Dutch Alphabets

Don’t ask us why, but we’ve got a thing for Dutch design. When this portfolio was first published in 2016, we wanted it. But we didn’t get it. And then on a trip to Amsterdam in 2017, there it was. And we bought a copy for ourselves—and in 2020 we turned it into an exhibition here at the gallery. Why are we telling you all this? Because this exceptional showcase of contemporary Dutch lettering will haunt you. The forty-six loose plates are masterful, unexpected, fun, or weird. And sometimes they are all of those things. 

Compiled by Mathieu Lommen and Peter Verheul, this limited edition portfolio contains an introductory booklet and forty-six loose plates featuring samples by some of today’s most prominent lettering artists, type designers, calligraphers, and sign painters. All of the contributors—among them Hansje van Halem, Nina Stössinger, René Knip, Max Kisman, and many more—are working and/or educated in the Netherlands.

If you’re not able to get to our gallery to see our show of this portfolio, now you can get your own with the work of the following:

• Amsterdam Signpainters
• Yomar Augusto
• Jacques le Bailly
• Donald Beekman
• Françoise Berserik
• Barbara Bigosińska
• Frank E. Blokland
• Erik van Blokland
• Maria Doreuli
• James Edmondson
• Ramiro Espinoza
• Martina Flor
• Dave Foster
• Fritz Grögel
• Janno Hahn
• Hansje van Halem
• Berton Hasebe
• Henry van der Horst
• Ondrej Jób
• Max Kisman
• René Knip
• Holger Königsdörfer
• Paul van der Laan
• Lida Lopes Cardozo
• Niels Shoe Meulman
• Ross Milne
• Gerrit Noordzij
• Diana Ovezea
• Krista Radoeva
• Trine Rask
• Arthur Reinders Folmer
• Donald Roos
• Pieter van Rosmalen
• Just van Rossum
• Kristyan Sarkis
• Florian Schick
• Elmo van Slingerland
• Heidi Sørensen
• Nina Stössinger
• Joost Swarte
• Teo Tuominen
• Underware
• Gerard Unger
• Peter Verheul
• Bernd Volmer
• Job Wouters