Lop Nor series, 2017/18
Haenen in her studio, Amsterdam
Babs Haenen (Dutch, b. 1948) is a ceramic artist living and working in Amsterdam. Haenen creates expressive sculptures that give equal importance to color, line, and form. Taking influenced by 20th century abstract painting as well as elements from the natural world, Haenen creates richly pigmented painterly compositions on slabs of porcelain. These compositions are then cut, folded and built into 3-demensional sculptures. The resulting forms often resemble vessels or geological elements, and are always imbued with a dynamic inner choreography.
BABS HAENEN
Dutch, b. 1948
Studio in Amsterdam since 1979
Teacher at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam, 1994-2013
EDUCATION
1974-79 Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam
AWARDS
2020 Van Achterbergh Prize
2012 Mondriaan Fund, Visual Arts and Cultural Heritage
2005 Nomination for the Dutch Ceramic Prize 2005
2003 Fonds BKVB, the Netherlands Foundation for
Visual Arts, Design and Architecture
1991 Inax Design Prize for Europeans, Japan
1990 Fonds BKVB, the Netherlands Foundation for
Visual Arts, Design and Architecture
SELECT SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2020 Leeuwarden, National ceramic museum Princessehof
2018 Babs Haenen, Hostler Burrows, New York, NY*
En Route, Taste Contemporary, Geneva
2017 En Route, Two Cities Gallery, Shanghai
The Silk Road (with Wil van Blokland), Waterland Museum,
Purmerend, Netherlands
2015 Ubi Gallery (with Peter Hoogeboom), Beijing Design Week (assistant
Guanlin Wang), Beijing
2014 Scholar’s Rock, gallery VIVID, Rotterdam
2012 En Route, Gallery Van Krimpen
2008 De Hallen- Frans Halsmuseum, Haarlem
Babs Haenen, ABC- architectuurcentrum, Haarlem
2002 Garth Clark Gallery, New York, NY
1999 Garth Clark Gallery, New York, NY
1998 The Turbulent Vessel: Ceramics 1991-1998, Stedelijk
Museum, Amsterdam*
1995 Garth Clark Gallery, New York, NY
1992 Garth Clark Gallery, New York, NY
1991 Hetjens-Museum/Deutsches Keramikmuseum, Düsseldorf*
A Decade of Work, Museum Het Princessehof, Leeuwarden, Netherlands
1989 Garth Clark Gallery, New York, NY
1987 Garth Clark Gallery, New York, NY
1984 Frans Halsmuseum, Haarlem
SELECT GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2020 London, Collect 2020, TingYing gallery
Geneva, Artgenève 2020, gallery Taste Contemporary
Blanc de Chine, A Continuous Conversation, The Victoria & Albert
Museum, London, UK
2019 TEFAF New York Spring, Hostler Burrows, New York, NY
FOG Design + Art, Hostler Burrows, San Francisco, CA
2018 Design Miami, Hostler Burrows, Miami, FL
The Salon Art and Design, Hostler Burrows, New York, NY
Rich-Z Gallery, Shenzhen, China
Made in Holland: 400 Year World Brand, Ceramic Museum Princesshof,
Leeuwarden, The Netherlands
2017 Hotel Panorama, PAN Art Fair, Amsterdam
Change the System, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam
Spherebol+, Flow collection, International Ceramic Fair, Jingdezhen, China
A City in Dialoque with the World: Collection of Artworks by ‘Jingpiao’
International Ceramists, curator Zhu Legeng, Jingdezhen, China
Classics Revived, International Ceramics Design Invitational Exhibition,
Liling Ceramics Valley Museum, LiLing, China
China Caracter, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Hague
The Dramatic Vessel, the Museum of Contemporary Art the Shigaraki
Ceramic Cultural Park, Shigaraki, Japan
Vase: Function Reviewed, Farmleigh House, Dublin
2016 Design Miami, gallery VIVID, Miami, FL
