John Bezold
{{Short description|American-Dutch journalist, editor and art historian (born 1985)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = John Bezold
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1985}}
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = American-Dutch
| alma_mater = University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning
University of Amsterdam
| occupation =editor, journalist, art historian
}}
John Bezold (born 1985) is an American-Dutch journalist, editor, author, and art historian based in Amsterdam.{{cite book |last1=Bosse |first1=Chris |last2=Wallisser |first2=Tobias |last3=Rieck |first3=Alexander |title=LAVA: Laboratory for Visionary Architecture |year=2022 |publisher=Birkhäuser |location=Basel |isbn=9783035625561 |page=220 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VoWIEAAAQBAJ }}{{cite book |last1=Arets |first1=Wiel |last2=Mimica |first2=Vedran |last3=Ortega |first3=Lluís |title=Nowness Files: 2012-2018 |year=2019 |publisher=Actar Publishers & the Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture |location=New York City |isbn=9781948765305 |editor1-last=Bezold |editor1-first=John |publication-date=2019 |url=https://actar.com/product/nowness-files/ }} He graduated from the University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning in 2007, and from the University of Amsterdam in 2015 and 2017.{{cite journal|title=Editorial |journal=Oud Holland – Journal for Art of the Low Countries |volume=132 |issue=1 |pages=2 |date=2019 |publisher=Brill |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/oh/132/1/oh.132.issue-1.xml }} He is known for his expertise in the art of the Dutch Golden Age,{{Cite web |url=https://oudholland.rkd.nl/index.php/news/117-oct-2023-oud-holland-publishes-four-new-reviews |title=Oud Holland Publishes Four New Reviews | website=Oud Holland |date=October 2023 |issn=1875-0176 |access-date=August 24, 2024}} and for his editorial contributions to the fields of modern architecture and design,{{cite web |last=Redstone |first=Elias |title=Book Club: Bas Princen & Wiel Arets |date=July 17, 2015 |website=Pin-Up Magazine |url=https://www.pinupmagazine.org/2015/07/book-club-wiel-arets/ |access-date=August 24, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160502134258/https://www.pinupmagazine.org/2015/07/book-club-wiel-arets/ |archive-date=May 2, 2016}}{{cite book |title=Archetypes and Residues |year=2016 |publisher=Onomatopee |location=Eindhoven |isbn=9789491677526 |url=https://www.onomatopee.net/product/archetypes-and-residues/ |editor1-last=Raat |editor1-first=Thomas |editor2-last=van Gelder |editor2-first=Edwin |access-date=July 27, 2024}} which have been recognized by numerous publishing awards.{{cite web |title=Basquiat: The Artist and His New York Scene |url=https://debestverzorgdeboeken.nl/en/books/basquiat-the-artist-and-his-new-york-scene-alexis-adler-et-al/ |website=The Best Dutch Book Designs |access-date=August 24, 2024}}{{cite web |title=Un-Conscious City |url=https://debestverzorgdeboeken.nl/en/books/un-conscious-city-wiel-arets/ |website=The Best Dutch Book Designs |access-date=August 24, 2024}}{{Cite book |last1=Lopes Cardozo |first1=Ada |title=Best Dutch Book Design 2012 |date=2013 |publisher=CPNB/Amsterdam Stichting de Best Verzorgde Boeken |location=Amsterdam |isbn=9789059652286 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tMnfnQEACAAJ}}{{cite web |title=Wiel Arets: Autobiographical References |url=https://debestverzorgdeboeken.nl/en/books/wiel-arets-autobiographical-references/ |website=The Best Dutch Book Designs |access-date= August 24, 2024}}
Biography
