H. N. Werkman (Dutch, 1882–1945)

Unlike his countryman and contemporary Theo van Doesburg (Dutch, 1883–1931), a journal editor and proselytizer widely recognized as one of leading figures of international interwar European avant-garde, Hendrik Nicolaas Werkman (Dutch, 1882–1945) remains an insider’s secret; a figure revered among his contemporaries and by a small circle of cognoscenti today. Active in remote Groningen in Northern Holland, Werkman kept abreast of contemporary artistic tendencies such as Expressionism and Constructivism through avant-garde journals and contributed to this transnational discourse through his involvement with the artist’s group De Ploeg (The Plow; founded 1918), his journal The Next Call (1923–1926), and imprint De Blauwe Schuit (The Blue Barge; 1940-1945).

Werkman was a printer by trade and the materials of the printing press—the ink, the paper, the marks of the press—were not only his means but his message. An advocate of truth to media (ink as ink rather than as a representational means), Werkman was a pure modernist in the Greenbergian sense, but for the artist materiality and truth to labor practices were far from apolitical. A member of the Dutch resistance, Werkman was murdered by the Gestapo days before Dutch liberation. Willem Sandberg, Director of the Stedelijk Museum from 1945 to 1963, was the key advocate of Werkman’s oeuvre in the postwar years (see our Sandberg newsletter).

Key sources:

Alston W. Purvis, H.N. Werkman. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2004.

Dieuwertje Dekkers, Anneke de Vries, Jikke van der Spek, H.N. Werkman: het complete oeuvre. Rotterdam: Nai, Stichting H.N. Werkman, 2008.

Blad voor Kunst (Magazine for the Arts; Gronigen, 1921–1922)

Periodical: Blad voor Kunst (October 1921)
Woodcut
12 7/8 x 11 1/4” (32.7 x 28.6 cm)

Periodical: Blad voor Kunst (March 1922)
Lithograph
12 x 10 3/4” (30.5 x 27.3 cm)

Periodical: Blad voor Kunst (November 1921)
Woodcut
12 1/4 x 11” (31.1 x 27.9 cm)

Periodical: Blad voor Kunst (March 1922)
Lithograph
12 x 10 3/4” (30.5 x 27.3 cm)

Periodical: Blad voor Kunst (December 1921)
Woodcut
12 1/4 x 10 7/8” (31.1 x 27.6 cm)

Periodical: Blad voor Kunst (January 1922)
Woodcut
12 x 10 7/8” (30.5 x 27.6 cm)

Het open Veld (The Open Field; Eelderwolde: Bibliofilen-Liga, 1923)

Wobbe Alkema (Dutch, 1900–1984)
Book: Het Open Veld (The Open Field)
Eelderwolde: Bibliofilen-Liga, 1923
Edition 19 out of 25
Color linocut, 8 x 13” (20.3 x 33 cm)

Spread from Het Open Veld (The Open Field)
Left: Jan van der Zee, Pierrot. Woodcut
Right: H. N. Werkman, Rechtvaardiging (Justification) and typographical arrangement.
Linocut
8 x 25 3/4” (20.5 x 65.5 cm), open

The Next Call (Gronigen, 1923–1926)

Periodical: The Next Call, no. 3 (January 12, 1924)
Letterpress
10 3/4 x 8 1/2” (27.3 x 21.6 cm), two sheets folded once

Periodical: The Next Call, no. 6 (November 1, 1924)
Letterpress
10 3/4 x 8 1/2” (27.3 x 21.6 cm), one sheet folded four times

Periodical: The Next Call, no. 7 (February 8, 1925)
Letterpress
10 3/4 x 8 1/2” (27.3 x 21.6 cm), one sheet folded three times

Periodical: The Next Call, no. 8 (February 23, 1926)
Letterpress
10 7/8 x 8 1/2” (27.3 x 21.6 cm), two sheets folded once and stapled

Periodical: The Next Call, no. 9 (November 8, 1926)
Letterpress
13 7/8 x 8 1/2” (35.2 x 21.6 cm), two sheets folded once

Flyer: Proclamatie I [Goals for a new Next Call] (October 1932)
Letterpress
22 7/8 x 19 1/4” (58.1 x 48.8 cm)

Open: 21 1/2 x 16 3/4” (54.5 x 43 cm)

