Joop Beljon

This facebook page is dedicated to the work of Dutch Sculptor Joop Beljon (1922 - 2002).

Joop Beljon (1922 – 2002) was primarily a sculptor. But he was also a typographer, writer, art critic, teacher, environmental designer and the director of the Royal Academy of Art The Hague from 1956 until 1984.
Born in the Dutch town of Haarlem as the son of a blacksmith, he started to learn the trade with sculptor Theo van Rijn. After the war he earned a living by carving letters for war monuments. He quickly developed as a typographer at the newspaper “De Linie”. He almost singlehandedly modernized typography by using the whole page as an image instead of mainly text and a small picture here and there. He also worked at Elsevier Publishers where he wrote endorsements, made translations and advised on which books to publish. Meanwhile he wrote art critics for “De Groene Amsterdammer” newspaper. In 1955 he was asked to head the Royal Academy of Art. A year later he accepted this position and he also started teaching. In the following years he started writing books on design. “Ontwerpen en Verwerpen”, “Waar je kijkt”, “Bouwmeesters van morgen”. In the 1970, he started to write a book on the primary design principles called “Zo doe je dat”. It was reprinted 14 times between 1976 and 2002.. It was mandatory literature at art schools. The sequel “Ogen open” was less popular. In the 1990’s Beljon wrote “Grammatica del Arte”. This Spanish book featured many more of his design principles. The principles were based on his own struggle while designing and sculpting. He taught them in his own class at the Roya Academy and in art schools all over the world.

During all of this he was sculpting and designing. His work can be found all over the globe, from his hometown of Oud-Beijerland in The Netherlands, up to Mexico, Los Angeles, Bahrein and Jeruzalem. Of course, most of his work can be found in The Netherlands. Mostly environmental designs, squares, fountains and applied art. The last 20 years he worked with his colleague Ellen Vos on what they called “The Endless City”, a bronze cast fantasy city in miniature format. This was his Magnus Opus. A special website is dedicated to “The Endless City”, www.theendlesscity.com.

Over time we will publish photos of Joop Beljon’s work on this page and keep you up to date with events, exhibitions and the like. Enjoy!

Roeland Beljon, treasurer Joop Beljon’s work and chairman of the Joop Beljon Foundation.