Flashback: 'He taught me not to judge'
Taco Dibbits (50), director of the Rijksmuseum, has fond memories of his drawing and art history teacher Fred van Weely. He was a teacher who liked to ignore the conventions at the Montessori Lyceum Amsterdam.
Picture: Fred van Diem
“I liked high school, but I didn't play the whistle. It all went easy for me and at drawing lessons I was initially looking forward to being able to relax for a while. Just sit down, look a little hard, put a few lines on paper and then claim it's abstract art.
But I hadn't counted on Fred, who became our art teacher in the fourth grade. He was a real product of the XNUMXs: unruly and a bit eccentric. He smoked cigars in class, although we were rarely there when the weather was nice. Fred then looked out the window and said: On to the Vondelpark. This was highly unusual at school.
In the park we would then draw in groups. I remember very well that one day Herman Brood, clearly high, came walking towards us. He took a sheet of paper from us and added a few stripes freehand. Like: don't bitch like that, just make something. Many a teacher would think such a disruption of the lesson, but not Fred. He had great respect for artists and was averse to assumptions such as: my three-year-old nephew can do that too.
It is precisely abstract work, he taught us, that is very special. After all, you create something that is not there at all. Nowhere in the world! You have no other support than your own creativity. This makes the canvas a true creation that no one other than that one man or woman could have made. That was an eye opener for me. And there I was, hoping that the drawing lesson would be nice and easy.
We are raised, also at school, with the idea that there is always a right or wrong.
I soon no longer had that wish. Fred made it my favorite subject, where I learned to look at art with admiration and amazement. Above all, I learned not to judge, just as Fred did not. Art is freedom and open-mindedness. Looking around you like that was an important lesson in life. We are raised, also at school, with the idea that there is always a right or wrong. Spelling should be like this and not otherwise. A math formula is as it is, you can't touch it.
In my work I still carry Fred's message: be modest and without bias towards art. Be questioning and receptive, without putting a label on a work. Fred was also very convinced that art belongs to everyone and should not be reserved for a few rich people who put the works in a safe. I share that opinion and that makes me a happy museum director. The Rijks belongs to all of us. ”
Former art teacher Fred van Weely (72)
“I am very flattered by Taco's beautiful words. When a colleague and I unfortunately had to retire together seven years ago, for a reunion we were able to trace about eighty students who had ended up in the visual professions through us. I didn't know about Taco. What a surprise that I have meant so much to him. I feel extremely happy with his story. ”
