Ad Dekkers

Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner as a gift from the artist

C. Blotkamp, Ad Dekkers, The Hague 1981, p.179, no.67 (drawing of the work is illustrated)
P. Kempers & M. Soeting, Als golfslag op het strand ... Ad Dekkers in zijn tijd, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam 1998, p. 47, no. 6

This work is in mint condition. The work has recently been cleaned and repainted by Henk van Bruggen. He was authorised by Ad Dekkers to execute his works.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Ad Dekkers was one of the last important artists to be directly connected with the NUL movement, associating with them as late as the mid-1960s. Raised in a strict Protestant environment, Dekkers had by 1960 already developed from a relatively conservative figurative painter into an artist working on a reductive and universal language through painted reliefs. His preference for real form and material had led him to produce numerous ephemeral reliefs based on compositional combinations of forms with a strict interrelated geometry. Dekkers was initially influenced by artists such as Ben Nicholson and Piet Mondrian, but in the early 1960s he became disenchanted with the subjective nature of his work and with the notion of tension through composition. He became more interested in the reductive element in the work of artists such as Frank Stella, the Zero artists from Germany and the Dutch Nul movement. From 1964 he was further stimulated through Jean Leering, the progressive director of the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven, with whom he developed a profound and long lasting friendship. The close relationship had a deep impact on both men, and lasted until the artist's death in 1974. His relationship with Leering led to a further shift in Dekkers' work. He started to associate more and more with the Nul artists, Jan Schoonhoven in particular. With Schoonhoven he shared the idea that white provided the best foundation to reveal all the variations of light, and a preference for a total absence of subjectivity in the composition. 

Relief met afgeschuinde blokjes shows Dekkers' clear debt to Mondrian in the position of the square and the delineation of the working field, while at the same time it incorporates the absolute reductivist language he so admired in Stella and Schoonhoven. Dekkers made only a handful of works as pure as this one.

The work was a gift by the artist to his friend the Dutch journalist Rien Robijn (1945-2005).

They knew each other from their hometown Gorinchem. Robijns was the spokesperson for Dekkers and other artists in the region. Already at the age of 16 and still in school, Robijns wrote articles for local newspapers. This resulted in a lifelong mutual respect. When Ad Dekkers found himself with a lack of storage, he hung six art works in Robijns' parental home. When the journalist moved, the relief that is now offered for sale was given to him as a token of gratitude for his unremitting care and support. They both considered it a master piece.

Source; Carel Blotkamp, Ad Dekkers, Staatsuitgeverij, The Hague, 1981.