Simon Vinkenoog - Chalk drawing: En plein vol - 1993

Chalk drawing by Simon Vinkenoog. Title: En square full (in the middle of the flight). Year: 1993. Dimensions top: H44 x w44cm. Dimensions: H27 x W26cm. The work is signed by the artist at the bottom right. The authenticity of the work offered is fully guaranteed. A certificate of authenticity will be emailed upon request.

The work can also be picked up in 's-Gravenzande (near The Hague (Scheveningen), Rotterdam and Delft and 5 minutes from the beach). The collection period, if paid in advance, is very long. In other words, the buyer can pick up the work weeks or even months later and, if possible, combine it with a visit to one of the above-mentioned cities or the beach. The work can also be sent via Postnl. Our shipping days are Tuesday and Thursday.

Simon Vinkenoog (Amsterdam, July 18, 1928 – July 12, 2009) was a Dutch writer, poet and performance artist.

Young years

Vinkenoog was born on July 18, 1928 at 9:10 am as the only child of Hendrik Albertus Vinkenoog and Anna van Meel. After his parents' divorce in 1937, he grew up with his mother in the Amsterdam district of De Pijp.

In 1944 he obtained his high school diploma and joined Querido publishing house. He fathered a child, married and moved in with his mother-in-law. Within six months the relationship broke down and Vinkenoog moved back to his mother's house. In 1948 he went to Paris with his future second wife, Judith, who was eight years his senior, where he started working for UNESCO as an employee in the books and publications department.

Fifties

At the age of 21 he started the Dutch literary magazine Blurb. He explained the title as follows: "We no longer believe in finding scabrous words in non-existent dictionaries and we have therefore chosen: blurb. One meaning of which is gibberish." He wrote about his principles: "Our possibilities are still unlimited, although we must defend ourselves against the far left and the far right and yet avoid the dangerous middle."

In the period 1950-'51, eight issues of this magazine were published, mimeographed and in small editions. Until number 4, Vinkenoog published the magazine from Paris as a one-man publication. Afterwards other experimental writers collaborated, such as Hans Andreus, Armando, Hugo Claus, Lucebert and Paul Rodenko. Work by Jan Hanlo and WF Hermans was also published in the magazine, as well as poetry by Hans Lodeizen, who died young in 1950.

The eighth and final issue was published on June 1, 1951, with the words: "Let's keep it nice and don't turn it into literature." Together with Braak, Blurb ushered in the era of the Fifties. In 1951 Vinkenoog published the famous anthology Atonaal, which is considered the first public manifesto of the Vijftigers, who called themselves atonal poets.

In 1950 he made his debut as a poet with Wondkoorts in the poetry series De Windroos.

Later life

Simon Vinkenoog (1966)

Vinkenoog at the publication of Vinkenoog Collected in Hotel de Goudfazant on October 12, 2008.

Over the years he increasingly developed as a performer who made a major contribution to interest in poetry in countless performances. The intensity and enthusiasm with which he spoke about topics such as sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll made him a personification of the hippie generation, which he remained until the end.

On February 28, 1966, Vinkenoog organized "Poëzie in Carré", a manifestation in which a large number of Dutch poets participated and where similar spirits such as Jules Deelder and Johnny the Selfkicker broke through as poets and performers.

Vinkenoog gained a lot of experience with hallucinogens after taking LSD several times under medical supervision for research in 1959. Founder Ted Klautz of the esoteric magazine Bres asked him in 1968 for an article about LSD. A long series of contributions followed in the World in Motion section until 2004.

In 1969, Simon Vinkenoog, together with Boudewijn de Groot, wrote the lyrics for the single Captain Decker and the B-side Steps into space by De Groot's English-language group The Tower. This song was re-released in a modified form, with the voice of Vinkenoog reciting the (English) text, in 1994 by the Dutch band Shine by Richard Janssen. In 1993 the first Johnny van Doorn Prize was awarded to him.

In the 60s and 70s, Simon Vinkenoog also became a popular author among students who read his books for their compulsory reading list and liked to correspond with him about his work, partly due to his appearances at "reader evenings". Because responding to fan mail could be quite time-consuming, he came up with the tactful response of putting such letter writers in touch with each other about his work.

At the beginning of 2006 he had a new project together with the one-man band Spinvis, in which Vinkenoog read poems. A CD of this has been released, called Ja! (on which a version of Captain Decker from 1969 was again released, now under the title Flying Dutchman). The successor, Rhythmbox, was released in July 2008.

Eden was the name of his garden house at the Buitenzorg allotment park in Amsterdam-Noord. Simon Vinkenoog and Edith lived there every year from spring to October. At the park he was always present at the opening of exhibitions and played bingo in the canteen.

Passing away

Due to blood vessel problems and unbearable pain, Vinkenoog's lower right leg was amputated on June 19, 2009 in the Onze Lieve Vrouwe Gasthuis in Amsterdam-Oost. Although doctors did not consider him capable of rehabilitation with a prosthesis due to his age and prepared him for a wheelchair and admission to a nursing home, Vinkenoog was determined to be able to walk again with an artificial leg. He initially recovered well and hoped "to celebrate my 81st birthday [...] in the garden park with Edith by my side in nice weather with a few chosen friends and relatives", but on July 10, 2009 he was admitted to the Rehabilitation Center Amsterdam ( nowadays Reade) at the Overtoom suffered a brain haemorrhage and fell into a coma. It was almost immediately clear that the situation was hopeless. Due to a large amount of blood in the brain, all functions, except heart rate and breathing, were lost. Vinkenoog died on July 12, 2009 at 1:40 am in the VU medical center in Amsterdam.

He was buried on July 18, 2009 (which would have been his 81st birthday) at the Sint Barbara Cemetery in Amsterdam-West. At this cemetery he was "closer of service" five times at the funeral of lonely deceased persons. Beforehand, his coffin was carried around the Buitenzorg allotment park in Amsterdam-Noord. After the funeral, a bonfire was lit in the artists' village of Ruigoord. Vinkenoog had previously expressed the wish to be burned here in order to disappear from the world.

Personal

Vinkenoog married six times, successively: in 1946 with Jenny Lefevere (1927-), in 1950 with Judic Cohen (1920-2011), in 1958 with Ilse (Niesje) Monsanto (1937-1989), in 1964 with Reineke van der Linden (1943-2016), in the 1970s/80s with Barbara (Maria) Mohr (1937-) and in 1989 with Edith Ringnalda (1954-). His last marriage was solemnized on September 1, 1989 by Amsterdam mayor Ed van Thijn. Vinkenoog was together with Ringnalda until his death in 2009.

He had four children:

son Robert (1947, mother Jenny Lefevere)

son Alexander (1961, mother Ilse Monsanto)

daughter Anna-Sunya (1973, mother Barbara Mohr)

son Arthur (1978, mother Barbara Mohr)

Through Barbara Mohr he was the father of two stepdaughters, born in her previous marriage to provo activist Bart Huges.