Dutch Geometric Abstraction at Tourcoing: 'La règle comme baguette magique'

The exhibition 'La règle comme baguette magique' at the Musée des Beaux-arts in Tourcoing, France (February–April 2001) explored contemporary Dutch art's debt to early 20th-century avant-garde geometric abstraction. Curated by Jan Donia, the show argued that a rigorous, dogmatic use of straight lines and pure geometric forms—pioneered by Mondrian, Van Doesburg, and Vanderleck—defines a distinct Dutch artistic identity. Works by artists like Jaap van den Ende (labyrinthine grids evoking Sol LeWitt's Wall Drawings) and Henri Jacob (painted woven canvas strips recalling François Rouan's 1970s procedures) were presented. Two younger artists, Nic Bezemer and Sonia Rijnhout, sought to subvert this strictness: Bezemer with biomorphic allusions and figure-ground inversions akin to Ellsworth Kelly, and Rijnhout by basing structures on random number sequences, echoing François Morellet's anti-mystical stance. The exhibition was co-produced with the Stedelijk Museum in Schiedam, where it traveled from June 2 to September 9, 2001. Critic Cédric Loire noted the systematic, almost religious character of the works, with Donia's catalogue essay using terms like 'spiritual,' 'sublime,' 'infinity,' and 'purity.' The show also touched on Dutch clichés (clogs, Calvinism, tulips, Gouda) and a persistent Batavian particularism: social engagement via murals and architect collaborations alongside a mystical, ascetic abstraction.