R.B. Kitaj #7

R. B. Kitaj: The Architects, 1981. (bron: Palland House Gallery)

"Architect MJ Long first met the artist RB Kitaj at a Cambridge Art Society evening lecture. "He stood hunched over his text reading," says Long. "It was the most intense talk I have ever been to, the kind of talk that was fascinating, but if you thought about one sentence you missed the next one."

Over the years their friendship grew and when Kitaj bought his house in Chelsea, Long was the person he asked to manage the project design.

"I was very conscious that it was not a place to be clever because he was going to be working there everyday", explains Long.

In celebration and thanks for the completion of the project, Kitaj asked Long and her family to sit for a painting. The family portrait, The Architects (1981), depicts MJ Long and her husband Colin St John Wilson (Sandy) in the artist's remodelled home - including the stepped bookcase especially built for the space." (bron: Phaidon)

Onder andere dit schilderij is te zien op de bescheiden, maar mooie tentoonstelling "R.B. Kitaj. Unpacking My Library" in het Joods Historisch Museum in Amsterdam. Niet vaak is er werk van Kitaj te zien in Nederland, maar nu er weer zo vaak figuratief en verhalend geschilderd wordt, is het werk van Kitaj weer zeer relevant. Nog maar tot en met 12 juni te zien! (hk)

> R.B. Kitaj Studio Project/facebook