Cor van Rijn (1929-2018)
September 14 – November 16, 2018 at Café Bern
From the early ’50-ies to the beginning of the ’90-ies Cor van Rijn performed in numerous plays and he appeared in no less than 40 movies and many TV plays and series. But to Café Bern he was, first and foremost, ‘Cor, our upstairs neighbour’. Moreover, he had been living there already for 15 years, when Café Bern opened for the first time, forty years ago, in August 1978. And he has been living there ever since, together with his beloved Joyce.
Cor was so much more than merely an actor. He painted, wrote poetry and made graphical work. To pay tribute to Cor, Café Bern will exhibit a selection of his work from September 14 until November 16, 2018.
Please feel free to drop by. From 4:00-6:00 p.m. you can come and see the exhibition at your ease. Or late at night, after 11:00 p.m., when the rather busy dinner time has finished and a lovely relaxed “after hours” atmosphere has descended on Café Bern. Below you can already have a preview of some of the works exhibited at Café Bern.
Cor van Rijn
(1929- 2018)
actor, painter, poet
A few weeks ago our upstairs neighbour Cor van Rijn passed away. He would have given anything to be able to stay as long as he could with Joyce, the love of his life, but it was not to meant be.
Cor was not just a gifted actor. In the 80-ies he took up painting, like his wife had been doing already for many years. He had an exposition in Café Bern, the opening night of which turned out to be legendary with a crowd of actors, directors and other artists joining the party.
His work was very well received and appraised but no other exhibitions followed. Cor much more preferred the secluded privacy of his life with Joyce: painting together, writing poems and playing the grand piano.
We can rightly describe Cor as ‘the pioneer of Café Bern’. In the early days our upstairs neighbour was one of the rare regulars and through him his wide and colourful circle of artistic friends gradually found their way to our café.
To commemorate Cor we have organised an tribute exhibition of a small selection of his work in Café Bern. The opening night will be on September 14 with a speech by Ursul de Geer. The exhibition will last until October 26, 2018.
Opening night of Cor’s previous exhibition
at Café Bern, 1988
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