist’s next collection of oil paintings,
“The Cycle of the Boomerang”.
The Couple 198x152
21
List of works
Set
Sydney Adventures
HERGEtekend
Dreams
Ei-land
Windows & Frames
Look, Light!
Diptych
No
1a
1b
1c
1d
1e
1f
1g
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
Title
Treasure map
Adventures
Back from Manly
Message in a bottle
Bring Your Own bondi
Coooeee!
To be precise
Cowlick race
Logos
Tele Vision
Pearly Gates
Dreamland
The End
This is not Snowy
Lost in Words
Citadel
Next Morning
Down Under water
Les étages
Broken Window
Shark Rose
Double Vision
Look!
The Reinforcement
Flash Back
The Rendezvous
The Fragment
Come, quick!
The Fool
The Couple
Size (cm)
76 x 91
76 x 91
76 x 102
76 x 91
76 x 102
76 x 102
76 x 91
76 x 91
76 x 91
76 x 102
76 x 91
76 x 102
102 x 137
76 x 91
76 x 91
76 x 91
76 x 91
102 x 137
76 x 91
76 x 91
76 x 91
102 x 137
102 x 137
102 x 137
102 x 137
102 x 137
76 x 193
91 x 153
152 x 198
198 x 152
Page
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
8
9
9
10
10
11
13
13
13
13
13
14
14
15
15
16
16
17
17
18
19
20
21
23
Freddy De Vierman
Freddy De Vierman, Artist
DoB: 9 June 1960, Antwerp Belgium
Studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp
Graduate Diploma Maxim Laude in Painting
Graduate Diploma in Teaching Fine Arts specialised
Painting and Drawing all levels
Master of Fine Arts, Painting
1982-1991 Director- School of Fine Arts Niel
1983-1991 Senior lecturer in painting and drawing at the
City Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp
1991-1992 Lived in Sydney Australia working on the
exhibition “Snow White” for Antwerp 1993
European Capital of Culture
1992-2002 Lecturer painting and drawing at the City
Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp
June 2002 Living and working in Sydney
Awards
1979
1980
1981
1982
1986
1987
1988
1989
1995
24
M. Macken Prize
O.Nottebohm Prize/ V.R.I.K.A. Prize
M.Macken Prize
Looymans Prize
Commendation for Philippe Guimiot Art
Gallery Brussels Prize
De Keyzer Prize
Honorable Mention Eugene Van Marcke
Prize
Honourable Mention Vako-Aarschot Prize
Selected for the International David Teniers
Prize and Camille Huysmans Prize
Publication in the International Yearbook of
Best Posters, Graphis Poster 95
This is not Snowy
Current projects
• “This is not Snowy” – a collection of 24 works, oil on
linen, due to be exhibited in Sydney Australia mid-2004.
• “The Cycle of the Boomerang” – collection of 10
works, oil on linen, to be exhibited in Sydney Australia
end-2004.
• “Freddy Dinkum” project – digital visualisations of faces
on the map of Australia, licensed for commercial use in a
range of consumer products and promotions: associated
projects “Dinkum World” and “Dinkum Kids” ongoing.
Exhibitions
Exhibitions over Belgium and in the main cities, Antwerp,
Gent and Brussels
International Exhibitions in the Netherlands, Germany and
Japan
1996
1995
1994
1993
Solo
2002
2001
ARTillerie - Gallery Koenart, Watou
Stoelen voor Stilte (Silent Chairs) - Gallery
Koenart, Watou
2000
Exhibition - Gallery Koenart, Watou
Cronos - Gallery S&S, Borgerhout, Antwerp
Hocus Opus in B-mol - Gallery Cum Laude
1999–2000 Royal Display - window installation
Video shows: Where do we MEAT again?
- Cow on the BAR - Mama why do they
carry guns at the Wedding? - The Vespa
Man - Mister Crash - Free Cigars on Board
- Tic Tac - Easter Bunny - Life Style
Shop Fish &Chips, Antwerp
Colored Water - Gallery Projekt, Antwerp
1999
Au Bain Marie - Gallery De Zwarte Panter,
Antwerp
The Red House - Gallery De Griffioen, St.
