Ank Leeuw Marcar, Willem Sandberg Portrait of an Artist, 2013

With exceptional creativity and in close cooperation with artists and architects, museum director Willem Sandberg (1897–1984) transformed the Amsterdam Stedelijk Museum after the Second World War into a dynamic center for modern and in particular innovative art and culture. This book is based on interviews with Sandberg (from 1971-1981) and offers first-hand insight into questions he felt strongly about, such as: what does the task of a museum director entail? How does art criticism work? What is the essence of being an artist, and what does the ideal museum architecture look like? Many of Sandberg’s ideas about these issues are still intriguing and provocative. Thanks to this English translation of the revised text, plus photographic material and typographic work by Sandberg, a broad international public can now get to know those ideas which have are still relevant to current debates.