the Mode-International Ceramics Arts Invitational exhibition, Liling Ceramics
Valley Museum, Liling, China
Sexy Ceramics, Princessehof National Museum of Ceramics, Leeuwarden,
Netherlands
Vase: Function Reviewed, National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny, Ireland
Taste Contemporary Craft, Artmonte-carlo 2016, Monaco
‘The Dutch in Milano’ by Uniquole, Project Masterly, Palazzo Francesca
Turati, Milan
Art Rotterdam, gallery VIVID, Rotterdam
Artgenève 2016, Taste Contemporary Craft, Geneva
2015 Pan Amsterdam, gallery VIVID, Amsterdam
The Beautiful Object, AD Gallery, Antwerp
Design Miami, gallery VIVID, Miami, FL
World Tour Art Exhibition, Simon Ma, Julian Lennon, Robert Zucherman,
Babs Haenen, Zheng Juke, Chinese National Treasure Museum of Arts,
Beijing
Ceramic culture and art exhibition, Jingdezhen Greenland Group, Milano*
‘New China from China’, KIP International Pavilion, Expo Milan, Milan
Design Miami Basel, gallery VIVID, Basel
Kunst uit Huis, collectie Wilploo, Museum Schiedam, Schiedam,
Netherlands*
Art Rotterdam, gallery VIVID, Rotterdam
Melancholia, gallery VIVID, Rotterdam
FOG Design + Art, Hostler Burrows, San Francisco, CA
2014 Clay!: A century ceramics at the Gerrit
Rietveld Academy, Gemeentemuseum, Den Haag
12 artists in clay: Dublin Castle, Europe & Beyond, Peppercanister Gallery
at the Coach House gallery, Dublin
Design Miami / Basel, gallery VIVID, Basel, Switzerland
Art Rotterdam, gallery VIVID, Rotterdam
Six Women, Hostler Burrows, New York, NY
2013 Minimentaal ll, Galerie Metis/ Maria Chailloux, Amsterdam
Muzeum LeSecet Magyarorszag, Pecs, Hungary
Zuid Oost Beemster, Kunst Rai, Kunstconsult, Amsterdam
IJ-Catchers: Babs Haenen, Alexander Lichtveld, Peter
Rommers, Amsterdam
Salah-ad-Din-Mysterious Green Teachers and students Gerrit Rietveld
Academie, Ceramic Museum Princessehof, Leeuwarden, Netherlands
2012 Maskerade, Fans Halsmuseum/ De Hallen, Haarlem*
Bloemen in het museum, Frans Halsmuseum, Haarlem
Shifting Paradigms in Contemporary Ceramics, The Museum of Fine Arts,
Houston, TX*
2011 Temporary Stedelijk 2, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
Presentation Modern Ceramics: Collection JWN van
Achterbergh, Keramiekmuseum Princessehof,
Leeuwarden, Netherlands*
Perron-Kunstpreis, in der sparte porzellan Amsterdam, Rinus Beukema,
art dealer, Kunsthaus Frankenthal, Frankenthal (Pfalz), Germany
Rai- Art Amsterdam, gallery van Krimpen, Amsterdam
Art Rotterdam, artfair, gallery van Krimpen, Rotterdam
Made in China: Teachers and Students, Ceramic Department Gerrit Rietveld
Academie, Nederlandsche Bank, Amsterdam
Made in China: Teachers and Students, Ceramic Department Gerrit Rietveld
Academie, Ministry of Finance, The Hague
2010 Kleikunst, Steengoed: Ceramics from the Collection of Museum Boijmans
van Beuningen, Kunsthal, Rotterdam
Contemporary glass and ceramics, Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague
Rai- Art Amsterdam, gallery Van Krimpen, Amsterdam
de kom, Cypres gallery, Leuven, Belgium
Rinus Beukema, art dealer, Amsterdam
2009 nieuwe liefdes, Keramiekmuseum Princessehof, Leeuwarden, Netherlands
Rinus Beukema, art dealer, Amsterdam
Form and Sculpture: Teachers and Students, Ceramic Department Gerrit
Rietveld Academie, Ministry of Finance, The Haque
2008 XXth century, Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Haque
Well-meaning cultural commodities, Barrett Marsden Gallery, London
Top! Stukken-hedendaagse keramiek in Nederland, Gorcumsmuseum,
Gorinchem, Netherlands*
2007 Rinus Beukema, art dealer, Amsterdam
