Liber Amicorum Edy de Wilde

Edy de Wilde (1919–2005) stepped down as director of the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam at the end of 1984. On his departure, he was presented with a four-volume Liber Amicorum, containing contributions from friends, colleagues and artists. The design of this special volume is by Wim Crouwel, who also handled the graphic design for the Stedelijk, and previously for the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven, where De Wilde was director from 1946 to 1963.

Edy de Wilde served on the board of De Pont from 1988 to 2000. His 75th birthday provided a fitting occasion to exhibit, for the first time, the more than 125 artists’ contributions to the Liber Amicorum, together with a small selection of works by his wife, Nono Reinhold.

The Liber Amicorum offers a unique insight into virtually the entirety of Edy de Wilde’s working life. It contains contributions from artists with whom he maintained contact during his tenure as director of the Van Abbemuseum and, later, at the Stedelijk Museum. Among the contributions to the Liber Amicorum are magnificent works (measuring 30 x 30 cm) by, amongst others, Karel Appel, Armando, Jean Bazaine, Marlene Dumas, Jean Dubuffet, Rebecca Horn, Willem de Kooning, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Mangold, Giulio Paolini, Roger Raveel, Edward Ruscha, Frank Stella and Emo Verkerk.