03 Jul 2008: Animus Anima
Animus Anima, a photo exhibition by Paula Kajzar and Antonio Pellicano from Calabria at Arps&Co in the Dikker&Thijs Gallery, Prinsengracht 438 (corner Leidsestraat).
Vernissage Thursday 3 July at 6 p.m. by Silvio Marchetti, general director of the Italian Cultural Institute. Cocktails, Tapas & Tango!

Reservation needed, call 020 7781947.
The works remain on show untill 28th July, open 5 - 11 p.m. Appointments are welcomed every day.


"An invisible play develops on the stage of our lives. It concerns everybody. A drama with uncountable scenery's sprouting from the soul. The people in our existence are moving on this inner stage. But more then these characters that come from the outer world, everybody hosts a universe called Animus Anima. Two elements that are perpetually moving. This evokes our psycho constantly to separate and attach, to long and find, to loosen and to bind."

Paula Kajzar


Two photographers, a pair in love, show us their animus anima in abstract images, made on the stage of dance in the Calabrese theatre where they perform a steady job as stage photographers. An ideal environment to create from their metaphor a personal imaging language.
Links: ; read more

23 Apr 2008: Vernissage Iceland's Gold - expo till 20th of June
show by the wellknown Italian photographer Fernando Nocco.
The opening will be at 6 - 8 p.m. at the Dikker&Thijs Gallery Prinsengracht 438, Amsterdam.
Doubleclick on the image and you will enter the gallery. doubleclick again and you will have a fullsize picture.
Links: ;

23 Apr 2008: Vernissage at the Dikker&Thijs Gallery Expo Fernando Nocco
Dancing by Lijnvijf inspired by the pics of Fernado and of Elizabeth Kleinveld, ice and water, among the honoured guests: painter and ex gallery-owner Herman & Helena Krikhaar, the famous Barbiere Pascuale, Karin Busch, filmer Roberto Rizzo,photographer Nicola Bartolone, the performer Vesna Blazic, the staff of Gallery Donkersloot, the shaker boys Taste of Quality designed the Iceland Gold cocktail, Alexander Moust from Moon productions, imaging artists Thijs Hekkens, Anne Vorhuysen, Elisabeth Karstens, Connie Fluhme of Tutch Communications, Janny Nijhof of Querido and Ronald Hoog both the owners of the building,photographers Cornelia Nauta,journalist Karin van Lier, expansionist painter Molly Ackerman,fashion designer Alexander, journalist Maartje Pronk and many others.
Links: ; more information about work Fernando Nocco

20 Feb 2008: It Ain't Necessarely So at the Gallery, Prinsengracht 444
Photography Elizabeth Kleinveld Poetry Rogi Wieg

Vernissage from 6 till 8 p.m. at the Dikker&Thijs Gallery, Prinsengracht 438

The exhibition, 'It Ain't Necessarily So,' is a synthesis of Rogi Wieg's poetry and Elizabeth Kleinveld's photography, which together tell the story of the transformative effect of having to rebuild anew. An artist's journey through the wake of Hurricane Katrina, as she searched to find meaning in the seemingly meaninglessness and move on. On the other side of the destruction, her quest to breathe color and "joie de vivre" back into her life took root, and so the series Bloemen was born. 'It Ain't Necessarily So' means that it could have been different, but it wasn't, because the above described mechanism is as old as the world. It is an endless varying rebirth.
Links: ; see more about Kleinfeld at the gallery

20 Feb 2008: Vernissage at the Dikker&Thijs Gallery
Exhibition Elizabeth Kleinveld photography Rogi Wieg poetry on the wall
Links: ;

06 Oct 2007: Jacqueline Dersjant show in Dikker&Thijs Fenice
This second show in the serial To Be Continued - 2 opens on Saturday 6th. Friends are welcomed between 5 and 7 p.m. at the reception with the artist!
Adress: Dikker&Thijs Fenice Hotel, Prinsengracht 438.
Links: ; www.phtgrphr.com

02 Oct 2007: FRANCO FONTANA 1987 - 2007 POLAROIDS
New Polaroids arrived!
Photography, writing with light is certainly still magic, one click leads through mysterious cemistry to develop and realize an image. But Fontana doesn't restrict himself to just the image, he transforms it to something else, probably curious about other people's life, about moments that are never his, panorama's presumable real but felt differently, dreams that were dreamt by other people somewhere one has not been. Like Elias Canetti wrote what could be the motive of every artist: "Nobody resists without a borrowed life, our own is not enough".
There are landscapes in the mind that surpass those that casually could happen in front of our eyes and they are superior. They are made of so many of those things that we do not even know where and when and how: a book we read, or a song, the memory of a person or the wish to forget, an instant moment or a long run of years, Fontana, with his brilliant simplicity (apparent simplicity, as matters from the mind and from the heart appear in a complicate way) registers this and meanwhile gives space by suggesting to enable us to fill in with our own memories.from our times, with all our own fantasmagoria as everyone of us makes.
Francesco Guccini
Links: ; Franco Fontana: Polaroids