European Triennale for Ceramics and Glass, Les Anciens Abattoirs,
Mons, Belgium*
25 years Binnen, Gallery Binnen, Amsterdam*
Pretty Dutch, Keramiekmuseum Princessehof, Leeuwarden, Netherlands*
2006 Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery, Claremont, CA
2005 Organic Abstraction: Part 2 Homage to Ruth Duckworth, Garth Clark
Gallery, New York, NY
2004 Goudomrand: The Future Handmade, Teachers and Students, Ceramic
Department, Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Nederlandsche Bank, Amsterdam
2003 presentation Ceramics Babs Haenen / Geert Lap, Frans Halsmuseum,
De Hallen Pavilion, Haarlem
Acquisitions, Museum Princessehof, Leeuwarden, Netherlands
2002 New Collection, Museum of Modern Ceramic Art, Gifu, Japan
Allan Chasanoff Ceramic Collection, Mint Museum of Craft +
Design, Charlotte, NC*
Blue + White = Radical, Garth Clark Gallery, New York, NY
2001 Dutch Contemporary Ceramics, Gallery Janet Mansfield, Sydney
1999 The George R. Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art Toronto
1994 The European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF), Gallery Marijke
Raaijmakers, Maastricht
1993 The Inax Design Prize for Europeans 1st to 5th, Museum
Tokoname, Tokoname, Japan*
1992 Beyond Tradition, Contemporary Ceramics in the collection of the Museum
Boijmans-van Beuningen Rotterdam, Institut Néerlandais, Paris*
1991 Recent Acquisitions, The Museum of Contemporary Ceramic Art, Shigaraki
1988 Vice Versa, Musée Joseph Déchelette, Roanne, France*
1987 Holland in Form, Centraal Museum, Utrecht*
1984 Helen Drutt Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
* indicates catalog
COLLECTIONS
AkzoNobel Art Foundation, Amsterdam
Boise Art Museum, Boise, ID
Carnegie Institute Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA
Consulate of the Netherlands, Chongqing, China
Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, New York
Council-hall Municipal Dordrecht, Dordrecht
Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Beijing
Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY
Eye Clinic Focus, Rotterdam
Frans Halsmuseum, Haarlem
The George R. Gardener Museum of Ceramic Art, Toronto
The Hague Municipal Museum, Den Haag
Hetjens-Museum, Düsseldorf
House corportationYmere, Amsterdam
Inax Corporation, Tokoname, Japan
Ceramic Museum Princessehof, Leeuwarden
Koninklijke PTTNederland. NV, Den Haag
Kunstgewerbe Museum, Berlin
LiLing Ceramics Valley Museum, LiLing, China
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Den Haag
Mint Museum of Craft and Design, Charlotte, NC
Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam
The Museum of Contemporary Ceramic Art, Shigaraki, Japan
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
Museum of Modern Ceramics Art, Gifu, Japan
Museum for Modern Art, Arnhem
Nederlands Tegelmuseum, Otterloo, Netherlands
Nederlandsche Bank, Amsterdam
NV Airport Schiphol, Schiphol
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
Stedelijk Museum, Schiedam, Netherlands
Stedelijk Museum's Hertogenbosch, Den Bosch, Netherlands
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS AND CATALOGUES
Aanwinsten 1993-2003, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2006
Amsterdam: Stedelijk Museum 1998
Auch, Monica. Vrije Vormgeving: Mapping Dutch Conceptual Crafts, BNO
2008, Amsterdam
Auch, Monica. Talking Ceramics. Sunday Morning @ EKWC, Stitching Europees, Keramisch Werkcentrum, 2016
Augustijn, Piet. Hedendaagse Keramiek in Nederland, Nederlandse Vakgroep
Keramiek, NVK, 2008 Amsterdam
Bedrijfscollecties Nederland, NAI uitgevers Rotterdam 2009
