José Villegas

Bertil Schmull - Soli deo Gloria - copper engraving
Bertil Schmull - Visions de l’amen - copper engraving
Han van Hagen - Extremadura 2 - etching

In the office used by José Villegas, who is working towards a PhD in the coding and crypto group at the department of Mathematics & Computer Science, hang three works from the graphic art library. Villegas: “To be honest, I don’t really care that much for the furnishing of my workroom. After I was given a place to work here, a year ago now, some pieces of furniture were moved. The shifting of the whiteboard left a few visible holes in the wall. Of course we could have asked people to fill them, but so far we have not reached that point. In order to do up the room a little more, I went to the Grafiekuitleen with a colleague, after having been tipped off by a former colleague.”
However, on the day before his appointment with the library, the Argentinean doctoral candidate was told that he and his colleague were going to be moved to another office within a month. Villegas: “We began to doubt whether we could actually fit in any graphic works in the new room. In the end we decided to go nevertheless, because the appointment had already been made. In retrospect we made the right choice; we are still in the same office.”
The Grafiekuitleen proved to be a positive surprise for Villegas: “I was quite impressed by the space and the fine collection. The etching Extremadura 2 by Han van Hagen drew my attention straight away; I find the nature depicted in it very beautiful. In addition, it is one of the few works of art showing a concrete image; the collection contains mostly abstract work. My colleague chose Soli deo Gloria, a painting by Bertil Schmull. The third engraving, Visions de l’amen, we chose together. There are so many things in that picture that you are always discovering something new.”

Jorge Alves Lino

Abe Kuipers - Op de fiets circa 1940
Jef Diederen - Black saint

Jorge Alves Lino does not have to share his office. As a result this Portuguese staff member, who at the moment is a lecturer and designer of the website of the department of Industrial Design (ID), had a chance to furnish his office entirely according to his own taste. Next to a number of personal items -photos of friends and relatives and two cylinders containing diplomas obtained at a university of his homeland- stands a big lamp with two graphic works hanging above it.
Alves Lino: “I heard about the Grafiekuitleen via the introductory day for international staff members. Immediately after the meeting I sent an e-mail to make an appointment. Such a fantastic facility simply has to be used.”
The Portuguese is quite pleased with the pictures: “The graphic work ‘Op de fiets’ attracted me for two reasons. Firstly, because it represents everyday life in the Netherlands: a man on a bike. It is a realistic image, but when you look at the upper portion of the picture, you see that the artist has used very bright, loud colors. The duality of the picture really appeals to me: it may cause you to feel slightly schizophrenic, though in a good way. The second painting drew my attention through its abstract quality, which I like.”

Dorota Pawelek

Harrie Gerritz - De aarde rond
Roger Raveel - untitled

Ir. Dorota Pawelek heard about the graphic art library indirectly. The doctoral candidate of Electrical Engineering, Electrical Power Systems, talks about her first acquaintance with the TU/e Grafiekuitleen: “A colleague regularly borrows works of art. He knew that I am also interested in art, so together with him I went to visit the Grafiekuitleen for the first time. While he was deciding on a new work of art for himself, I looked at the collection and finally chose two paintings for myself. The first one I borrowed, which is still hanging in my office today, is by Roger Raveel, a contemporary painter. His style is characterized by a mixture of abstract and figurative painting. You can also see this in the picture that I have chosen: an abstract drawing in black and white and a few touches of color. The second work, by Harrie Gerritz, has ‘something’ that appealed to me very strongly, but I cannot really explain what it is.”
Pawelek is keeping the works of art for the time being: “I like these works. They fit in my room perfectly. In the future I shall definitely check out the TU/e collection again.”
(Pawelek is not in the photo because she was ill)