Ben Joppe, painter of the impossible

The Library of Zeeland in Middelburg and the Ben Joppe Foundation in Zierikzee present the extraordinary work of the abstract painter Ben Joppe (1915-2007) in Ben Joppe, painter of the impossible.

The exhibition consists of circa 25 paintings en 20 works on paper, along with documentary material and photographs.

Just before his death, the artist founded the Ben Joppe Foundation in support of talent in symphonic music and art in general. He also assigned Marty Bax to write the catalogue. In her Epilogue (skip to p. 2 on the website page) she explains the extraordinary circumstances, which have led to this production.

Ben Joppe: a wilful, explicit, hard-nosed artist. He called himself ‘painter of the impossible’. His art was to be a revolt against ‘moral and mental corruption, hypocrisy, the faint-heartedness of our time’. An art which is ‘lively, strong, protesting, cutting-edge, even violent’. Not an art ‘for the gallery’, but an art that ‘shows healthy, pure feelings, the splendour and the emotions I perceive in the depths of myself and around me.’ Hard, ‘Nordic’ art – this is how Ben Joppe saw his work. A cry against mediocrity and opportunism.