Boom, Irma
Boot, M. The Turbulent Vessel: Babs Haenen Ceramics 1991-1998
Brouwer, Marcel. J.W.N.van Achterbergh, Een gedreven verzamelaar, Stichting van
Achterbergh-Domhof, 2011
Catalogue of the Collection 1992. Shigaraki, The Museum of Contemporary
Ceramic Art 1993
Clark, Garth. Babs Haenen: A Decade of Work, Leeuwarden: Museum
het Princessehof 1991
Clark, Garth. Shards: Garth Clark on Ceramic Art, DAP 2004, USA
Clark, Garth. Shifting Paradigms in Contemporary Ceramics: Collection of Garth
Clark and Cindy Strauss. Mark Del Vecchio, Yale University Press with
the Museum of Fine Art, Houston, TX, USA, 2012
Clark, Garth. CFile Online.org, Garth Clark, Writer at Large, Ceramic Art & Design,
2014
Cooper, Emmanuel. Ten Thousand Years of Pottery, the British Museum Press, 2002
Crommelin, L. Keramiek in het Stedelijk, Amsterdam: Stedelijk Museum1998
de Jong, Koos. Keramiek & Architectuur, EKWC, Hertogenbosch, 2009
De Vries, Mariette. Present: Koninklijke Tichelaar Makkum Uitgeverij 010,
Rotterdam 2010
de Waal, Edmund. The Pot Book, the Phaidon Press Limited 2011
de Wagt, Wim. Het Geschenk, Stadsschouwburg Haarlem,1918-2009 HDC
Media 2009
Del Vecchio, Mark. Postmodern Ceramics. London: Thames & Hudson 2001
Dietz, Ulysses Grant. Great Pots: Contemporary Ceramics from Function to Fantasy,
The Newark Museum, New Jersey 2003
Dormer, Peter. The New Ceramics - Trends and Traditions, London: Revisit
Edition 1994
Douglas, Mary F. Allan Chassanoff Ceramic Collection. Charlotte, NC: Mint
Museum of Craft + Design 2000
Ganhui Yan. Jingdezhen [Greenland] Ceramic Cultural Exhibition - World Expo Park
KIP Milan, Italy, 2015
Heslenfeld, M. Clay! A Century of Ceramics at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy
Exhibition, Municipal Museum, The Hague, Waanders Utigevers, 2014.
Inax Design Prize III. Tokyo: Inax Corporation 1992
Janssen, Hans. XXste Eeuw, Waanders uitgevers Zwolle, Gemeentemuseum
den Haag, 2008
Kamermans, Johan. Verglaasde Charme, De schoonheid van de Nederlandsche
tegel, SPA uitgevers Zwolle, 2013
Leclercq, Anne. Triennale Europeenne, ceramique, Verre, WCC. BF, Mons 2007
Luo Jian. The Mode - International Art Invitational Exhibition, Liling Ceramic Valley
Museum, Hunan, China
The Legacy of Modern Ceramic Art, The Museum of Modern Ceramic Art,
Gifu, Japan, 2003
Mabel, Hoogendonk. Verzameld, Collectie Moderne Kunst Frans Halsmuseum, 1999
McEachem, Susan. Ceramic Millenium, The Press of the Nova Scotia College of Art
and Design and the authors, Canada, 2006
Rijk, Thimo de. Designers in Nederland, Ludio Amsterdam, Gent, 2003
Spruit-Ledeboer. Nederlandse Keramiek 1975-1985. Amsterdam
Staal, G. Holland in Vorm, Vormgeving in Nederland 1945-1987. Gravenhage
Strauss, Cindy. Shifting Paradigms in Contemporary Ceramics: Collection of Garth
Clark and Mark Del Vecchio, Yale University Press with the Museum of Fine
Art, Houston, 2012
Strengers, A. Eigenlijk Eigentijds, Art Collection ‘Nederlandsche Bank’ 1982-2007
Strengers, A. In Sight, Vision and Focus: Collection in Perspective De Nederlandsche
Bank, Art Committee, 2014
Trumpie, Ank. Pretty Dutch, 18de-eeuws Hollands Porselein, Princessehof
Leeuwarden, 010 Publishers, Rotterdam 2009
Uniquole, N. Masterly - The Dutch in Milano, Exhibition in Palazzo Francisco Turati -
Salone del Mobile, Milan, 2016
van Winden, Wilfred Fusion, Sun 2010
Verborgen collectie, KPN, Koninklijke PTT Nederland NV‘s Gravenhage 1995
ARTICLES
Faber, Bernard. Keramische klimop, Haarlem- Stadsschouwburg, gevelbouw-
jaargang 5, nr 2, July 2008.
