The Cheops group

Kindred spirits

Cheops was formed in 1985, when ceramists Marja Hooft, Rob Brandt, Tjitske Dijkstra, Michel Kuipers and Jan van Leeuwen started working together.

They agreed to continue as a group for at least five years, aiming to bring some fresh air to the stuffy world of Dutch ceramics.

After the death of Jan van Leeuwen in 1992, the group disbanded.

Although Marlies was never a member of Cheops, her friends and colleagues Tjitske Dijkstra and Rob Brandt were. 

Some of Cheops' principles, such as a certain looseness and experimentation in their work, as well as an informal use of materials, can also be seen in Marlies's work.

A Cheops coincidence in Dordrecht

'Cheops' is also the name of a rare book shop in Dordrecht.

I had always associated that name with the famous poem by J.H. Leopold.

When I picked up a set of postcards there,  featuring works by Breda artists from the 1980s (see the Tjitske Dijkstra card below), I found out there was actually a very personal link with the Cheops ceramists' group as well.

It turned out that the bookseller's wife was the sister of Tjitske Dijkstra. Marleen Dijkstra kindly showed me several of her sister's works, including a beautiful vase looking very similar to the one on the Eindhoven poster I have shared here before.

Friends and colleagues

It would be great to feature some work by her good friends Tjitske Dijkstra and Annerie Teuling in the upcoming Marlies exhibition.

Although these three artists never formed an official group, they were very close and studied and worked together, which provides a valuable insight into each other's work.

Tjitske Dijkstra, pot hoekig klein (1986)

A Cheops exhibition in Breda in 1988

This poster of the Cheops exhibition at the Beyerd Museum in Breda gives a good impression of the kind of work they did:

Design: Karel Kruijsen

The accompanying catalogue by Sonja Herst, Bertie Stips-van Weel and Ruud Kaulingfreks contains a lot of interesting information (32 pages, Cultureel Centrum de Beyerd, 1988). 

From Zwolle to Leeuwarden

In 1997, the remaining members of the group donated the majority of their works to the Stedelijk Museum Zwolle. In 2021, it was decided to move the collection to a more suitable location: the Keramiekmuseum Princessehof in Leeuwarden.