Lucebert

author

Dutch^[1] b. 15 September 1924, Amsterdam^[1] d. 10 May 1994, Alkmaar^[1] active 1949–1994

Lucebert was the pseudonym of Lubertus Jacobus Swaanswijk (Amsterdam, 15 September 1924 – Alkmaar, 10 May 1994), a Dutch poet and visual artist. He is regarded as one of the leading Dutch-language poets of the twentieth century and was a central figure of the Vijftigers (Movement of Fifty). He made his debut in 1949 and published his first collection, Triangel in de jungle, followed by De dieren der democratie, in 1951. Alongside poetry he worked as a painter and draughtsman, with his first solo exhibition at Galerie Espace in Haarlem in 1958 and a show at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam in 1959. He took part in Documenta II in Kassel in 1959. His honours include the Amsterdam poetry prize, the Constantijn Huygensprijs (1965), the P.C. Hooftprijs (1967) and the Prijs der Nederlandse Letteren (1983). For Dag en nacht (1959), fifty city photographs from morning to evening, he supplied the poems.^[1,2]

experimental poetry
language as process
urban life
post-war Dutch avant-garde

Works by Lucebert

1959 Dag en nacht: vijftig stadsfoto's van 's-ochtends tot 's-avonds G. van Saane (Lectura Architectonica) · book · Dutch Poems by Lucebert accompanying city photographs; reprint from Forum, 14th year, no. 12 (1959/1960). The photographers named in the bookseller listing (Henk Jonker, Cas Oorthuys, Eddy Posthuma de Boer, Violette Cornelius, Maria Austria) could not be verified from a primary source, so they are not included as people records.
1951 Triangel in de jungle, gevolgd door De dieren der democratie book · Dutch
1952 Apocrief / De analphabetische naam book · Dutch
1965 Mooi uitzicht en andere kurioziteiten book · Dutch
1974 Verzamelde gedichten book · Dutch

Exhibitions

1958 Solo exhibition Galerie Espace, Haarlem · solo
1959 Lucebert exhibition Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam · solo
1959 Documenta II Documenta, Kassel · group

Awards

1953 Poëzieprijs van de gemeente Amsterdam Gemeente Amsterdam
1962 Premio Marzotto Marzotto
1964 Premio Carlo Cardazzo (Venice Biennale) Venice Biennale
1965 Constantijn Huygensprijs
1967 P.C. Hooftprijs
1983 Prijs der Nederlandse Letteren
1990 Jacobus van Looyprijs

References

Swaanswijk, Lubertus Jacobus (1924-1994). Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland 1880-2000. Huygens Instituut (KNAW) link
Lucebert (1924-1994). Nederlandse poëzie: dichters uit het verleden. Koninklijke Bibliotheek link
Lucebert. Dag en Nacht. Vijftig stadsfoto's met gedichten van Lucebert. Boekwinkeltjes.nl. 1959 link