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Maarten Baas — Variations in E Minor (Flute #1)
Maarten Baas

Variations in E Minor (Flute #1)

2024

Variations in E Minor (Flute #1) presents itself as a small, densely considered object, measuring just 9 × 9 × 9 cm yet carrying the conceptual weight characteristic of Maarten Baas at his most refined. Cast in brass and finished across its surface with layered treatments of silver plating, chrome plating, nickel plating, and gilding, the work reads as a meditation on material transformation and the instability of surface identity. Each plating process introduces a distinct tonal register, so that the object seems to hold multiple versions of itself simultaneously, as though the piece is perpetually becoming rather than settled into a final form. Baas, whose practice has long interrogated the boundaries between design, craft, and fine art, brings to this work a sensibility attuned to both the theatrical and the intimate. The title, with its musical reference, invites the viewer to consider the object as one voice within a larger compositional series, a single note within an ongoing exploration of form, material, and variation. The work is signed, conferring a directness of authorship that reinforces its status as an autonomous artwork rather than an edition of design. Presented through Galerie Ron Mandos, this piece offers collectors the opportunity to acquire a work that operates across multiple registers at once: sculptural, decorative, conceptual, and deeply personal in scale. Its compact dimensions make it equally suited to intimate domestic display and institutional contexts, while its material complexity rewards extended looking and ensures a visual character that shifts meaningfully with changing light conditions.

Medium
Metal (mostly brass that is silver-plated/chrome-plated/nickel-plated/gilded)
Overall
Signed
Yes
Location
Galerie Ron Mandos, Amsterdam

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About this work

Maarten Baas, Variations in E Minor (Flute #1), 2024

Variations in E Minor (Flute #1) presents itself as a small, densely considered object, measuring just 9 × 9 × 9 cm yet carrying the conceptual weight characteristic of Maarten Baas at his most refined. Cast in brass and finished across its surface with layered treatments of silver plating, chrome plating, nickel plating, and gilding, the work reads as a meditation on material transformation and the instability of surface identity. Each plating process introduces a distinct tonal register, so that the object seems to hold multiple versions of itself simultaneously, as though the piece is perpetually becoming rather than settled into a final form. Baas, whose practice has long interrogated the boundaries between design, craft, and fine art, brings to this work a sensibility attuned to both the theatrical and the intimate. The title, with its musical reference, invites the viewer to consider the object as one voice within a larger compositional series, a single note within an ongoing exploration of form, material, and variation. The work is signed, conferring a directness of authorship that reinforces its status as an autonomous artwork rather than an edition of design. Presented through Galerie Ron Mandos, this piece offers collectors the opportunity to acquire a work that operates across multiple registers at once: sculptural, decorative, conceptual, and deeply personal in scale. Its compact dimensions make it equally suited to intimate domestic display and institutional contexts, while its material complexity rewards extended looking and ensures a visual character that shifts meaningfully with changing light conditions.

Medium
Metal (mostly brass that is silver-plated/chrome-plated/nickel-plated/gilded)
Dimensions
overall: 9 x 9 x 9 cm
Year
2024
Signed
Hand-signed by the artist
Seen at
Galerie Ron Mandos, Amsterdam

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Collected by

Alex Capecelatro, Gloria Winklegli