26 February – 3 May 2026

Pieter Geraedts – het niets dat nietst (the nothing that does nothing)

Leiden artist Pieter Geraedts (Warmond 1940 – Leiden 2025) donated seven works to Museum De Lakenhal shortly before his death in September 2025. They are on show in the small exhibition Pieter Geraedts – het niets dat nietst, along with works that were already housed in the museum collection.

Born into a family of artists, Pieter Geraedts made a significant contribution to art and its development in Leiden and the Netherlands from the 1960s on. His influence is evident in the shift from traditional sculpture to installations comprised of minimal forms. He continued to make art until shortly before his death, withdrawn into his own universe.

Absence and emptiness were key concepts in Geraedts' work. Over time, light too became an important theme. Geraedts chose materials that were not typically associated with art: buckets, packaging, chicken wire, tubs and rope. In the late 1990s, he began to tear and shred newspapers to create compelling pulp sculptures; works that attempted to halt an incessant flow of information. He saw the insignificance of human existence in essential emptiness and described his work as 'the nothing that does nothing'.