Archives
Documentation
Fondation Constant has an archive of personal letters, invoices, photographs and newspaper and magazine clippings. For research purposes this archive can be accessed.
Archive Constant
In 2020 Fondation Constant documented files and letters in Constant's house from 1949 till his death in 2005. However, most of his CoBrA and New Babylon archive is at the Nederlands Institute for Art History (RKD). Access to Constant's private archive can be requested for research purposes only:
Access Archive Request
The Inventory from Constant Nieuwenhuys' studio Wittenburg produced by Hanneke Leemans in 2008: Inventaris Wittenburg.pdf
The Constant/New Babylon Archive is housed at the Nederlans Institute for Art History (RKD): Inventaris RKD Constant.pdf
Archive Har Oudejans
The Har Oudejans Archive is housed at Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam.
Archive Goos Verweij
The Goos Verweij Archive houses letters of Constant Nieuwenhuys. This archive was donated to the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam.
Librairie Arthème Fayard
Guy Debord, Correspondance, volume I, juin 1957-août 1960 at Librairie Arthème Fayard.
Musée de la Résistance Nationale
A collection of letters and publications addressed to Noël Arnaud resides at Musée de la Résistance Nationale.
Situationist International Online
Online archive of texts by or related to the Situationist International in English.
Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren (DBNL)
An overview of primary and secondary texts by/about Constant available in the Digital Library of Dutch Literature (DBNL).
NOT BORED!
The website describes itself as "an autonomous, situationist-inspired, Low-budget, irregularly published journal." NOT BORED! has a page on Constant that contains a list of primary texts translated to English.
Het Geheugen
Online image bank with paintings, drawings, posters, postage stamps, newspaper clippings and more from over a hundred Dutch museums, archives and libraries — contains work by Constant.
La Revue des Ressources
Find on the website of La Revue des Ressources pdfs (in French) of the complete 12 issues of the journal by the International Situationniste, an organisation Constant was a part of, published between 1958 and 1969. The website is a multidisciplinary cultural digital magazine featuring literature, arts, and ideas.
Online portfolio of Bram Wisman
Photographer Bram Wisman was friends with Constant and many of the other Cobra artists and took many photo's of his work and private life over the years. The photo's can be seen on his extensive website.
Private
Besides the archival materials and documentation in public repositories most of the information is still in private hands. Accredited and institutional researchers can contact the Fondation Constant for advice info@stichtingconstant.nl.
Photographs & films
The foundation’s archives include photographs of the various artworks of Constant, studio shots, portraits, installation shots, and other documentary pictures of the artist.
Obtaining Photographic Material from Fondation Constant is subject to the following conditions:
- Photographic material obtained directly from the archive of Fondation Constant, is subject to costs. All requests should be sent by email to info@stichtingconstant.nl.
- Reproduction of works by Constant is subject to copyright fees. These fees will be collected by Pictoright. Requests for reproduction can be sent by email to info@pictoright.nl for the attention of Sander van de Wiel or Marcel van de Graaf.
The copyright fees are separate from the costs of obtaining photographic material. - If the image to be reproduced is in a public collection, the applicant should obtain photographic material from the appropriate institution.
More photographic material on Constant is available from:
http://www.nederlandsfotomuseum.nl
http://www.nationaalarchief.nl
Material and permission for use of the following films can be obtained exclusively from Het Nederlands Instituut voor Beeld en Geluid www.beeldengeluid.nl
- Constant avant le départ (Constant, before departure), 2005, 82 min by Thomas Doebele and Maarten Schmidt (directors), Nellie Kamer (producer), Saskia van Schaik (editor).
Constant died in the summer of 2005. Thomas Doebele and Maarten Schmidt filmed the artist during the last months of his life. They followed him and his dog, Tikus, on their daily stroll to the artist's studio, where he finished his last painting Le Piège (The Trap). A personal tale about a great painter in the last months of his life, working on the final details of the horizon of his last painting.
- Cobra, een opstand tegen de orde (Cobra, a revolt against order), 1988, 50 min.
Documentary by Jan Vrijman about the meaning and influence of the COBRA group, then and now.
- Met Simon Vinkenoog naar het New Babylon van Constant (Accompanying Simon Vinkenoog to Constant's New Babylon), 1962, 15 min.
Lies Westenburg visits Constant at his studio with writer Simon Vinkenoog. Simon and Constant discuss the ideas behind the New Babylon project. A film by Wim Smits (camera), Simon Vinkenoog (commentary), Lies Westenburg (director)
www.beeldengeluid.nl also contains a multitude of tv fragments featuring Constant and his work. Most of this material is available for private use and subject to costs.
The following film is available on Youtube:
- New Babylon de Constant, 2005, 13 min.
New Babylon visually captured by Constant's son Victor Nieuwenhuijs and Maartje Seyferth.
The next film can be found on the website of the British Film Institute www.bfi.org.uk
- Gyromorphosis, 1958, 7 min.
In Gyromorphosis, film maker Hy Hirsch strives to display the kinetic qualities of the New Babylon structures of Constant Nieuwenhuys. One by one he puts parts of the structures in motion and films the details with colored lighting having them overlap each other, appear and disappear. He creates a sensation of acceleration and suspence suggested by the work itself.
We have no information on the availability of this film:
- Constant oder der Weg nach New Babylon (Constant or the route to New Babylon), 1968, 55 min.
For ten years Constant worked on his New Babylon project as a reaction to architectural and social realities. Film maker Carlheinz Caspari followed Constant and his vision.
If you are a student specialising in documentation and archiving, check under vacancies for available internships!
Fondation Constant is a not for profit organisation and your donations are always welcome and ever necessary: paypal.me/FondationConstantNL
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