He started in journalism at Frame (design magazine) in Amsterdam, where he authored articles on architecture and design.{{cite journal |last=Bezold |first=John |title=Migrating Formations by CAP at MoMA |journal=Frame Magazine |issue=66 |date=January 2009 |page=75}} In 2008, he published one of the first interviews with the designer and researcher Neri Oxman, who at the time established the field of 'materiology'.{{cite journal |last=Bezold |first=John |title=No Joints Needed: By Experimenting with Materials in an Open Ended Manner, Neri Oxman Reshapes the Look and Feel of Architecture Yet to Come |journal=Mark Magazine |issue=16 |date=December 2008 |pages=304–309}} He was a contributing editor for Mark magazine, covering contemporary architecture, from 2009 to 2017. From 2009 to 2021, Bezold collaborated with architect Wiel Arets, editing and co-authoring several significant publications on architectural photography and philosophy, designed by Edwin van Gelder, Mevis & Van Deursen, and Irma Boom.{{cite book |last=Arets |first=Wiel |editor-last=Bezold |editor-first=John |title=Un-Conscious City |year=2019 |publisher=Actar |location=New York |isbn=9781945150654 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xY1hEAAAQBAJ}}{{cite book |editor-last=Siemionow |editor-first=Agata |title=Crown Hall Dean's Dialogues 2012-2017 |publisher=Actar |location=New York |year=2017 |isbn=9783775742504 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xmVjEAAAQBAJ}}{{cite book |editor-last=McCarter |editor-first=Robert |title=Wiel Arets: Autobiographical References |year=2012 |publisher=Birkhäuser |location=Basel |isbn=9783034608114 |others=Assistant editor: John Bezold |url=https://birkhauser.com/de/books/9783034608114 }}
In 2016, Bezold was a research fellow at the Mauritshuis in The Hague, receiving a grant to analyze the museum's painting acquisitions.{{cite web |last=Historians of Netherlandish Art |title=John Bezold Receives Grant to Research Mauritshuis Acquisition History |date=July 18, 2017 |url=https://hnanews.org/john-bezold-receives-grant/ |access-date=July 26, 2024 }}{{cite book |last=Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis |title=Annual Report 2016 |date=2017 |publisher=Mauritshuis |location=The Hague |editor1-first=Maud |editor1-last=Lankester |page=43 |chapter=Research and Collection Management}} He is specialized in the work of Dutch painter Frans Hals.{{Cite web |title=Frans Hals Symposium |url=https://hnanews.org/frans-hals-symposium/ |website=HNA News |date=December 16, 2022 |access-date=July 27, 2024}}{{Cite web |title=A Survey of Current Research |url=https://www.franshalsmuseum.nl/en/programme-a-survey-of-current-research/ |website=Frans Hals Museum |date= |access-date=July 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230209021025mp_/https://www.franshalsmuseum.nl/en/programme-a-survey-of-current-research/ |archive-date=February 9, 2023}}
Claus Grimm, Frans Hals and his workshop, The Hague 2023-2024, "A4.3.19 Workshop of Frans Hals – possibly Frans Hals (II), and Cornelis Symonsz. van der Schalcke, Portrait of a family, c. 1645-1648", published by RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History, ISBN 978-90-719-2917-5. [https://frans-hals-and-his-workshop.rkdstudies.nl/a4-paintings-created-frans-halss-workshop/a43-portraits/a4311-a4324/]Claus Grimm, Frans Hals and his workshop, The Hague 2023-2024, "A2.7 Frans Hals and Pieter de Molijn, Portrait of Isaac Abrahamsz. Massa, 1626", published by RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History, ISBN 978-90-719-2917-5. [https://frans-hals-and-his-workshop.rkdstudies.nl/a2-paintings-frans-hals-contributions-other-masters-or-workshops/a20-a28/]Claus Grimm, "Frans Hals and Gerrit Bleker: A joint collaboration on a fragmented family portrait (1623-1625)", Oud Holland – Journal for Art of the Low Countries, Volume 137, Issue 1-2, May 2024, pp. 34–48, ISSN: 0030-672x. [https://brill.com/view/journals/oh/137/1-2/article-p34_2.xml] In the late-2010s, he authored a column on museum curation trends in the journal Museumvisie, published by the Dutch Museum Association.{{Cite journal |last=Bezold |first=John |title=Verjongingskuur |journal=Museumvisie |year=2017 |pages=62–63 |issn=0166-2074}}{{Cite journal |last=Bezold |first=John |title=Vreemde Wereld |journal=Museumvisie |year=2018 |pages=61–62 |issn=0166-2074}}
