Harmen Brethouwer – Scratching Lacquer: the Japanese Lacquer series

In conjunction with his solo exhibition at Museum Kranenburgh, Bergen (NL), we are pleased to present Scratching Lacquer: The Japanese Lacquer Series, a new book dedicated to the work of Harmen Brethouwer.

This detailed publication shows Brethouwer’s series of panels made with Japanese lacquer. A fresh essay by Monika Kopplin, former director of the Museum of Lacquer Art in Münster, offers a unique insight into the artist’s innovative use of traditional lacquer techniques and provides a new perspective on the place of lacquer in modern painting.

Monika Kopplin refers to the modernist tradition of the monochrome abstraction by artists such as Kazimir Malevich, Alexander Rodchenko, Yves Klein and Josef Albers, and continues: “Brethouwer’s presentation of a sequence of panels dedicated to the genius of Japanese lacquer which illuminate all conceivable aspects of this material in a sweeping gesture, occupies an exceptional position in the grand concert of these artistic currents, because this series – and none other – transfers the guiding principles of modern art into the medium of lacquer.”


Harmen Brethouwer
Scratching Lacquer: the Japanese Lacquer series, 2024
84 pages
text by Monika Kopplin (translation Howard Fine)
design by Beukers Scholma
published by HIDDE VAN SEGGELEN
ISBN 978-3-9819511-5-8

A copy of this publication is available via the gallery for EUR 24,95 plus postage. Please order here.

The exhibition Harmen Brethouwer, Tradition as Workshop is on view at Museum Kranenburgh until 3 November 2024. For further information, please visit the museum website.