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22 May 2021
Who is Agnus?
Many a mystery presents itself when documenting someone’s house. One of these little mysteries in Constant’s house is that of the wooden panels. In his library Constant had a locker installed, decorated with a beautifully crafted panel. His library being a source of great pride and joy, it’s not surprising that he would have it adorned with carefully chosen details
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Even when we found a similar panel in his home studio it did not present us with a clue as to who the woodworker had been. Last week when showing two young designers around the house, we browsed through the boxes in the cellar. The girls were stoked about every piece of material that we uncovered, rare blue coloured plexiglass and iron grids Constant used in his models. While we were going through the treasure trove of stories that the boxes seemed to present we found a piece of wood wrapped in bubblewrap. Nothing special at first sight but when we turned it around a pink picture presented itself; A peaceful sleeping face carved in wood. On the side of the panel it said Agnus ‘77.
One of the girls immediately saw the similarity with the wooden panel in the library. We of course have no proof that the little artwork and the panels are made by the same person but Agnus is quickly becoming a person of interest. The pink work was stored in a box from his main studio, so was Agnus a friend? Did they swap work? Did she/he give it to Constant? Did Constant buy the work?
Who is this Agnus, who in 1977 created this wooden portrait in pink and assumingly around 1979 was maybe asked by Constant to design a panel for his library? A quick google search does not really yield any clues. Any tips or suggestions are welcome!
Send Kim an email at info@stichtingconstant.nl
