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The Complete Works of Hans Rookmaaker (6 vols.)David Porter looks at an important new publishing projectHis very speaking likenessTHE COMPLETE WORKS OF HANS ROOKMAAKER (6 vols.) The publication, earlier this year, of the first two volumes of The Complete Works of Hans Rookmaaker is cause for rejoicing. Piquant, the publisher, deserves immense appreciation for what was always a brave venture. The purchase price is quite high - the introductory offer for all six volumes is £150, though you do get a complimentary complete Francis Schaeffer thrown in as well - but it compares well with equivalent material from other publishers, and by comparison with the Folio Society it's an outright bargain. New translationsBut don't let the price fool you. The costs of such a project are enormous. The set contains around 1,000 pages of newly translated articles as well as two books that appear in English for the first time. Much of the material has been painstakingly collected from defunct papers and magazines, and an army of translators, editors and academics has been involved in its preparation for print. There was a time when British art students seriously contemplated learning Dutch solely to read Rookmaaker, and some went to study with him at the Free University, Amsterdam. But even such dedicated readers would have been hard pushed to locate a fraction of what is handily available in these volumes. They look good, too. Rookmaaker, who had no time for Christians who saved money for worthier causes by dressing the gospel in shoddy clothes, would have appreciated the care that has been taken to make these books objects of high artistic quality. It's a brave venture because relatively few individuals are going to be able to invest in this set. Serious institutions should buy it as a matter of course, and Piquant is an experienced organisation and must have done its sums: and any individual who buys the set is unlikely to regret it. But there seems little doubt that the Complete Works are unlikely to finance the proprietors' pension fund. This is in every respect a labour of love, a gift to the Christian arts community and, I hope, to a much wider readership as well. Smoke maker!Love was what those who had the privilege of knowing Rookmaaker unfailingly felt for him. It is almost a quarter of a century since his sudden death at an unexpectedly young age, but he was unforgettable. Usually wearing a three-piece suit, hair neatly brushed, he looked as much like a city executive as an internationally respected art historian. The pipe that was his constant companion was an unconventional touch for British evangelicals, particularly when he paused at a knotty point in a lecture for a refill. For Rookmaaker (whose name means 'smoke-maker') it was part of his cultural background-'In Holland it's not a proper church meeting if you can see across the room.' He had a delightful, rather complacent self-awareness, obviously aware of the reverence in which many held him and clearly enjoying it. But he was extraordinarily compassionate and sensitive to real needs. I saw him once react furiously to a Christian art student who presented a very super-spiritual case for Christians not being involved in the arts, but I also saw him talking with great tact to artists whose work was poor but in whom he recognised a real desire to reflect truth. His favourite response to a bad painting was to look at it judiciously, puff thoughtfully on his pipe, and say benignly, 'Making pictures is very difficult'. L'AbriHe was a founder and leader of the Dutch branch of L'Abri Fellowship - Francis Schaeffer acknowledged that almost all his own knowledge of art came from Rookmaaker. He blossomed in L'Abri circles. At a meal-table once in Swiss L'Abri, student conversation deteriorated into an unprofitable war of words concerning the situation in Northern Ireland. Rooky - as he was usually known - restored peace to the table by discussing the immense contribution to the arts made by Protestants and Roman Catholics, drawing on his encyclopaedic knowledge of art history to apply his comments specifically to Northern Ireland. A great fighter in debate, he was generous to his opponents and a peacemaker by inclination. I am aware of at least one serious conflict between representatives of two opposing views of Christianity and culture in which Rookmaaker was the reconciler. As an art historian his reputation was very high: Malcolm Muggeridge chose his Modern Art and the Death of a Culture as a Book of the Year, and in England he lectured in prestigious secular arts venues as well as Christian ones. But almost the greatest value of this set is the opportunity to hear him speak again through material that has not been available to English readers before. New insightsThe Complete Works already provides new insights. There is, for example, a substantial amount of acknowledgement of his debt to Dutch philosopher Hermann Dooyerweerd - we knew of it, but did not have the documentation before to go with it. It is fascinating, too, to trace his eventful life through his writings: no substantial biography has yet been written. Introductory appraisals by Jeremy Begbie, Graham Birtwistle and others add to the value of the set, as does the overall editorial hand of his daughter, Marleen Hengelaar-Rookmaaker. But it is the writings themselves of this remarkable and cherishable man that tell us most about him. His works follow him, and it is a testimony to their quality that they have so much to say and to teach a new generation and a new millennium. David Porter© Evangelicals Now - October 2002 |