This is a loose-leaf binder containing the following images, often two or three to a page. It also contains loose drawings that had not been given a page in the binder yet, and a few images done on card stock, folded over, that may have been intended originally to form a separate book.
Middle Left: Wim Grohman – Two Mangrove-Sea Ghosts; coloured pencil on card stock, 12.8 cm x 11.3 cm (approx.)
Middle Right: Wim Grohman – The Durian Man; coloured pencil on card stock, 12.8 cm x 11.3 cm (approx.)
Far Right: Wim Grohman – The Shout in the Rain Forest of Manokwari – Dutch West Guinea 1938; coloured pencil on card stock, 1983 16.5 cm x 10.7 cm (approx.)
These, plus the first image from the next group, could either come out of memories of Carl’s mandatory service period in the late 1930s (note the year on the far right image) or from the POW years. Durian is a much-loved fruit with a strong odour and, for those who can get past that, a rich flavour.
Middle Left: Fatigued; coloured pencil on card stock, 1983 13.6 cm x 14.3 cm (approx.)
Middle Right: No Resting Place, coloured pencil on paper, 1983, 13.7 cm x 14.3 cm (approx.)
It seems likely that this is an allusion to Genesis 8:9, the dove sent out from the ark by Noah. Most translations refer to a single dove.
Far Right: The Samoan, 1983 coloured pencil on paper, 13.3 cm x 18.9 cm (approx.)
Middle: Kaiser Willi, Doorn, 1938, 1983 pencil on paper, 11.2 cm x 14.8 cm (approx.)
At the end of the First World War, German Emperor Wilhelm II went into exile in the Netherlands, which had remained neutral, and eventually abdicated. He lived, initially in Amerongen, later in Doorn, until 1941, by which time the Netherlands were occupied by the Third Reich.
Right: Treblinka, 1983-85 (very likely 1983), lead and coloured pencil on paper, 14.3 cm x 19.6 cm (approx.)
An alternative title is just visible at the bottom, but has been cut off. In the collection the title “Treblinka” is written along with the medium, and must be the final thought on the matter, but the earlier title appears to have been “The Polish VFW” (or VEW).
Middle Left: Girl from the Canadian Tundra, 1983, coloured pencil on paper, 10.0 cm x 11.4 cm (approx.)
Middle Right: The Poet, 1983, lead and coloured pencil on paper, 10.8 cm x 15.2 cm (approx.)
There is reason to think the third drawing was at one point intended as a portrait of Ezra Pound, but no definite indication.
Far Right: Picadores – From the Bull Ring, 1983, coloured pencil, 19.7 cm x 21.7 cm (approx.)
“From the Bull Ring” was written on the page that supports this drawing; “Picadores” is on the drawing itself.
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Judas; Coloured pencil, 1983; initialed, dated; 11.1 cm x 16.3 cm (approx.)
Steps to Upper Garden; India Ink on Paper, 1984; initialed, dated; 20.9 cm x 26.9 cm (approx.)
Self; Pencil on paper, 1984; initialed, dated; 17.3 cm x 22.1 cm (approx.)
–Besaki Mother Temple Bali; Coloured pencil, 1984; initialed, dated; 13.4 cm x 16.2 cm (approx.)
Art Class Model-; Pencil, 1984; initialed, dated; 17.8 cm x 24.2 cm (approx.)
-KPM Ship – Java Sea-; Pencil on paper, 1984; initialed, dated; 18.5 cm x 20.9 cm (approx.)
–KPM stands for Koninklijke Paketvaart Maatschappij (Royal Packet Company), active 1888-1967
Coloured pencil on paper; all 1985
From a Japanese theatre play I and II; Coloured pencil on paper; 1983-85
The next fourteen drawings were inserted between pages of the 1983-85 book but had not yet been incorporated, although it is a fair assumption that this was the intention.
Another set of fully worked-out drawings found in book five, eight in total, was done on heavy paper, folded as if these were intended to be sewn up as signatures in a book. The project was not completed, judging by the number of blank sides. The pages are 23.6 cm x 22.2 cm, and although the pictures were drawn directly on the page and are clearly integrated with it, the backgrounds have been cropped here.
The Art of Carl van den Bosch 