This summer we bring you the colorful exhibition ‘Berger & Bianchi’, organized in collaboration with artist Frans Bianchi himself!

This exhibition showcases the oil paintings of two artists, Jason Berger (1924-2010, USA) and Frans Bianchi (1951, Den Briel), with one common subject in their works: the beautiful Edam and its surroundings! How did this come to be?

Frans Bianchi met the American Jason Berger in 2002 in Normandy, where he was working ‘en plein air’. They shared their views and love for painting, which led to a friendship that lasted until Berger’s death in 2010.

In the 1980s, Jason Berger spent some time in the Netherlands and discovered his ‘Paradise’ in Edam in the form of the oldest still active shipyard, Groot, which he frequently painted.
Following in Berger’s footsteps, Bianchi began visiting the beautiful Edam and Shipyard Groot in 2006, which also inspired him and resulted in a large number of paintings.

Bianchi’s works are now part of various museum, private, and government collections, including the museums of Maassluis, Katwijk, and Brielle.

Jason Berger worked with great names like Matisse, Braque, and Zadkine in the early 1950’s and is renowned himself. His works are housed in numerous museums in the USA, including the Guggenheim Museum and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Through Bianchi’s mediation, Berger’s widow Leena Rekola donated two works to the Edam Museum in 2022. So, from this Summer, they are also in Edam!