Heslenfeld, M. Keramiek van de Rietveld Academie- Vormen uit Vuur- 2014/2
Heslenfeld, M. De Pottenkijker, de nalatenschap van een bevlogen Verzamelaar,
Vormen uit vuur 2012-2013
Hulsman, Bernard. De terugkeer van het ornament, Kunstschrift, april-mei 2010
Hulsman, Bernard. Versieren is geen misdaad meer, Cultureel supplement
NRC 13-3-2009.
Put, Roos. Expo, Babs Haenen, Amsterdam ‘ En Route’ Kunstbeeld, nr.4 -2012.
Reinewald, Chris. Hand, hoofd en hart: het ambacht en de vrijevormgeving
Designgeschiedenis Nederland Juni 2009.
Reinewald, Chris. Ijspaleis met keramiek, Items 6+- 2008
Schampers, Karel. Maskerade, losbandigheid en heilzame werking Halszaken, Frans
Hals Museum/De Hallen, no.32/2012
Ter Borch, Ine. Gestolde golven aan de gevel,Detail in Architectuur, Jan./febr. 2004,
Ten Hagen & Stam BV
Van der Stelt. Omsloten ruimte, Babs Haenen, Keramiek- jaargang 40-2
van Kester, Peter. Oude dame in een hedendaags jasje PI, Project en Interieur,
December/Januari-2008, numer 6- jaargang 19
van Kester, Peter. Rietveld Academie, 100jaar Kneden, glazuren en kleien Collect, Art and Antique journal Nr8 - November 2014
COMMISSIONS
2010-11 Focus, Centrepiece Eye Clinic, Rotterdam
2004-09 porcelain floor-tile for the entrance hall, production Koninkklijke Tichelaar
Makkum, Keramiekmuseum Princessehof, Leeuwarden, Netherlands
2004-05 Fireplace design and production, Molenaar-Adriaanse, Kats, Netherlands
2004 Artwork "The Forsaken Garden," Joke Smits Prize, Ministry of Welfare and
Employment, Den Haag
2003-08 Production Koninklijke Tichelaar Makkum: Ornament and Tiles, Design and
Models, Theatre, Haarlem
2003 Wall Panel, Council Hall, Dordrecht, Netherlands
2000-02 Development of Porcelain Slabs, EEA - Erick van Egeraat
Architects, Rotterdam
1998 Stichting Het Woningbedrijf, Amsterdam
Building Compagny Ymere, Amsterdam
production Koninklijke Tichelaar Makkum, WAdtegel/ WAdtile
1995 Le retour éternel du ciel, Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken/ Ministry of
Foreign Affair, Den Haag
1994 Tulipiere III 1996, Amsterdam Luchthaven/ Airport Schiphol, Schiphol,
Netherlands
VARIOUS ACTIVITIES
- Visiting lecturer at the Camberwell School of Art, London Institute, England
- Dutch board Ceramic Millennium ‘99
- Design committee, advising the Ministry of OCW Judith Leyster
Foundation 1987-1994
- Organizing exhibitions
Ceramics in Architecture with Gallery Binnen, Amsterdam
Goud omrand- the future handmade, Nederlandsche Bank, Amsterdam
Form and Sculpture, Nederlandsche Bank, Amsterdam
Ministry of Finance, the Hague
Made in China, Nederlandsche Bank/ Ministry of Finance
Salah-ad-Din, Keramiekmuseum Princessehof, Leeuwarden
- lecture Slow Craft -BNO, vrije vormgevers- 2008
- lecture How I shaped a wall - China, Jingdezhen- 2011
