Chris Van Schagen

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Dutch writer, poet's poet and graphical artist. His best known work as J.C. van Schagen was "Narrenspel" (1925, fools play), which started by paraphrasing and interpreting Baruch Spinoza in Ethics: Niets is wat niet goddelijk is. Daarom wil ik niets uitzonderen ... daarom geef ik geen namen, ik ga maar en ben (Nothing is what is not divine. That's why I do not want to make any exceptions ... that's why I do not give names, I just go and am). It goes on with a description of heavenly rain falling on or near any inhabitant of a place. It ends with 'Thus rains the rain. That's why I do not give names, I just go and am'. Van Schagen was able to see art and life itself as a game. Everything meaningful had to 'coincide'. All calculated, predictable outcomes were, according to his view, useless, meaningless and worthless. But in his art he played with the undetermined, the unexpected and numinous. In his "kalligrammen" (from calligraphy) he introduced a strange technique in which manuscripts were converted into prints, by mirroring and turning them unreadable and thus transforming the language into a more conceptual sign. The Dutch Wikipedia gives an example of it. The short poem that is found at the ceiling of the town hall of Deventer (see picture): "Geen evenwicht - dat niet soms even zwicht -en commenseert- wat louter macht niet keert" (No balance - that sometimes does not give way - and commensurates - what mere power cannot turn) shows his genial play with forms and words. Opposite to the word (established) balance stands the word "commenseert", which does not exists in the Dutch language. It resembles the Dutch word "compenseert" (compensates for) or the English commensurate (From: common and measure). And it could be rehearsed - ever and ever again - like a mantra. Van Schagen was born as the son of the schoolteacher Cornelis van Schagen (15 April 1867, Oostkapelle - 10 December 1955, De Bilt) and his wife Johanna Frederica Hendrica Adriana Scheijbeler (1 March 1870 0h30 AM, Middelburg - 4 March 1946, Domburg). They married 16 May 1890 in Domburg. He spent a large part of his youth in the center of Middelburg, with Singelstraat 5 as the last address, known from Van Schagen's poem Frülingslied, which describes his mother in the garden. The poem was filmed in 2005 by the Zeeland filmmaker Erik de Bruyn. He followed the HBS in Middelburg from 1904 and became interested in classics and writing. About his first attempt he said: "Wat bleef, was de ontdekking, wat er allemaal kan gebeuren als je de pen op papier zette" (What remained, was the discovery, what can happen if you put the pen on paper). In 1907 the family moved to Domburg. In 1911 Van Schagen, as an official of the Provincial Registry of Zeeland, became acquainted with the work of Spinoza (Ethica ) and the work of Pierre Louÿs (Songs of Bilitis): "One day I got Spinoza's Ethics in my hands, it became a topic." At about the same time, Verwey 's magazine De Beweging (The Movemnent), had a translation of the first eight Songs of Bilitis by Pierre Louÿs. "Here I met her again, that young, timid atmosphere, the dew of a very early morning outside, I easily combined it with my Spinoza, and it was not even as crazy as it looked after it, it became a breakthrough." In 1913 Van Schagen went to state exam. In 1915 he did his candidate Law in Utrecht and went to Amsterdam for his doctoral study. He graduated in 1920 on a theses in the field of fishing. In Amsterdam he also met his wife "Willy" Wilhelmina Sophia Maria Isabella Dalman (13 September 1918, Den Haag - 6 May 1965, Domburg), a school teacher. They married on 13 September 1918 in Den Haag. In 1920 their daughter Joos was born. In 1916, Van Schagen made his debut with a few prose pieces in a lustrum almanac of a student association of which he was a member. In 1918 he was appointed at the Chief Inspectorate of Fishing in The Hague. Schagen's family moved to The Hague and later to Rotterdam, after Chris was appointed commissioner of the Rotterdam municipality (1924-1942). For the first time he became acquainted with Eastern philosophy, Van Schagen developed a Buddhist view of life, which recurs in his work, and later mainly in the haiku. In Rotterdam there were fleeting contacts with the poets Jacques Bloem and Hendrik Marsman . He published in various periodicals. The Nieuwe geluiden (New sounds) collection; a choice of post-war poetry , compiled by Dirk Coster , included work by his hand. His real debut as a writer came in 1922 with Narrenwijsheid (fools wisdom), which first appeared in De Stem. They are prose poems in which a clear influence of Spinoza can be found. In Narrenwijsheid, Van Schagen gave a motto from his Ethics , which translates: He who rightly realizes that everything follows from the necessity of the divine nature and proceeds to the