5. Artist Portraits

In the 1960s and 1970s, Van der Keuken made a number of short artist portraits in which the artist’s rebellion is reflected in the form of the film. In Opland (1962), we are introduced to the cartoonist Opland; Tajiri (1962) is the portrait of sculptor Shinkichi Tajiri; Yrrah (1962) follows the cartoonist of the same name. In Big Ben (1967), saxophonist Ben Webster has settled down in Amsterdam with a mothering landlady. Bert Schierbeek (1973) is a film about loss, poetry and love.