by Jon Lackman | 18 May 2010 | Uncategorized
A recent issue of Master Drawings (XLVII: 4) notes the passing of Carlos van Hasselt:
Carlos van Hasselt died on 19 July 2009 in Paris … [He retired] as director of the Fondation Custodia in 1994 [after] twenty-four years. Carlos was born on 7 April 1929 in Bergen-op-Zoom in Brabant, The Netherlands … [and studied] art history under I.Q. van Regteren Altena … His most important work [was] the groundbreaking two-volume catalogue for the exhibition Dessins de paysagistes hollandais du XVIIe siècle, for which he received the Karel van Mander prize … His knowledge, wide interests, gift of friendship with both young and old—together with his excellent sense of humor—contributed to the esteem and affection with which Carlos was held … The last years of his career were marred by health problems, exacerbated by this hypochondriacal nature … When a half-paralyzing stroke prevented him from verbally expressing himself, communication was achieved by means of images … It was, until the very end, “une vie dédié à l’art et l’amitié,” as Andrzej Nieweglowski, his partner of forty-five years, wrote on the mourning card.