eternal laws of that nature, he makes no exceptions for what is hostile, laughable and may seem contemptible and does not feel sorry for anything. (Quote: Hans Warren, Vote, 1985) In 1925, Jan Greshoff published Narrenwijsheid for the first time in book form (21 editions published between 1925 and 1982 in 3 languages). It is a collection of free verses and prose poems that show a Spinoza-influenced pantheism in a remarkable mixture of sobriety and high-mindedness. The work received praise from the criticism. From 1927 to 1941 Chris Van Schagen professed the Roman Catholic faith. In 1942 his official career ended because of 'political difficulties' at the municipality of Rotterdam (that summer, most of the Jews of Rotterdam were deported to Westerbork under Frederik Ernst Müller). After that he changed dramatically his life to become an artist. He went on to study again: at the Rotterdam Academy for Visual Arts he began to acquire skills in etching, lithography and painting. In 1943 he moved to Maarssen and devoted himself to painting under the direction of the surrealist painter Willem van Leusden (5 September 1886, Utrecht - 8 March 1974, Maarssen). Van Schagen made hundreds, if not over the thousand prints. Starting with laborious techniques such as painting, etching and lithography (lithography), Van Schagen soon found techniques that could quickly convert his enormous amount of inspiration into a print. The 'prints', paintings, etchings, lithographs, monotypes and especially unica prints, he sold for a large part at home. The second edition of Litanie (Litany) appeared, and in 1946 Onderaardsch (under the earth) and Flarden van de wind( Patches of the wind) . Between 1948 and 1950 he stayed on a houseboat. First on the Vecht, then for a while in Zaltbommel and then a few years in Leerdam. In 1951 Van Schagen came to Middelburg as advisor for Cultural Affairs of the Zeeland Foundation for Social and Cultural Work. He contributed to the creation of the Zeeland Music School, the Dictionary of Zeeland Dialects and the establishment of the Zeeland artists' circle. For his Zeeland Reflexes (1953) he found visual support from the artist Jan Heyse. In 1958 he stopped working at the Zeeland Foundation and devoted himself entirely to writing and painting. In 1961 he had his first major exhibition of monotypes at Magdalena Sothmann Galery in Amsterdam was published and a new release of "Narrenwijsheid en ander onkruid" appeared. It showed Miniatures inspired by Japanese haiku's. In 1965 Van Schagen's wife Willy Dalman suddenly died. He decided to offer the read 44 reflexes, Domburg's Cahier VI, to his readers as a final tribute to her, which enabled him to do his work: "Misschien is het vandaag de laatste dag / dat ik hier nog wat wezen mag / het geeft ook niet - er is geen hechting meer / dat enkel nog die eerste keer / dat ik dat stille in je ogen zag." (Maybe today is the last day / that I am allowed to do something here / it does not matter either - there is no more adhesion / only that first time / that I saw that silence in your eyes). In 1966 he married Johanna Wilhelmina Wezenaar. In 1972 the collection I am going and am , a choice from his work until then, was published on the occasion of his 80th birthday. "Nothing is what is not divine, therefore I do not want to make any exceptions ... that's why I do not give names, I'll just go and am." The poet Ingmar Heytze said: Typical of Van Schagen: he attached value to everything he made. Distinguish between successful and less successful he did not, everything was revelation of inspiration. " From his poems there is ultimately a somewhat Zen Buddhist view of life: there may not be a Dutch poet who was in the moment like Van Schagen." In 1977 a new series of "Schriftsels" started . This clearly showed the contemplative wit of the old man who no longer needs to participate. In 1985, just before his death, the first part of Wat dit blijfsel overbleef (poetry) appeared in the three-part series Archive Van Schagen . On 7 April 1985, the Central Library of Rotterdam held a large overview exhibition of his work, taht was opened by Simon Carmiggelt. Ten days later, on 17 April 1985 Van Schagen died in his sleep at the age of ninety-three in Deventer . The preceding evening, the Vara had published a radio documentary about him by Wim Hazeu. He was cremated on 19 April 1985 in Dieren. June 4, his ashes were placed at the Babelweg in Domburg. After his death, still in 1986, the second part of the Van Schagen Archive appeared: " Ik doe niet meer mee" (I no longer participate, prose and photobiography) and in 1987 the third part : "Je moet het zwijgen" (You have to be silent). On May 2, 1987 was the opening of a retrospective of the literary and visual work of Van Schagen in the Zeeland Library in Middelburg. In Domburg there was a symposium in 1987 about his work. Link to Dutch wikipedia