16 Sep 2007: Els Botman solo shows in Latin America
The year 2007 has been very fruitful in the career of Els Botman
her words: “By researching the different human attitudes to nature and reflecting upon it, I hope to enforce the awareness of our deep relationship with nature so that we take good care of it.”
Links: ; www.elsbotman.nl

15 Jun 2007: Festival Who was Ele d'Artagnan big success!!
Over thousands of visitors in 4 days.
see www.buurt-online.nl/amsterdam/baarsjes/
www.eledartagnan.com
www.fullhouse.centerall.com
www.junikunstmaand.nl
www.photoart.nl
www.art3400ad.nl/expo-agenda/agenda01.htm
http://icbie.net/blog/
The catwalk and fotoshoot - show pictures are made by the professional photographer Diana Snabilie, look for more information on her company site www.circleoflife.nu She is the best choice!
Links: ;

04 Jun 2007: Festival In the Margin of La Dolce Vita :Ele d'Artagnan
"Out of Fellini's gallery of sketched characters we want to single out D'Artagnan: he was kept in the background of
Fellini's films as a promising hint, a potential personage rich for his inexpressed fantastic qualities. We want to bring him to the forefront by fully developing his image through an accurate research of his presence in Fellini' s films and a study of his drawings. Ele D'Artagnan decided – like Federico Fellini - to remain backstage and create. Now visitors of this Artagnan anthology are invited to bring him to the front stage.By whom was he seen then, who are we looking at now?"
dott. Sylvio Marchetti, director of the Italian Cultural Institute in Amsterdam.

Ele D'Artagnan was a self-taught painter who floated in and out of the Italian Surrealist scene. Using found paper or board with whatever painting medium that was at hand D'Artagnan congured fantastic worlds charged with cosmic sexuality.
Links: ; see more in Arpsgallery

25 Mar 2007: Nominations International Arts Contest
This year at November 2007 Gallery Arps&Co celebrate its 5 years anniversary of the website www.arpsgallery.com .Last year we received 500.000 visitors! The artwork is selling well. So there is a good reason to do something nice. After some debating we decided upon an international art competition. We hope that both the gallery, the good spirit and some artists all might end up in a win-win situation.

We are looking for great talents, not too presumptuous, loose approach, yet still precise in their perfection. Dynamic and authentic. Artwork that does tickle the public.
Links: ;

20 Feb 2007: An extreme cup of tea
Lee Kyu Hyung is a professor in 'Ceramic Studies' . His continuous search for new glazes has made him one of the most versatile Korean ceramic artists. Apart from ceramic paintings and sculptures he has designed ingenious sets for the drinking of pu erh tea in Chinese style and other tea utensils. He has exhibited his work in Korea, Japan, China, the USA, New Zealand, Mongolia, Uzbekistan and Egypt and Arps&Co at Amsterdam.
Links: ; more information:

01 Dec 2006: Franco Fontana Surprised by the Americain Light
Arps & Co are delighted to be able to celebrate the launch of their online catalogue with Franco Fontana's renowned collection 'Light of American Sundays'. Fontana's use of light and sense of place - so reminiscent of Edward Hopper - haunt these extraordinary photographs. A wide and diverse selection of Fontana's remarkable back catalogue - including his famous landscapes - are available from Arps & Co.
Links: ; Surprised by the Americain Light

04 Nov 2006: New Urban Space and the Individual
Robert Rizzo at the Dikker&Thijs Fenice Hotel till 01-01-07
Links: ;

03 Oct 2006: Vernissages 2006/2007: vernissage Robert Rizzo
at the Dikker&Thijs Fenice Hotel, Prinsengracht 444, Amsterdam. On Show till November 12th.
All photographes are taken by Diana Snabilie.
Links: Vernissages 2006/2007;

20 Aug 2006: History Arps & Co
Bernardus Arps ( 1813-1896) was typesetter,printer, founder of Arps&Son Printers, Royal Purveyers in Rottterdam. He started in 1860 in Culemborg, the next step was to move to Rotterdam in 1871 to the Great Market Square.
Typsesetter was a very humble profession at the time. The beginning of the profession he learned in Haarlem at the famous Johan Enschede & Sons Printers company.
The fascinating fact is that he had developped his own learning process as a co-working trainee, at first in Bruxelles and later in Paris. That were Christian bookprinters. There is a European workpermit from this episode with his name and accompanied with an invitation letter from the printer in Paris stating he should come to France and work with them, on the condition that he would be a good and Christian young man. Already in those days there was a political hesitation in allowing working class people travel to other countries, as they might lose their job and decay to begging and would need the social care of the hosting country. (one can notice that there is not much changed in the last two centuries).
Bernardus 1 married at the age of 22 with Elisabeth Zweeres (28)and first settled in Haarlem.Their only son, also named Bernardus (2) was born in 1836. He married with Catherina Pardij. See:
http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernardus_Arps
My great grand parents got 7 children.They all lived in Rotterdam.
My grandfather William Arps started an Art-Gallery, annex Printers in the Nobelstraat 4 in The Hague togehter with his sister, Jet Arps. The grand opening was in 9 november 1902. This was the reason to name the gallery Arps&Co.They also became Royal Purveyers.
Jet Arps was a talented painter and designer. She finished the Royal Academy of Arts in 1900, she never married.The artgallery brought many equisit articles on the market, and also the oil-paintings of their famous brother Bernardus Arps (3), member of the Dutch School. Bernardus Arps has studied at the Academy of Rotterdam, where he was assigned a silver medal for drawing. Later he studied in Delft, with the master A.le Comte. After a long working period as a typesetter at his fathers printíng company, he left the city of Rotterdam to live in Arnhem in 1893 where he stayed till 1898. Het lived 15 years in The Hague. He became a member of the Pulchri Studio.
My grandfather married in 1910 at the age of 31 with Frederica Hoekstra.(24), a referend’s daughter from Friesland who had gone through a terrible period of loosing both her parents and three brothers.

