Constant - litho: New Babylon - 1963 - Sold

Beautiful lithograph from the New Babylon series by Constant. Year: 1963. Work dimensions: H40 x W75.5 cm. The total edition was 60 pieces. The lithographs themselves were not signed. Only the cover page from the portfolio was signed by Constant and Simon Vinkenoog. See photo (this is not included).

Literature: Constant Graphics: nr 34

In the Kunstmuseum in The Hague there is a permanent exhibition about his New Babylon project by Constant. See also text below:


A world without borders. People who don't have to work, but are free to play and travel. Constant Nieuwenhuys (1920 – 2005) depicted his ideas about a new world in one of the most visionary and extensive visual art projects in post-war art history: New Babylon. To this day, and perhaps especially in today's society, a source of inspiration for many. The Gemeentemuseum Den Haag manages the vast majority of this project and has conducted extensive research into it. In response, this summer the museum is presenting one of the largest exhibitions ever on this intriguing project, which is central to Constant's oeuvre.
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Constant Nieuwenhuys, Constant for short, was not only a leading member of the CoBrA group, but is equally famous for New Babylon, an imaginative project on which he worked for nearly twenty years. After the Second World War, he sees how everything has to be rebuilt and how society changes in the 1950s due to increasing automation. He turns out to be a true visionary and shows the outside world what the new world will look like on the basis of models, constructions, geographical maps, paintings, drawings, watercolors, graphics, films, texts, lectures and temporary 'environments'. The exhibition shows both the project itself and the development towards New Babylon.
Freedom
In Constant's eyes, man will develop into a 'homo ludens', a playing man, creative, free of work and free of boundaries. New living environments are being created above the existing cities where everyone is free to come and go as they please. However, New Babylon as a form is not fixed, Constant only made suggestions for the way in which the new world could be arranged. It is up to humans to creatively shape New Babylon, depending on their needs. “Everything must remain possible, everything must be allowed to happen, the environment is created by the activities of life and not the other way around”.

When purchasing, the work can be picked up in 's-Gravenzande (near The Hague).
(Scheveningen), Rotterdam and Delft and 5 minutes from the beach). The deadline for it
pick up, with payment in advance, is very generous, in other words, the buyer can work for weeks or even
months later and, if possible, combine it with a visit to one of the
above towns or the beach. We can also ship the work. Our shipping days are Tuesday and Thursday.