Emile "Bro" Kolthoff: 63!

Yep, that time of year again...

63 years since my good brother (also known as The Beret Spy) was born on Staten Island, New York.

Thanks for the good spy-work Bro, even though covid19 has minimized your productiveness the last 1.5 years...

Happy Birthday (Beret Project visitor's good wishes will be passed on)!

Fred Carasso

Fred Carasso (Frederico Antonio Carasso, 1899 - 1969) was a Dutch sculptor.

In 1922, two weeks after Benito Mussolini's seizure of power, he moved to Paris, where he worked as a carpenter. Because of his political activism, he was expelled from France in 1928, which happened to him again in Brussels in 1933. He eventually found refuge in the Netherlands, which became his new homeland.

Nevertheless, Carasso still had his first exhibition in Brussels in 1933, albeit under the pseudonym Fred Deltor. In addition to drawings, photo collages, he also showed four small sculptures. In Amsterdam he was able to develop as a sculptor and he was included in the Circle of Amsterdam Sculptors. In 1938 Carasso exhibited for the first time in the Netherlands. In 1956 he was appointed professor of sculpture at the Jan van Eyck Academy in Maastricht, succeeding Oscar Jespers.

Berets in Cajun Country

These great photos were sent to me by Andy. Great work, thanks Andy!

Cajun music accordionist Zachary Richard at the Corner Bar in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, 1982. Photo by Elemore Morgan, Jr.

Terrance Simien, Zydeco accordionist, with C.J. Chenier and Paul Simon. Lafayette, Louisiana, 1991. Photo by Philip Gould.

Adishatz, Denis Guédon

I am incredibly sad to have lost a friend and a master-mentor in the world of berets.

Denis Guédon has died on 21 July at the age of 64 years.

Denis, or simply 'Guédon' as I used to call him, was a treasure chest full of knowledge on berets, the history and manufacturing of berets and of the beret's place in Béarnais culture.

Guédon's berets were and are the very best the world has ever seen and I feel lucky and am proud to have journeyed together with Guédon.

Thank you, Guédon.

Adishatz,

Daan (bonetaire)

(For aficionados who are keen to order one of the few Auloronesa berets made by Denis Guédon that I have left in stock, please contact me here.)

Hobbits in France

If you can't afford to come to New Zealand to visit the Lord of the Rings filming locations... No problem ! 

You just have to go to Fère-en-Tardenois in the Aisne (France) where boinero Christophe built three Hobbit houses.

In this video he explains how it all came about. If you also want to spend a night in this atypical accommodation, click here.

Thanks Thomas

Willem Reijers

Wilhelmus Ludovicus (Willem) Reijers (1910 - 1958) was a Dutch painter, illustrator and sculptor.

Reijers was a member of the artists' group Free Images (1947). In 1948 four of his sculptures were part of the Dutch entry for the Venice Biennale. Reijers was only active as a sculptor for about ten years. He left behind a small oeuvre of experimental work, which was placed throughout the Netherlands. Reijers' last work was "Het Verkeer" (Traffic)  for the Emma Bridge in the city of Groningen. 

He died before it could be cast in bronze. The work was completed by Wessel Couzijn and unveiled by Reijers' widow in 1959.

Cor van Teeseling

Cornelis Gerardus (Cor) van Teeseling (1915 - 1942) was a Dutch artist and resistance fighter.

As a visual artist he took an active part in the resistance against the rising fascism. After the February strike of 1941, Van Teeseling became active in the resistance newspaper De Waarheid.

In August 1941, Van Teeseling was arrested by the German occupier. On November 10, 1941, he was sentenced to death. He was locked up on death row at the Weteringschans prison in Amsterdam. In August 1942 he was transferred to the Wehrmacht prison at Gansstraat in Utrecht. On November 19, 1942 he was executed near Soesterberg. During his stay on death row in Amsterdam, Van Teeseling made almost daily self-portraits that were published shortly after his death. Soon after his death, his work was recognized as portraying the human drama of World War II. 

Van Teeseling himself also saw his drawings as a possible source of income for his wife after his death. However, his wife managed to preserve the collection of more than a hundred drawings.

Facing Stone at Dutch Factory

Facing stone with the text "Presented by the staff at the opening of this building in May 1953".

The facing stone shows a worker with beret, pipe, nuts, rivets and cogwheels in high relief. By artist Hans Petri, 1953. 

Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam

Service in the Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam on Hosjana Raba, the seventh day of Sukkot.

A photo series by Leonard Freed.

Kosher Cheese

A photo by Jenny E. Wesly, at the Stam cheese factory in Vianen (Netherlands).

An elderly man in a beret is holding some kosher stamps in his hand, while a young man with a kippah on his head is watching.

Ben Lopes Cardozo

Ben (Benjamin) Lopes Cardozo (1887 – 1942) was a Jewish diamond merchant from Amsterdam and a member of the Communist Workers' Party in the Netherlands.