From 2019 to 2024, he served on the editorial board of Oud Holland, the world's oldest art historical scholarly journal, focusing on Dutch Golden Age painting and Flemish painting, as a review editor. He modernized the journal by establishing its online presence.{{cite journal |last=Kolfin |first=Elmer |title=Editorial |journal=Oud Holland – Journal for Art of the Low Countries |volume=136 |issue=2–3 |pages=69 |date=2023 |publisher=Brill |doi=10.1163/18750176-1360203001 |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/oh/136/2-3/article-p69_1.xml}}
Bezold’s editorial work has been characterized by Rein Wolfs, director of the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, as being, “Strong and sensitive. Rough yet controlled. And completely convincing.”{{Cite book |last1=van Welie |first1=Eelco |last2=Wolfs |first2=Rein |title=Best Dutch Book Design 2019 |date=2020 |publisher=CPNB/Amsterdam Stichting de Best Verzorgde Boeken |location=Amsterdam |isbn=9789059659094 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P9oRzgEACAAJ |page=5}}
Podcast and public engagement
Bezold hosts the podcast Dutch Art & Design Today, discussing art and design in the context of its relation to the Netherlands.{{Cite journal |title=John Bezold |editor1-last=Oldewarris |editor1-first=Hans |date=November 2022 |journal=Eigenbouwer |volume=16 |issn=2351-9657}}
Selected publications
Bezold has written and edited numerous articles and books, with some of his most notable contributions including:
- "Frans Hals: The Male Portrait," [https://emlc-journal.org/article/view/13425 Early Modern Low Countries], 6(2) (2022), pp. 278-280, ISSN 2543-1587.
- Basquiat: The Artist and His New York Scene. Schunck, Heerlen 2019, ISBN 978-9462087071.{{cite book |editor-last=Bezold |editor-first=John |title=Basquiat: The Artist and His New York Scene |publisher=Schunck |location=Heerlen |year=2019 |isbn=978-9462087071 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hC2zwgEACAAJ}}
- "Vreemde Wereld: Door tentoonstellingen te populariseren, vergroten musea hun doelgroep. Rijk of arm, homo of hetero, bekend of onbekend: portretten bereiken nieuw publiek," Museumvisie 2 (2018), pp. 62-63, ISSN 0166-2074.
- "Amos Rex Museum in Helsinki," Museumvisie 4 (2018), pp. 62-63, ISSN 0166-2074.
- Ellen Kooi: Above Rotterdam. Actar, New York 2016, ISBN 978-1945150227.{{cite book |editor-last=Bezold |editor-first=John |title=Ellen Kooi: Above Rotterdam |publisher=Actar |location=New York |year=2015 |isbn=9783775738682 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tWVzvgAACAAJ}}
- "The IJhal in Amsterdam's Central Train Station," Domus (magazine), no. 1007 (Nov. 2016), pp. 60-71, ISSN 0012-5377.
- Wiel Arets—Bas Princen. Hatje Cantz, Ostfildern 2015, ISBN 978-3775735056.{{cite book |editor-last=Bezold |editor-first=John |title=Wiel Arets: Bas Princen |publisher=Hatje Cantz |location=Ostfildern |year=2015 |isbn=9783775735056 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hbo0vgAACAAJ}}
- "Paper Gallery: Ellen Kooi," Elephant Magazine, No. 20 (2014), ISSN 1879-3835.
- "Migrating Formations by CAP," Frame (Jan./Feb. 2009), p. 75, ISSN 1388-4239.
- "No Joints Needed: Neri Oxman Reshapes Architecture," Mark Magazine (2008), ISSN 1574-6453.