Avant-Garde Movements

Started as a group of Dutch artists in Groningen in 1918, De Ploeg didn’t claim to be an art movement in itself, due to the variety of theoretical directions and lack of specific shared aesthetic of its members. The common ground for all these artists was to distance themselves from the more established Hague School. Johan Dijkstra, Jan Altink, Jan Wiegers, George Maartens and Hendrik Nicolaas Werkman were among the most prominent artists of this heterogenous group, gathering in the countryside in Blauwborje at the Bodega Dik, renamed by the group in a more Bohemian version Chez Dicque. During the ‘20s the group consistently gained its presence among the International avant-garde scene, exhibiting in the Europe and strengthening its relations with its French counterpart in Paris. From 1923 to 1926 De Ploeg also produced a magazine The Next Call, with contributions in text and graphics from all its members and edited and curated by Werkman, whose work was later included in a Cercle et Carré exhibition.