Bruno Mertens @ Kaan Zamaan 10am — 4pm
Art from Bruno Merten’s estate will be on sale at Kaan Zamaan 28th & 29th January, by silent auction. This exhibition is a fund raiser, to help the monks who inherited all Bruno’s art when he died in 2008, to build a purpose build memorial room to safe-keep some of his paintings, drawings, sketch books, photographs, architectual drawings.
Peter de Graaf interviewing monk Yasala
In the Northern Advocate & Northland Age newspaper;
by Peter de Graaf
A Far North Buddhist temple is reluctantly selling a treasure trove of art by its founder, the late Bruno Mertens.
The paintings _ along with sketches, prints, carvings and other items from the 1930s to the 1960s, even the Dutch-born Mr Merten’s clogs _ will be sold in a silent auction at Kaan Zamaan gallery on Kerikeri Rd this weekend.
Mr Mertens died in 2010 aged 95, leaving his land and possessions to the Buddhist centre he founded at Takou Bay, north of the Bay of Islands.
He moved to Northland in the 1990s with his wife, the painter Susan Berki, whom he met in Switzerland after fleeing the Nazi invasion of his homeland in World War II. He took up painting in the 1940s, inspired by the work of Spanish artists Miro and Picasso as well as his compatriot Mondrian.
In 2004 he donated most of his work to the Fred Hollows Foundation to raise money for eye surgery in third world countries, but a substantial collection of paintings was left to the Pannarama Buddhist Temple.
Head monk Yasala Bhante has reluctantly decided to sell them to help pay for maintenance on visitor accommodation at the Buddhist retreat.
“There is no space to show them here, that is the main problem.”
She was also concerned about deterioration of the paintings, especially in damp winters, and the temple’s lack of resources to store or secure them properly.
Korean-born Yasala, who looked after Mr Mertens in his last years at Takou Bay, said any proceeds would also be used to set up a memorial room with a few of his paintings, photos and documents.
Kaan Zamaan owner Julia Reinholt said what made Mr Mertens’ paintings interesting was that he had travelled and painted all over Europe in the 1940s to the 1960s, his works clearly reflecting the European art movements of those decades.
Most were painted on board, with one large canvas, many sketches and a few sculptures.
The works would be on display from 10am to 4pm this Saturday and Sunday and sold by silent auction. Any which did not sell this weekend could be bought later via the temple or the gallery.
An engineer and architect, sculptor and painter, philanthropist and pacifist, Mr Mertens became a Buddhist at the age of 19. He claimed not to have worn shoes since the 1930s, even in wintertime Holland, and stopped painting during the Vietnam War so he could devote himself to peace.
Yasala said it was Mr Mertens’ dream to create a place where people could come together and practice meditation. Now it was up to her to make that dream happen.
The temple was open to anyone who wanted a Vipassana meditation retreat, from seven days to three months, she said.
For more information call Kaan Zamaan on (09) 407 5191, or Pannarama Buddhist Temple on sati@pannarama.net.nz or (09) 407 5275.
Thank you to everyone who supported this fundraiser, we raised over $