Rodney van den Beemd

Category: Publication

Poetry – Margraten (Ode to a black soldier)

Margraten

(Ode to a black soldier)

If I were to describe liberation
then certainly also with the color
you brought back in the eyes of us whom you helped free

If I were to describe character
then certainly also with your refusal
to enter this white world with a black-and-white mindset

If I were to describe sacrifice
then certainly also with the color
of your blood flowing across our barren fields

If I were to describe commemoration
then certainly also with the colorful dreams
your sacrifice allowed to bloom here again after all those years

If I were to describe shame,
deeply shameful shame,
then certainly also with the erasure of your color
from the commemoration of the splendor of colors
you so selflessly brought us at the time

15 November 2025
Joseph Roth in Anno – Das Magazin der Medienjubiläen

One of my drawings has been used to illustrate an article on the 125th birthday of Joseph Roth in Anno – Das Magazin der Medienjubiläen (The Magazine of Media Anniversaries), the periodical publication of the Institute of Communication Science at the University of Bamberg. It presents special media anniversaries and honors birthdays of famous publicists, artists and much more. The article is written by Professor Markus Behmer, the publisher of “Anno”.

14 December 2019
Hund und Kunst

Artist Petra Hartl from Vienna runs an extensive and interesting blog titled ‘Hund und Kunst’, dedicated to dogs and/in art. After featuring a selection of my ink drawings of dogs in a blog article last year, now my recent works have also been published in a new feature, titled ‘Neue Tusche-Skizzen von Rodney van den Beemd’. I’m again very pleased with the view she takes on them and the effort she did to step into my work and describe it in such an inviting way.

Full link to the article:

http://www.petrahartl.at/hundundkunst/2019/06/13/neue-tusche-skizzen-von-rodney-van-den-beemd

14 June 2019
Joseph Roth e Stefan Zweig – L’amicizia è la vera patria

A few weeks ago Italian publishing house Castelvecchi Editore asked permission to use one of my drawings for the cover of the Italian version of the correspondence between Joseph Roth and Stefan Zweig, titled “L’amicizia è la vera patria” (Friendship is the true homeland). The book has now been printed and I was very pleased to receive my complimentary copies earlier this week. Check it out through: http://www.castelvecchieditore.com/prodotto/lamicizia-e-la-vera-patria/

5 April 2019
Joseph Roth, Sign of the times

De Bedachtzamen (The Thoughtful) is the name of a collective of writers and their homonymous blog. They consider the themes of time and melancholy as their driving force and write about painting, poetry, music and literature; pre-eminently forms of expression in which time and melancholy constantly seep through, according to their manifesto.
For a new blog contribution, an article about Joseph Roth, they asked me if they could use one of my portrait drawings of Joseph Roth. If you’re able to read Dutch or are satisfied to use an online translation service, you can read the article “Joseph Roth, sign of the times” here.

31 August 2018
Hund und Kunst

Artist Petra Hartl from Vienna runs an extensive and interesting blog titled ‘Hund und Kunst’, dedicated to dogs and/in art. My recent ink drawings of dogs and other animals drew her attention and after checking out more of my work she did a feature of it on her blog, titled ‘Inky Animals’. I’m very pleased with the view she takes on it and the effort she did to step into my work and describe it in such a poetic way.

Full link to the article:
http://www.petrahartl.at/hundundkunst/2018/05/08/rodney-van-den-beemd-inky-animals

18 May 2018
Inky Animals on iGNANT

My ‘Inky Animals’ series has been featured on iGNANT.

‘Inky Animals’ is an ongoing series of expressive ink-drawings aimed at catching form, expression and movement of animals with bold and minimal appliance of ink. They are all drawn/painted with wayward twigs, feathers, leafs and other unconventional drawing tools which compared to conventional drawing tools like fountain pen or brush leaves far less control over the flow of the ink, leading to a broad variation in the thickness of lines and also the occasional blob of ink.

iGNANT is an award-winning online magazine featuring the finest in art, design, photography and architecture.

31 March 2018