Art in the Ambassade hotel

Other members of the Cobra movement

Alongside the many paintings by Theo Wolvecamp, the Ambassade Hotel owns works of art by Cobra artists Anton Rooskens, Lucebert, Corneille, Karel Appel, Eugène Brands, Pierre Alechinsky, Asger Jorn and contemporary Lotti van der Gaag. Three of whom we shall discuss below in brief.

Karel Appel (1921) is the Cobra artist who can claim the most international fame, a reputation which was mainly thanks to his later, abstract expressionist work. Typical of Appel's paintings are the strong colours and motifs of animals and people. His first monumental work, a wall painting entitled 'Vragende kinderen' which he produced in 1949 for the Amsterdam Town Hall canteen created such an uproar that it remained covered for ten years. Nevertheless, it gave him instant fame.

Sculptress Lotti van der Gaag (1923-1999), her work often depicting childlike fantasy life forms, is strongly akin to Cobra art. She lived alternately in the Netherlands and Paris, where she was taught by Ossip Zadkine. Her primitivist work is characterised by a very rough treatment of her material, giving it an aged and coarse quality. In the small lounge of the Ambassade Hotel you can see a typical example of her work.

The Ambassade Hotel owns several paintings by Eugène Brands (1913-2002) who was a member of the Cobra group for only a short while. Eugène Brands was very interested in primitive cultures and he endeavoured to capture many of the magical elements of those cultures in his work. The Ambassade Hotel's collection includes two designs Eugène Brands produced for the cover of "Reflex". "Reflex" was the publication of the 'Experimental Group in Holland' which ultimately only appeared twice.

If you have the time, we recommend a visit to the Cobra Museum in Amstelveen (near Amsterdam). See www.cobra-museum.com.