Pauwels Gent
1998
S.O.S. (Save Our Souls) - Culture Centre Ter
1991
1990
1989
1986
1985
1984
Rivieren, Deurne Antwerp,
(Jointly exhibited complementary collection
with Chris Vanbeveren)
S.O.S - Culture Centre Westrand, Dilbeek
Brussels (with Chris Vanbeveren)
Moeder (Mother) - Gallery De Griffioen, St P
auwels Gent
Shades of Darkness - Gallery De Zwarte
Panter, Antwerp
Poster: Beware of (GOD in mirror) published in Graphis Poster 95
Antwerp 93, European Capital of Culture
Snow White - Gallery De Zwarte Panter
Posters: Antwerpen 39 - published in
Graphis Poster 95
Antwerpen 93 - published front page
Regional Newspaper De Nieuwe Gazet,
Antwerp
Antwerp39 en 93 – published in Zuurvrij
AMCV, letteren huis number 4 June 2003
Surry Hills Pilgrimage - Gallery De Griffioen,
St Pauwels, Gent
Lux Aeterna - Gallery De Zwarte Panter,
Antwerp
Interfusion - Sint Bernardus Monastery,
Hemiksem,
Exhibition - Romy Goldmuntz Centre,
Antwerp
Exhibition - Technical College, Kapellen
Behind the Xmas window - House Elisabeth,
Antwerp
Etchings and Drawings - Rotonde, Niel
Centenary - Town Hall, Hemiksem,
Paintings & Assemblages - House of Jacob
Jordaens - Royal Theatre, Antwerp
Paintings & Drawings - Town Hall Zoersel,
Antwerp
Résumé
Selected group exhibitions
2003
Pub Poster Competition, The Clock Hotel,
Surry Hills, Australia – Selection prize MCA
2002
Troost (Consolation) - Gallery De Griffioen, St
Pauwels Gent
2001
Mannen met Baarden (Men with Beards)
- Museum Huis van Alijn, Gent
Future Perfect - Culture Centre, Berchem
Antwerp
Partial Changes - Gallery S&S, Borgerhout
Antwerp
2000
Art in Car - Renault Show Room, Antwerp
Recycling - Gallery Cum Laude, Mol
Carre’ d’Art, Video installation HiSStory
Never Again! City Hall, Antwerp
1999
Psych-Out, Rorschach Project - Royal
Academy of Fine Arts, Antwerp
GenAnt - Gallery De Griffioen, St Pauwels
Gent
1998
The Dreamtime - Gallery De Griffioen, St
Pauwels Gent
1997
Zachor - Vredeshuis (Peace Museum), Gent
Fatal Attraction - Gallery De Griffioen, St
Pauwels Gent OBC1 - Gallery B1, Antwerp
Cadzand Bad - Beach installation, Oostburg
Netherlands
1996
International Internet & Fax project - Culture
Centre Scharpoord, Knokke
750 Year St Bernardus - St Bernardus
Monastery, Hemiksem
N’art’cisme - Gallery B1, Antwerp
Zachor - Romy Goldmuntz Centre, Antwerp
- Centre Ben Gurion, Brussels - Gallery
Lammel, Bad Munster Eifel Germany
1995
Bread and Dough Sculptures - Gallery B1,
Antwerp
Fax Project Artis – Salon des Artistes 95 -
1994
1993
1991
1990
1989
1988
Nekkerhallen, Mechelen
GenAnt - Gallery De Griffioen, St Pauwels
Gent
7x young talent - Elzenveld Sint Jorispand,
Antwerp
25 years De Zwarte Panter - Elzenveld Sint
Jorispand, Antwerp
Palette on Paper - Belgium Exchange
Center, Osaka Japan
I Have a Dream, Decor for Dance Theatre
- Royal Theatre, Antwerp
Collective Exhibition - Museum Bijloke, Gent
Lof van de hand (Praise from the Hand) University Hospital V.U.B., Brussels Congress Palace, Brussels
Bernardus 93 - St Bernardus Monastery,
Hemiksem
Flanders Erotica 93 - V.U.B. University,
Brussels Art meet Art - in association with
Wella Company, Brussels, Gent, Antwerp
Flemish Art - Art Centre De Melkfabriek,
Sittard Netherlands
Rondom de Zwarte Panter - Culture Centre
Scharpoord, Knokke
Interieur 1990 - 12th international Biennial
Design Fair, Gent
Rotary Prize - Town hall, Mortsel Markiezenhof, Bergen op Zoom, Netherlands
International David Tenniers Prize & Camille
Huysmans Prize - Royal Academy of Fine
Arts, Antwerp
Group Exhibition - Gallery De Zwarte Panter,
Antwerp - Culture Centre Strombeek Bever,
Brussels
Exhibition - Gallery MAT, Amsterdam
Netherlands
International Prize Eugene Van Marcke -
1987
1986
1985
1984
1983
1982
1981
Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Antwerp
Verdwenen Aarde (Earth disappeared) - St
Bernardus Monastery, Hemiksem
International Prize Vako Aarschot 1988 Culture Centre, Aarschot
De Gele Gier - Museum Herman Teirlinck,
Beersel Brussels
Opening Exhibition - Gallery De Gele Gier,
Gent
Lineart - Art Fair, Gent
Prize De Keyzer and Camille Huysmans Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Antwerp
Wendungen - Gallery Axis, Heist op den
Berg
Confederation of Politic Prisoners International Culture Center, Antwerp
2x De Vierman en De Ranter - Rotonde, Niel
Group Exhibition - Handels Beurs, Antwerp
Portrait Art - Royal Academy of Fine Arts,
Antwerp
10 Young Antwerp Artists - Gallery Campo,
Antwerp
