Martin Tissing - Lithography in 5 colors "Eye of the night" + poem Albert Schaalma

• Artist(s): Martin Tissing (1936 - 2018) and Albert Schaalma (1943- )
• Title: "eye of the night"
• Year: 1989
• Technique: Lithography in 5 colours
• Circulation: 28/50
• Dimensions (sheet): 41 x 31 cm (WxH)
• Signature: Hand signed
• Condition: very good condition

Martin Tissing is considered one of the most important and influential artists of the Northern Netherlands in recent decades. Already in his early years he opposed the dominant position of De Ploeg and the influences of German expressionism and was inspired by the lyrical-abstract art of Jaap Nanninga and the painters of the École de Paris. He developed his characteristic style in the course of the eighties, under the influence of young Italians such as Mimmo Paladino and, in particular, Nicola de Maria.

Tissing's paintings are characterised by a subtle use of colour and a poetic atmosphere, in which he, in his own words, attempted to achieve 'solidified silence' and in which the contemplative character is reinforced by references to stars, the cosmos and elements from Buddhism.

Martin Tissing made 'poetic art in an unpoetic time', which nevertheless, or perhaps precisely because of this, appealed to a wide audience. Although he worked, exhibited and taught in various countries, he always felt connected to his hometown of Groningen, where in 2001 he was the only northern artist to have a retrospective exhibition in the Groninger Museum.


Albert Schaalma, born on that fresh spring morning of 14 May 1943 in Usquert, started writing late: from the age of sixteen to forty-three he was mainly active in the cultural field as a clarinettist and saxophonist in jazz, even playing at the North Sea Jazz Festival in Scheveningen. At the age of forty-three he felt it was time for a change and exchanged the wind instruments for the pen. With success: since 1986 his cycles of poems have appeared in magazines, in collections (the book Rondreis (De Geus, Breda, 2000) was recently published) and in anthologies. In 1992 he was awarded the biennial Masereel Prize for Poetry. Albert Schaalma lives and works in Groningen. In addition to poems he has written a novella (Fabula, 1999). In the autumn of 2000 his translation of the epic Anabase by the French poet Saint-John Perse will be published. More information about Albert Schaalma can be found in the Achterbergkroniek, part XXV. Since the beginning of October 2000 Schaalma has been one of the 1300 members of the Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde.