Amsterdam 2015
Who’s Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue Container
I recreated the painting of Barnett Newman, WAORYAB, on a bright red container, found at a construction site in Amsterdam. It started out by me being dazzled by the turbulent history this painting has had in Amsterdam. “It was attacked with a knife by Gerard Jan van Bladeren in 1986 and restored by Daniel Goldreyer in 1991. The restoration initially cost some $400,000, but was heavily attacked by critics who claimed that subtle nuances in the three monochrome sections had been lost and that Goldreyer had used house paints and a roller. According to critics, the painting had been destroyed twice: first during the attack, and again during the restoration. Goldreyer filed a $125 million suit against the City of Amsterdam and the Museum, claiming that his reputation was damaged. After lawsuits, settlements, and further restoration, the final cost of the attack was estimated to be close to $1 million.
The Amsterdam city council asked for a full forensic report on the controversial restoration. When the report was finished, the City of Amsterdam and Goldreyer agreed to keep it under wraps, as part of a settlement. But almost 20 years later, on 11 September 2013, the Raad van State decided the report had to be made public by the Government of Amsterdam within six weeks. A week later the Volkskrant newspaper published the report’s main conclusions. It confirmed that Goldreyer had indeed repainted the entire red section with acrylic paint and had used a roller to add two layers of varnish to the, initially unvarnished, painting. According to the newspaper, Goldreyer’s restoration has “forever destroyed” Newman’s work. The painting was put on display again in the Stedelijk Museum in 2014.”
Now a second version of this painting is existing in Amsterdam, free to visit. And of course it’s getting the same treatment as his big brother and therefor 50 postcards of the work have been made and are available for purchase.