Willem Sandberg was a gifted designer and a pragmatic museum director, a doerwho achieved an incredible amount in the art world after 1945 and opened manypeople's eyes to contemporary art. He was an idealist who cherished the utopianbelief that contemporary art could play a self-evident and meaningful role in societyoutside of its usual marginal and elitist position. At the same time, he was enoughof a realist not to harbour excessively high expectations of the result of his efforts.His belief in the power of art, however, was unwavering. In his work as a directorand designer, it was Sandberg's mission to be powerful, positive, and future-oriented. His typography, to which the lion's share of this book is devoted, is tangibleevidence of this vocation.This is how author Ad Petersen began his foreword to the French edition of thisbook. He knew Sandberg well. In the final years of Sandberg's directorate, Petersenbecame one of his closest collaborators. Thereafter, from 1963 until Sandberg'sdeath in 1984, they kept in touch on a more personal basis. His familiarity withthe subject culminated in the book Sandberg, een documentaire / a documentary,which he published in 1975 together with Pieter Brattinga and in collaboration withSandberg.The original book owes its existence to the initiative of the then 50-year-old InstitutNéerlandais in collaboration with publisher Xavier Barral. And, of course, to AdPetersen and his expert storytelling, based on countless conversations, on jointtravels, on their collaboration at the Stedelijk, on mutual sympathy, and on his observations of the exceptional personality that Sandberg was.This book was published by Samsara Books in collaboration with the AmbassadeGroup in Amsterdam. Many thanks are due to designer Adri Colpaart, who alsoplayed an indispensable role in the creation of the book.
