29th
Geometrical Abstraction:On the first day of this year I learned about my long-lost grandfather, Zanis Waldheims, via a site made by his friend of 35 years. We had been separated when I was young, due to large-scale circumstances.
Although my grandfather passed away in 1993, the curator of that site kept all of my grandfather’s sketchbooks, documents, personal effects, drawings, art pieces, annotated books, manuscripts, photographs, letters, films, audio tapes. Everything. From 1945 to 1993.
Over his life, my grandfather developed a theory of geometrical abstraction that he expressed in a series of over 600 art pieces. To say that this work is immense would be a gross understatement. His life was spent in a quest for understanding after experiencing the horrors of two world wars in which his small nation of forest-people was devastated.
Despite that, his ideas have remained largely unknown. The fact that this corpus was not relegated to a dump in Montreal can be completely credited to his friend, Yves Jeanson, who provided an intellectual counterpart to my grandfather, listening where others chose to ignore.
I spent the last week in Montreal, hosted by Yves and his wife, two of the kindest and most sincere people that I have met in my life. During this time, we spoke for hours about the work and life of my grandfather, poring over documents, discussing his art and philosophy.
I have much to report, and it will take a while for this tale to be told. It is truly exciting and unique, and frankly it is hard to know where to start…
