[[File:Fontein Joop Bejon Willemsplein Tilburg.JPG|thumb|Fountain (1972), Willemsplein Tilburg]] '''Johannes Jacobus (Joop) Beljon''' (11 January 1922 - 12 December 2002) was a Dutch artist, academy lecturer, director of academy and writer. As artist he was active as sculptor, fiber artist, lithographer, jeweler, environmental artists, and jewelry designer.<ref name="RKD">{{cite web|language=nl |title=Biografisch: Joop Beljon |url=https://rkd.nl/nl/explore/artists/6145 |website=[[Netherlands Institute for Art History]] |year=2015}}</ref> Under the name J.J. Beljon and the pseudonym '''Bernard Majorick''', Beljon was also writer. Beljon had taken over that pseudonym from the writer [[Godfried Bomans]].
== Biography == Beljon was born in [[Schoten, Netherlands|Schoten]] (Haarlem) in 1922. His father was a blacksmith, who had worked at Walden [[Intentional community|commune]] of [[Frederik van Eeden]] in Bussum. Beljon began his secondary education at the Triniteitslyceum at the Zijlweg in Haarlem.<ref>[http://www.joopbeljon.nl/ Over Joop beljon] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130608042528/http://www.joopbeljon.nl/ |date=2013-06-08 }} at joopbeljon.nl.</ref> In Haarlem he dropped out to become a pupil of the sculptor [[Theo van Reijn]], and of the painter, draftsman [[Floris de Groot]].<ref name="RKD"/> At age 18 these educational opportunities for Beljon were interrupted by the Nazis' [[German invasion of the Netherlands|1940 invasion of the Netherlands]].<ref name="Far-Sited 2018">“Far-Sited : California International Sculpture Symposium 1965/2015”. Long Beach, California: University Art Museum, California State University, Long Beach, 2018.</ref> After the Nazi’s invaded, Beljon became part of a resistance group called onderduikers (the hidden). Beljon went into hiding and attempted to interrupt Nazi activity by forging travel documents for the Dutch. After the Allied Forces relieved the Netherlands in 1945, Beljon worked at a stoneyard.<ref name="Far-Sited 2018"/> [[File:Joop Beljon, Versmelting (1999, Apeldoorn).jpg|thumb|upright|''De Versmelting'' (1999), Apeldoorn]] Beljon settled as independent artist in Haarlem, and later moved to Haarlemmermeer in the 1940s. In 1948, he was listed as one of the foremost Dutch contemporary sculptors in a publication by Theo van Reijn.<ref>Reyn, T. (Theo). ''[http://www.artindex.nl/noordholland/default.asp?id=6&num=0667100087014070223040137001830960500443 Nederlandse Beeldhouwers van deze tijd],'' Elsevier Amsterdam-Brussel</ref> In 1960, he moved to The Hague, where from 1961 to 1985 he served as director of the [[Royal Academy of Art, The Hague]]. At the art academy, he also lectured environmental design from 1978 to 1980, and design from 1978 to 1980. In 1969, he had moved his art studio to [[Capelle aan den IJssel]], and in 1993 to Oud-Beijerland. He made study trips to Italy and Switzerland.<ref name="RKD"/>
In 1998, he received the lifetime achievement award for Dutch sculpture, the [[Wilhelmina-ring]], for which he was commissioned a sculpture in the Sprengenstein Park in Apeldoorn (see image). Beljon was married to Gabriëlle Dernison, and died in Oud-Beijerland on 12 December 2002.<ref name="RKD"/>
== Work == Beljon has described himself as an integrationist.<ref name="Beljon, Joop 1968">Beljon, Joop. “Principles of Integration I Have Found.” Leonardo (Oxford) 1, no. 1 (1968): 17–24.</ref> Beljon was an environment artist and he worked extensively with architects on projects commissioned by the Government Buildings Agency, among others in The Hague, Arnhem, Apeldoorn, Nijmegen, Groningen and Utrecht.
He carried out work in various countries, such as: * United States: ''Homage to Sam Rodia'' (1965), campus California State University - Long Beach (painted white concrete, 19-piece and 4 to 5 meters high). Beljon, as a writer and integrationist, has referenced multiple inspirations for his work “Homage to Sam Rodia”. [[Watts Towers|Sam Rodia]] is obviously one influence. In the months prior to Beljons arrival in Long Beach, Rodia had died. Beljon was excited by Rodias spontaneous and intuitive process which he employed in creating the design for this wall.<ref name="Far-Sited 2018"/> There is a detail in a niche of the wall of two interlocked rococo style hearts that are a motif in Rodia’s work Nuestro Pueblo.<ref name="Far-Sited 2018"/> Rodia’s famous Watt’s Towers are not far from Long Beach. According to Beljon, this work was done in the spirit of the great American authors.<ref name="Far-Sited 2018"/> Beljon also said that he was inspired by light on the streets of New York.<ref name="Beljon, Joop 1968"/> Homage to Sam Rodia is made of 19 concrete pieces, each individually named by Beljon. The curtain of concrete is spread over 60 meters/ 395 feet in length and weighs roughly 260 tons.<ref name="Far-Sited 2018"/> * Mexico: ''Tertulia de los Gigantes'' (1968) in Mexico City (7 brightly colored concrete towers); sculpture Al Alimon (2001) on the island of Isla Mujeres and sculpture Caballo Negro (posthumous, 2003) in Chetumal, capital of Quintana Roo on the peninsula of Yucatán. * Bahrain: three gardens, fountains and pool annex (1981) in Bahrain. * Israel: plastic Dukdalf (1984), Shaltielgebouw in Jerusalem (project with other artists such as [[Sheila Hicks]] and [[Alexander Calder]]).
== Gallery == <gallery widths="200" heights="200"> File:Den Haag Joop Beljon 02.jpg|Monument Rijkswaterstaat in Den Haag File:Denhaag kunstwerk acht objecten.jpg|''Acht objecten'' in Den Haag File:Groningen Joop Beljon Fontein 01.JPG|''Fonteinplastiek'' (1992) in Groningen File:Vlaardingen, kunstwerk Pilaar met Waakzame ogen van Joop Beljon (leerling van Theo van Reijn) IMG 1019 2022-04-17 10.17.jpg|''Pilaar met de wakende ogen'' (1993), Vlaardingen </gallery>
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == {{commonscatinline}} * [http://www.joopbeljon.nl/ Joopbeljon.nl: official '''Joop Beljon''' website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130608042528/http://www.joopbeljon.nl/ |date=2013-06-08 }}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Beljon, Joop}} [[Category:Dutch contemporary artists]] [[Category:Academic staff of the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague]] [[Category:1922 births]] [[Category:2002 deaths]] [[Category:Artists from Haarlem]] [[Category:20th-century Dutch writers]] [[Category:20th-century Dutch printmakers]] [[Category:20th-century Dutch sculptors]] [[Category:21st-century Dutch sculptors]]