Artist: Jansen, Han
Title: Geprogrammeerd
Technique: Silkscreen on Handmade paper
size: 60 x 60 cm. (23,6 x 23,6 inch)
Framed: 70 x 70 cm. (27,55 x 27,55 inch)


More Information
Title "Geprogrammeerd". Silkscreen by Han Jansen, Hand-signed, titled, and numbered by the artist. Completely framed, passe-partout and glass. Edition 41/50

In 1980, Han Jansen painted the Wadden Sea. Not in the way that hundreds of others before and after him did, but literally: by sprinkling paint pigments into the gullies and trenches. The mudflat bottom and the gullies, in which the water slowly flowed, colored brilliant-green, crimson-red and lemon. "For a moment Han stood beside God to show that on the umpteenth billionth day of creation things could be even more colorful" said the then director Wouter Kotte of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Utrecht. Han Jansen gained international fame with his mudflat paintings.

The son of a Groninger gentleman-farmer knew how to innovate. For fifteen years, his paintings adorned the covers of the quirky northern magazine Noorderbreedte; a special stage for an artist. He painted land, both in the interior of Australia and behind his house in Eelderwolde. He was also the spiritual father of so-called "stream paintings". Jansen poured the paint onto flat linen and then let gravity and the structure of the canvas do the work, if he tilted the surface. Even a staircase once formed the surface for such a flow painting.

Henk van Os (former general manager of Rijksmuseum) argues that Jansen had an unprecedented ability to renew himself. He took nothing for granted; he was a creator in the true sense of the word.

About the artist

Han Jansen (1940–2021), born in Groningen, the Netherlands, was a Dutch painter best known for his experimental approach to landscape and his innovative use of materials. The son of a Groninger gentleman farmer, Jansen gained recognition for his unconventional methods and willingness to challenge traditional painting techniques, transforming the Dutch landscape tradition through radical experimentation with process and place.

In 1980, Jansen created his celebrated mudflat paintings by sprinkling paint pigments directly into the gullies and trenches of the Wadden Sea, coloring the mudflat bottom in brilliant green, crimson red, and lemon yellow. This audacious intervention in nature itself demonstrated his commitment to dissolving the boundary between painting and environment. He also developed stream paintings, pouring paint onto flat linen and allowing gravity and the canvas structure to shape the work as he tilted the surface. His subjects ranged from the interior of Australia to the land behind his house in Eelderwolde, revealing a restless curiosity about landscape in all its forms.

For fifteen years, Jansen's paintings adorned the covers of the northern magazine Noorderbreedte. His work was exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Utrecht, where director Wouter Kotte praised his ability to reimagine creation itself. Art historian Henk van Os noted Jansen's unprecedented ability to renew himself, describing him as a creator in the true sense of the word who took nothing for granted. Jansen's legacy lies in his fearless reinvention of what landscape painting could be.

sku: HJ117

Excellent condition.