It was great to see the article in the February issue of House & Garden on the home and work of the Dutch taxidermy artists: Darwin, Sinke & Van Tongeren who we represent at Jamb. A fusion of taxidermy and Antiques at Jamb began over a year ago. We have been working with the talented duo, which the Telegraph’s Henrietta Thompson noted had ‘elevated taxidermy to a fine art’, since October 2014 when we hosted their first London show during the Frieze art fair.
Inspired from the Dutch old masters of the seventeenth century, notably Jan Weenix, Melchior d’Hondecoeter and Adriaen van Olen. The artists create extraordinary ‘scenes’ in a three dimensional way using the oldest and most traditional hand-made taxidermy techniques.
Each piece is an unique work of art and comes with it’s own proof of documentation of where the animal sadly passed away from: either from a zoo, safari park or breeders anywhere in the world. Not only are they artists, they are saviours and preservers of history and the natural world.
Part of the process for their work is preparing and skinning the animals. During this stage the artists photograph the skins when they bathe them – creating dreamlike, ethereal images, almost bringing them back to life.
From the photographic collection ‘Unknown Poses’
They are currently working on their next taxidermy collection that will be ready for a show at Jamb during Masterpiece in June.
The photograph above illustrates a graceful but dramatic battle scene between a snake and a cayman from the series they are currently working on which will be part of the show. I am so excited to see the full unveiling of what promises to be an exceptional collection.
