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Commissioned: Sixty Years Percentage for Art Programme at the Dutch Government Building Agency

Date uploaded: November 23, 2011

Commissioned: sixty years percentage for art programme at the Dutch Government Building Agency

By Wijnand Galema

The Dutch Government Building Agency is the biggest commissioner of art in the world. In the Netherlands it is obligatory to devote a percentage of the building costs of all government premises to art in the public domain. This so called ‘percentage for art programme’ has been in force for sixty years. This richly illustrated jubilee publication presents a survey of sixty years of Dutch art as well as sixty years of public commissions.

Lloyd Benjamin III wrote an essay on the significance of this art for the development of art in the Netherlands. Wijnand Galema describes the history of the percentage programme, the highs and lows, and the tension between art and architecture. The heart of the book shows fifty of the best works of art. They are arranged per decade and preceded by a sort introduction on that specific decade. The volume concludes with a list of every public commission placed. 

This book is published in English – Commissioned­ – and Dutch - in Opdracht.

This publication was realised in collaboration with the Government Buildings Agency. 

Author information:
Wijnand Galema is a historian of architecture. Besides writing on this topic, he gives lectures and workshops, moderates debates, and organises exhibitions and events related to his discipline. Among the contributors is the 10th president of the Indiana State University, Lloyd Benjamin III. He published The Art of Design Environment in the Netherlands in 1983.

ISBN 9789461051639
English edition
Hardcover | Full color
504 pages / 210 x 270 mm
Published 2011
€49,50

Click here to order 'Commissioned'.