Benjamin committed suicide, the day before he had to wear the Star of David, as decreed by the Nazi occupier.

Insula College

Mosaic in the hall of the Insula College (highschool) in Dordrecht, Netherlands.

The laying of the mosaic:

Story of Women

Story of Women (French: Une affaire de femmes) is a 1988 French drama film directed by Claude Chabrol based on the true story of Marie-Louise Giraud, guillotined on July 30, 1943, for having performed 27 abortions in the Cherbourg area, and the book by Francis Szpiner.

The film premiered at the 45th Venice International Film Festival, in which Isabelle Huppert was awarded the prize for best actress.

Berend Hendriks

Berend Hendriks (1918 –1997) was a Dutch artist, and lecturer at the ArtEZ Academy of fine art in Arnhem. Together with Peter Struycken he initiated the Arnhem school of environmental art.

Hendriks, son of an arborist from Apeldoorn, was initially destined to follow into his father's footsteps. He attended the horticultural school in Boskoop, but finally opted for a career in the visual arts. He continued his studies at the Rijksacademie in Amsterdam, where he studied with Heinrich Campendonk. After graduating he developed into a versatile artist; painter, glass painting, wall painting, monumental artist, environmental artist, sculptor, ceramist and maker of mosaic.

Environmental works of Hendriks can be found in public space in Amersfoort, Gouda and Hengelo. His paintings are characterized by geometric shapes, in which he uses mathematical sequences, both in content and color.

Painting of Berend Hendriks by Esther Eggink

Nehalennia

Ganuenta was an settlement of roman antiquity near the Zeelandic place Colijnsplaat (Netherlands). It was situated on the southern shore of the river Scheldt.

Replica of the temple of Nehalennia at Colijnsplaat

There was a tempel for the goddess Nehalennia here. Little is known about Nehalennia, but it must have been a Celtic or Germanic goddess. She had power over trade and seafaring. 

Fisherman K.J. Bout

On 14 April 1970 fisherman K.J. Bout found parts of an altar to Nehalennia in his nets, while he was fishing near Colijnsplaat. Focussed searches in 1970 and 1971 (and later in 1974) resulted in the finds of about 240 altars and statues, votive stones and remains of a roman building. These are now stored and displayed in the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden. These were found in the Schaar of Colijnsplaat, a fairway in the Eastern Scheldt, where the temple of Nehalennia once stood.

Cornelis van Rootselaar

Cornelis van Rootselaar was educated by the Franciscan fathers, which influenced his paintings later in life. 

After primary school he learned the trade of a house painter and was apprenticed to Willem Gestel in The Hague. He became friends with his son Leo, later a well-known painter. In 1903 he became a painter's assistant to the widow Dieuwertje Beemster-Huisman (Huesmann) from Wervershoof. He married her two years later and would live in Wervershoof all his life. Cornelis van Rootselaar has become known as a leisure painter. In his work he was strongly inspired by the Bible, but in addition to religious images, he painted landscapes, village scenes, craft scenes, special events, houses, animals, portraits and self-portraits and he captured characteristic West Frisian scenes for posterity.

Farmer Fré Vos

From the Image Bank of the Dordrecht Regional Archives (Netherlands), two portraits of farmer Fré Vos (1988).

Fré Vos in front of his house "Thomaswaard"

Died van Dorp

 

Johannes Diederikus van Dorp, aka Died was born in 1914 in The Hague. Died Monday December 7, 1931. He was only allowed to live to be 17 years, 4 months and 24 days. Died died in Baarn, Netherlands.

Saxony Police in Berets

Compliments to the bright minds of the Police District of Saxony (Germany) who decided to introduce the beret in their police force.

Since April 19, the police in Saxony have been providing riot police forces and dog units, trainees and students with this traditional headgear.

The blue beret now replaces the baseball cap, which is no longer part of the equipment of the Saxon police (the peaked cap and the winter cap will continue to exist though).

Léonie Gray

Léonie Gray is a Canadian singer/songwriter who got her debut by winning several provincial song competitions in the early 2000s. She then began her career as a song writer around 2009, which allowed her to work with several Montreal artists covering a wide range of genres.

​Between 2012 and 2015, she starred in the musical “Symbiose”, where she was one of the two main singers in the play. She was the opening act for several artists over the years such as; Beyries, France d'Amour, Karim Ouellet, Milk & Bones and Morcheeba. 

In 2017, she released Wednesday, a Lo-Fi title which earned her an invitation to the International Jazz Festival of Montreal, as well as to several other Montreal, and surrounding regional festivals.

​

In 2019, she performed at the Mtélus, on the CBC stage and at the Santa-Teresa festival. Her neo-soul style with a touch of jazz and R&B, recalls the spirit of New York's Jazz bars which transports us into her captivating universe.