Painter Agmon van der Veen – Rick Roos

Dutch painter Agmon van der Veen survived the second world war. As a small jewish boy he sheltered at a peasant family in the small village of Grubbenvorst, the Netherlands. Although he survived barely, his parents unfortunately didn’t. As the war in the world ended, it started in his head and would never leave.

In april 2015 the church of Grubbenvorst hosted two special commemoration concerts for its priest Henri Vullinghs. This man was an important resistance member and helped many (Jewish) people, including Agmon, during the war. Unfortunately he was betrayed and died in a German concentration camp. One of the other Jewish survivors in the village was the Berlin-born composer Hans Lachman. Posthumously he wrote a requiem, which was conducted together with several other pieces at the commemoration concerts. To accompany the music, Rick produced a special visual presentation which was shown as a big projection above the stage during the concerts. This film of Agmon was a small part in this presentation. For more info on painter Agmon, check: agmonvanderveen.com

The music was added later and is a life recording of the original accompanying musical performance by soprano Channa Malkin and pianist Wouter Bakker. Together with Lachman’s requiem and the other musical pieces of the concert it’s also available on a CD, recorded by broadcaster EO and distributed by producers Agnes Music Management and the Van Limburg Requiem committee (who also organised the ‘Van Limburg Requiem’ concert).

Agmon van der Veen, from empty canvas to a painting – Michael Ballak

Agmon van der Veen about his life and work – Michael Ballak