Internet Links
Freddy De Vierman www.freddydevierman.com
De Zwarte Panter www.artsite.be/zwartepanter
Fish & Chips www.fishandchips.be
Graphis Poster 95 www.graphis.com
Chris Vanbeveren www.chrisvanbeveren.com
25
Endnotes
1
Flemish Primitives: master painters of the Northern Renaissance,
working at the centre of the Burgundian realm in southern
Netherlands during the fifteenth century: Robert Campin (the
Master of Flémalle), Jan van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden, Petrus
Christus, Dieric Bouts, Hugo van der Goes, Hans Memling, and
Gerard David. These artists ushered in the age of realism, with
beautiful, enduring and emotionally stimulating art, which helped
establish the foundations of modern European painting. Their
new system of painting in transparent layers yielded colours of a
saturation and depth never before seen and imbued their sensual
human forms with a stunning luminosity. They developed new
symbolic associations, experimented with light, and expressed the
cultural changes taking place around them, including a heightened
spirituality and the emergence of a wealthy bourgeoisie.
2
Surrealism: A 20th-century literary and artistic movement that
flourished in Europe between World Wars I and II, and attempts
to express the workings of the subconscious by fantastic imagery
and incongruous juxtaposition of subject matter. Surrealism grew
principally out of the earlier Dada movement, which before the
First World War produced works of anti-art that deliberately defied
reason; but Surrealism’s emphasis was not on negation but
on positive expression. The movement represented a reaction
against what its members saw as the destruction wrought by the
“rationalism” that had guided European culture and politics in the
past and that had culminated in the horrors of World War. According
to the major spokesman of the movement, the poet and critic
André Breton, who published “The Surrealist Manifesto” in 1924,
Surrealism was a means of reuniting conscious and unconscious
realms of experience so completely that the world of dream and
fantasy would be joined to the everyday rational world in “an
absolute reality, a surreality.” Drawing heavily on theories adapted
from Sigmund Freud, Breton saw the unconscious as the wellspring
of the imagination. He defined genius in terms of accessibility to this
normally untapped realm, which, he believed, could be attained by
poets and painters alike.
The major Surrealist painters were Jean Arp, Max Ernst, André
Masson, René Magritte, Yves Tanguy, Salvador Dalí, Pierre Roy,
Paul Delvaux, and Joan Miró. With its emphasis on content
and free form, Surrealism provided a major alternative to the
contemporary, highly formalistic Cubist movement and was largely
responsible for perpetuating in modern painting the traditional
emphasis on content.
26
This is not Snowy
3
Symbolism: a 19th-century movement in which art became
infused with mysticism. It was a continuation of the Romantic
tradition, including such artists as Caspar David Friedrich and
John Henry Fuseli. The Symbolists mined mythology and dream
imagery for a visual language of the soul. More a philosophy
than an actual style of art, they influenced the contemporary Art
Nouveau movement and Les Nabis. Leading Symbolists included
Gustave Moreau, Odilon Redon, and Pierre Puvis de Chavannes.
The movement was also a major influence on some of the
Expressionists, especially through the work of Edvard Munch and
Franz von Stuck.
4
Pieter Brueghel, the Elder (1525-69) is best known for his peasant
works including The Harvesters, and The Peasant Wedding. Pieter
Brueghel, the Younger (1564-1637), and his brother Jan “Velvet”
Brueghel (1568-1625) were also well known painters of their time.
5
Peter Paul Rubens – 1577-1640.
6
Sir Anthony Van Dyck, Flemish, went to London in 1632, and
was knighted by Charles I. His work influenced future British portrait
painters. His best-known works are of the Stuart family.
7
James Ensor (1860-1949): Born in Ostend, Belgium where his
parents had a souvenir shop. Ensor attended the Brussels BeauxArts from 1877-1880. A founder member of the group XX, from
which he was nearly expelled because of the originality of his art,
he began to be respected towards the end of the 19th century.
The theme of masks is central to work of Ensor. A precursor
of Expressionism, he influenced Emil Nolde and Paul Klee. His
fantastical universe foreshadowed Surrealism.
