Livinus van de Bundt

Livinus van de Bundt was a Dutch artist,[1] who called himself Livinus.[2] Initially a painter and graphic artist, he was the founder of an art academy and later became a pioneer of light art and video art.

Livinus van de Bundt
Born
Livinus Arie Cornelis Jan van de Bundt

(1909-03-05)March 5, 1909
Zeist
DiedOctober 11, 1979(1979-10-11) (aged 70)
The Hague
NationalityDutch
Known forlight art, video art
Spouse(s)Mieke van der Burgt
AwardsSikkens Prize
1964

Biography
Livinus van de Bundt in 1964, at the Sikkens Prize awards ceremony. Photo Joop van Bilsen/Anefo.

Livinus Arie Cornelis Jan van de Bundt was born 5 March 1909 in Zeist.[1] His father was Jan van de Bundt (1887–1970), his mother Sijgje Cornelia van der Vlies (1885–1961). Livinus had two sisters, Corry and Kiki.[3]

Livinus started painting aged 14.[4] From 1929 to 1931 he worked for Koninklijke Begeer.[5] He enrolled at the Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten in The Hague in 1932, but left prematurely in 1934 after a number of conflicts.[5] In 1937 he went to Paris to study with Stanley Hayter at Atelier 17 for a year.[1][4]

A 1938 exhibition of his abstract work was not well received, provoking him to destroy his work.[6][4] Aged 30 he gave up painting, unable to achieve the brilliance he envisaged.[6][4] For several years he produced only graphic work in black and white.[6]

During World War II Livinus van de Bundt applied his graphic skills to forge passports.[7] In 1947 he founded the Vrije Academie voor Beeldende Kunsten in The Hague and remained its director until 1964.[8][2] His work was also part of the painting event in the art competition at the 1948 Summer Olympics.[9]

He started working with light, using a variety of materials. His chronopeintures contained illuminated pieces of colored plastic.[4] Livinus' secretive luminodynamical machine, built in the 1950s from lenses, bulbs and electronic components, enabled the operator to generate color effects using a keyboard.[6][4] He built a drum kit which triggered light effects when hit.[6]

Van de Bundt married Mieke van der Burgt (18 April 1917–9 June 1979), herself an artist working in graphics, ceramics and textiles.[10] The pair had a daughter, Livina van de Bundt,[11] and a son, Jeep van de Bundt, who became an artist, musician and later a classic car dealer.[12][13]

In 1970, while on a visit to Intermedia[14] in Vancouver, Livinus started experimenting with video. He produced several video art projects, together with his son.[4]

Livinus van de Bundt died 11 October 1979 in The Hague.[1]

Works

Incomplete list of extant and lost works:

The concrete structure of Livinus' Light Carillon, on the roof of the office building in the background, during nearby demolition work in 1997.
  • A Chronopeinture (1964) as well as several black and white graphical works by Livinus are in the collection of the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.[15]
  • Light Carillon (1967). Placed on the roof of a municipal office building in Arnhem, this was an irregularly shaped, 12 meter high, concrete structure, illuminated in a dynamically changing pattern of colors,[6] with the changing colors announcing the time every quarter of an hour. The installation was built around the building's concrete elevator shaft, with protruding strips covered in fluorescent paint. Placed around it were 216 red, green, yellow, and violet spotlights, each 150W, which were activated by switches, controlled by a punched tape.[16]
    The lights were switched off during the 1973 oil crisis to save electricity, and would never function again. Despite protests the installation was demolished in 1998.[11]
  • Several video works produced by Livinus with his son Jeep are in the LIMA-collection:
    • Discovisie: C.R.M. Stroken 1, Discovisie: C.R.M. Stroken 2, and Discovisie: C.R.M. Stroken 3 (1975), 3:00 each[17]
    • Moiré (1975) 6:12[18]
    • Percussie VI (1977) 2:13[19]

Exhibitions

Solo Exhibitions
  • Fotopeinture
    19 December 1958 – 19 January 1959
    Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
    Illustrated catalog with text in Dutch and English
  • Livinus van de Bundt schildert met licht [20]
    13 August 1965 – 24 October 1965
    Gemeentemuseum, Arnhem
  • De Vluchtkoffer van Livinus [21]
    15 January 2011 – 6 February 2011
    GEMAK, The Hague

Group Exhibitions
  • Classic Video Art [23]
    21 October 2017 – 10 December 2017
    Museum Hilversum

Awards

Van de Bundt was awarded the 1964 Sikkens Prize for his fotopeintures.[24]

Bibliography
  • van de Bundt, Livinus; de Rooij, Marie Jeanne (2011). De vluchtkoffer van Livinus. GEMAK & Vrije Academie Den Haag. ISBN 9789081673310.

See also

Notes and references
  1. "Livinus van de Bundt". Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  2. Gras, Saskia (31 October 2017). Vrijplaats voor de kunsten : de Haagse Vrije Academie 1947-1982. hdl:1887/58879. ISBN 9789463451802.
  3. Koch, Ingeborg Irene. "Stamboom Koch en De Leur » Livinus van de Bundt". Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  4. Rajandream, Marie-Adèle (1 December 1985). "Livinus and the Light".
  5. "Levinus Arie Cornelis Jan van de Bundt - Beeldende Kunst in Zuid-Holland". Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  6. "Livinus: met het licht en geluid de chaos ordenen". Leidsch Dagblad: 6. 2 July 1968. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  7. "De pionier is dood". De Volkskrant. 20 October 1979. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  8. de Rooij, Marie Jeanne. "Van Vrije Academie en Psychopolis tot GEMAK". Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  9. "Livinius van de Bundt". Olympedia. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
  10. "Mieke van der Burgt". Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  11. "Kreupel Paard van Arnhem geslacht". De Volkskrant. 6 February 1998. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  12. "Jeep van de Bundt". Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  13. "Vanderbundt Collection". Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  14. "Intermedia". Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  15. "Chronopeinture - Livinus — Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam". Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  16. "IN ARNHEM Lichtspel op GEB-gebouw". De Volkskrant (in Dutch). 14 July 1967. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  17. "mediakunst.net". Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  18. "Moiré". Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  19. "Percussie VI". Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  20. "De Kampioen". April 1965. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  21. "Expositie: 'De Vluchtkoffer van Livinus'". 29 April 2011. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  22. van 't Veer, Paul (27 September 1966). "Kunstlicht – Kunst in Eindhoven. Museum bouwt flitsende 'Lichtstad' binnenshuis". Het Vrije Volk. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  23. "Classic Video Art". Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  24. "Sikkens Prize winners: Livinus van de Bundt". Retrieved 14 February 2019. "The 1964 Sikkens Prize was awarded to artist Livinus van de Bundt for his experimental 'photo paintings' for which he designed a machine with which he 'paints with light'."
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