Open: 21 1/4 x 16 3/4” (54 x 43 cm)

Open: 10 7/8 x 16 7/8” (27.5 x 43 cm)

Open: 13 3/4 x 16 7/8” (35 x 43 cm)

Open: 21 1/2 x 16 3/4” (54.5 x 43 cm)

Open: 21 1/4 x 16 3/4” (54 x 43 cm)

Back cover

Back cover

Bureau Claxon (Werkman’s Advertising Agency)

Flyer: Bureau Claxon 1927
Lithograph, 8 1/8 x 13 7/16 (21 x 34 cm)

De Ploeg (The Plow; Artists’ Group Founded 1918)

Book: De Ploeg (Gronigen, 1927)
Lithograph with string binding
14 3/8 x 9 1/2 x 1/8" (36.5 x 24.1 cm), 9 leaves with tipped-in plates

Exhibition catalogue: P 20 Lustrum Tentoonstelling van schilderijen en zwart-wit werken van leden van “De Ploeg” (Exhibition of black-and-white works by members of The Plow) (September 25–October 10, 1938), 1938
Lithograph, 9 3/4 x 6 3/4” (24.8 x 17.4 cm), 14 leaves

Ex Libris: Halbo C. Kool, 1931
Letterpress
5 1/2 x 4 ½” (14 x 11 cm)

Exhibition catalogue: Gronigen Kunstkring “De Ploeg” (20 September 29–October 11, 1931), 1931
Lithograph
7 3/4 x 5” (9.8 x 12.5 cm), 6 leaves

Internal spread from P 20 Lustrum showing Werkman’s portrait and listing his works
Open: 9 3/4 x 13 1/2” (25 x 34 cm)

Ex Libris: P.J. Hiemstra, 1936
Lithograph
4 1/2 x 3 1/8” (11.4 x 7.9 cm)

Back cover of the exhibition catalogue: Gronigen Kunstkring “De Ploeg” (20 September 29–October 11, 1931), 1931

Exhibition catalogue: Internationale tentoonstelling von modern kunst te Groningen: Jubileum De Ploeg (International exhibition of modern art in Groningen: Anniversary The Plow) (March 1–19, 1933), 1933
Lithograph
9 5/8 x 6” (24.4 x 15.2 cm), 3 leaves

De Blauwe Schuit (The Blue Barge; Groningen publisher, 1940-1945)

Booklet: Two poems by Martis Nijhoff, Holland (1916) and In plaats von foto (Instead of photo; 1941), issued in an edition of 120 for friends of De Blauwe Schuit, December 1942
Ink (stenciled and hand-rolled) on paper
10 3/4 x 8 1/2” (27.2 x 21.6 cm), 2 leaves

Booklet: Gesprek (Converation), published after works of 1938 for friends of De Blauwe Schuit, March 1942
Lithograph
12 1/4 x 8 3/4” (31.1 x 22.2 cm), two sheets, folded and string bound

Calendar: Turkenkalender (Turkish Calendar), published for friends of De Blauwe Schuit, 1942
Lithograph
12 1/2 x 9 3/4” (31.7 x 24.8 cm), 13 leaves

Open: 12 1/2 x 19 1/4” (31.75 x 49 cm)

Open: 12 1/2 x 19 1/4” (31.75 x 49 cm)

Open: 12 1/2 x 19 1/4” (31.75 x 49 cm)

Open: 12 1/2 x 17 1/2” (31.75 x 44.5 cm)

Open: 12 1/2 x 19 1/4” (31.75 x 49 cm)

Open: 12 1/2 x 19 1/4” (31.75 x 49 cm)

Open: 12 1/2 x 19 1/4” (31.75 x 49 cm)

Open: 12 1/2 x 19 1/4” (31.75 x 49 cm)

Open: 12 1/2 x 17 1/2” (31.75 x 44.5 cm)

Open: 12 1/2 x 19 1/4” (31.75 x 49 cm)

Open: 12 1/2 x 19 1/4” (31.75 x 49 cm)

Open: 12 1/2 x 19 1/4” (31.75 x 49 cm)

Back cover

Open: 12 1/2 x 19 1/4” (31.75 x 49 cm)

Open: 12 1/2 x 19 1/4” (31.75 x 49 cm)

Open: 12 1/2 x 19 1/4” (31.75 x 49 cm)