The gallery Arps&Co offered them an extreme interesting period of life, in the middle of the The Haugue establishment. Though financially they didn’t do very well in the crisis episode (the 30th) and 3 of their children went to the Indies to try to earn their own living, none of them comming back from the second world war. That is how my father took over the Arpsgallery in 1953, by that time changed into a stationary shop, annex printer, still Royal Purveyers.
Links: ;

20 Jun 2006: people featuring in the gallery during the gorgeous season 2005/2006
Started in december 2005 as a collector's hobby the Arpsgallery at the Arubastreet in Amsterdam might grow from the smallest territory in Amsterdam to the largest professional gallery in the world!
The exibitions are expanding from Amsterdam to related galleries in Paris, Rome, Estonia, Moldavia, Seoul,Florida, Bolivia, Brazil and now aiming at Australia.
In Amsterdam different options are taken on windows in the city where the more work can be exposed to the public.
Here some pictures of the openings at the Arubastreet, featuring the American Consul Ms Michele Bond, the night Mayor of the City Artist walking artpiece Fabiola, designer Melanie Kandelaars, professor Boudewijn Walraven, professor Gerard Blommesteijn, professor Ruud Lapré and his lovely wife Marga, lector Tineke de Ruiter, poet Egon Snelders, poet Lucas Hüsgen, formal citycounsellors Marie Louise Boel and Margreet Elings, painters Margreet Bloemers, Sina Fisher, multimedia artist Miruna Dragan, journalist Karin van Lier, radio DJ Soan
photographers Wim Broekmans,Thorne Anderson, Justin Jin, Angèle Etoundi Essamba, Tinelou van der Elsken, Diana Snabilie, Danielle Cornelissen, Bas Arps, Marlo Broekman, Aloys Ginjaar, Fernando Nocco, Heleen Wiering, Nicola Bartolone, Robert Rizzo, Milette Raats, Fred Rohde, Leo Dievendal, Annelies Stigter, Lars, Keppel, Eddy van Wessel, Jochem Sanders, Kees Stoffels, Johan Peter van der Stouwe, Dave Zijlstra, Diana van der Leij, Emma Sahelatua, Pauline Prior, Bart de Koning, Fred Ottens, Nicolai and Ella Szaitsev, Date van Utteren, Cynthia Marler, Sergej Maximishin, photographer and painter Hans Jongsma, theatermaker Rian Knop,Cornelia Nauta,
Annelies from handmade boxes Kadra, multi-media artist Corinne Kruger, bookbinder Els Weeda, Hans and Marga Arps, Charley Arps, dramaturg Robbert van de Weetering, catering Neriman, Juan Servage, Leuny Korsuize, musician Mary Moher, Joris Verrips, consultants Maaike Roet& Koert Hetterscheidt, senior offical of the city artdepartment Trix Berkhof, trainee Edith van Ark, designer Alice Murray, journalist Esther Oosterling, ceramists Bastiaan Meijer and Roling, painter Pieter Latul, Babs Boter, Bas en Gijs Botman, Jennifer de Vaal, choreograph Suzanne Marx, artschool manager Peter Hoop, painter Samma Mutsaers, citycounsellor Arco Verburg, Ulrike Siems, city promotor Yte Nota, webdesigner Koen Muurling, webdesigner Marc de Geus, journalist Liesbeth Schouten, trainee Geertje van Gulik, city official Margaret Gumbs, diplomat Harmen van Dijk, clay expert Catharina Giskens from Tierrafino, careerconsultant Joke Knijn, children projectworker Anouk Vaarkamp, university lector Younhee Lee, teacher Jaap Dambruin, premium hairdesigner John de Boer, portrait painter Edgar Jansen, author Alfred van Cleef, author Jan Brokken, dancer Anna Staedtler, Stephen Daboul, Kerstin Eriksson, painter and cartoonist Alexey Kouchnarenko, gallerist Agnes Tuin, performer Rik van Boeckel, David Ernst, journalist Elizabeth Kleinveld, drummer Annelies Erwich, Merel van Weel, Harold Ytsma, architects Arubastreet 2, Joyce, IT specialist Roland Muller,Cora Hollema, Priscilla van der Linden, and many artchildren that were involved.
Links: ; See for the social children projects of this season on