8
Rene Magritte – 1898-1967, leading member of the Belgian
surrealist group in the 1920s, known as an early innovator of Pop
Art in the 1960s. One of Magritte’s most famous images “Ceci n’est
pas une pipe” has itself become an icon, and references to this
crop up in Freddy De Vierman’s work – as reflected in the title of his
collection “This is not Snowy”
9
“Antwerp 6” - Walter van Beirendonck, Dirk Van Saene, Dries Van
Noten, Dirk Bikkembergs, Ann Demeulemeester and Marina Yee,
fashion designers whose first international breakthrough came as
‘The Antwerp Six’ at the British Designer Show in London in 1987.
10
Trompe l’oueil, French for trick of the eye – a technique used
in realistic paintings to trick the eye, especially through the use of
perspective to create an illusion of three-dimensionality
11
Chiaroscuro - the use of light and shade in paintings and
drawings, or the effect produced by this. Also known as claireobscure.
12
Piet Mondrian, b. 1872, Amersfoort, The Netherlands; d. 1944,
New York City, a pioneer of 20th Century abstractionism. His
reputation rests on about 250 abstract paintings dating from 1917
to 1944, each built layer by layer toward an equilibrium of form,
colour and surface. Born Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan, Jr., on March
7, 1872, in Amersfoort, the Netherlands. Studied at Rijksakademie
van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam, 1892 to 1897. Until 1908
his work was naturalistic, incorporating successive influences of
academic landscape and still-life painting, Dutch Impressionism,
and Symbolism. In 1909 and 1910, he experimented with Pointillism
and by 1911 had begun to work in a Cubist mode. Lived in Paris
from 1912 to 1914, where he began to develop an independent
abstract style. During the war years in Holland, he reduced his
colours and geometric shapes and formulated his non-objective
Neo-Plastic style. In 1917, he became one of the founders of the
De Stijl group, which extended its principles of abstraction and
simplification beyond painting and sculpture to architecture and
graphic and industrial design. He moved to London in 1938 and
then settled in New York in 1940. In New York, he joined American
Abstract Artists and continued to publish texts on Neo-Plasticism.
He died February 1, 1944, in New York.
13
The woodcut entitled “The hollow of the deep sea wave off the
coast of Kanagawa” by the Japanese artist Hokusai (1760-1849),
popularly known as “The Great Wave”. In traditional Japanese
woodcuts you can’t find any designs of clouds in the prints. Under
the influence of Western art. Hokusai represented the sky as part of
the design rather than leaving it blank, reflecting increasing Western
influence. Hokusai introduced a new and powerfully simple graphic
style – suggestive to the artist of the Clear Line.
14
The Stations of the Cross: 1st Jesus is Condemned to Die. / 2nd
Jesus Carries His Cross. / 3rd Jesus Falls the First Time. / 4th Jesus
Meets His Mother. / 5th Simon Helps Jesus Carry His Cross. / 6th
Veronica Wipes Jesus’ Face. / 7th Jesus Falls the Second Time. /
8th Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem / 9th Jesus Falls the Third
Time / 10th Jesus is Stripped / 11th Jesus is Nailed to the Cross /
12th Jesus Dies on the Cross / 13th Jesus is Taken Down from the
Cross / 14th Jesus is Laid in the Tomb
15
A diptych is a print or another kind of art work consisting of two
panels.
Contact
The Run 76x91
study for the larger scale work
‘The Reinforcement’
Represented In Australia & New Zealand by:
Alan Keyes
Alan Keyes Associates Pty Ltd
1407 / 187 Liverpool Street
Sydney NSW 2000, Australia
Tel/Fax
02-9267 0717.
E-mail:
alan_keyes@hotmail.com
www.alan-keyes.com
Contact Details:
Freddy De Vierman
37 Leamington Avenue
Newtown 2042
New South Wales, Australia
E-mail
freddydevierman@hotmail.com
or
freddydinkum@hotmail.com
Represented internationally by:
Terry Horsfall
AKA International
E-mail
terryhorsfall@mac.com
or
terry@freddydinkum.com
Internet links
Freddy De Vierman www.freddydevierman.com
Dinkum Project www.freddydinkum.com
Dinkum World www.dinkumworld.com
Tin Tin www.tintin.com
27
I’d like to thank the following for their help and support:
• My family, Susan, Anaïs and Phoenix
• Alexandra van Niekerk and Nick Connor
• Terry Horsfall of AKA International
• Alan Keyes of AKA
• Nik Byrne of AKA Design
• Brett McGuire of Cutler Hughes & Harris
• Ray Brown of Ashmore Brown Chait
• Idoia Mentaberri and Karen Hoban of the Botanical Gardens Trust
• Pat Mackle of Avant Card
• Mark Patrick of MPA
- Freddy De Vierman April 2004
www.freddydevierman.com