THE ROAD TO RUDOLF BIKKERS.
The Road to Rudolf Bikkers
Over two years ago, a subtle tug at my sleeve during a visit to Museum London ignited what would become a dedicated pursuit. My wife and I found ourselves circling back to one work of art again and again during the Up With Art event, bidding in the silent auction until — to our complete delight — the piece came home with us. It now hangs in our collection, but that evening was only the first step on a far longer journey into the life and work of Rudolf Bikkers.
What I knew at the time was enough to intrigue: Rudolf’s early ties to London, Ontario — teaching at Beal Art and helping to establish the printmaking program at Fanshawe Fine Art — and his important role in the printmaking community through EC Canada, the master print studio where he worked with artists such as Greg Curnoe and Jack Chambers in the 1970s. Those facts suggested a career with roots and reach; the more I learned, the more I realized how much of his story is woven into the fabric of this city and its artistic institutions.
Rudolf began to turn up at the gallery in unexpected ways. Works arrived for reframing: two monumental 48" × 72" shadow‑boxed monoprints, and dozens of small and mid‑sized pieces. Handling those oversized monoprints — working with Nicole (Lemonande Frame Studio) here at the Gallery, stripping and rehousing, stabilizing surfaces — gave me an intimacy with his technique I hadn’t felt as a viewer alone. Restoring and presenting art also makes you a listener; it’s a practical way to notice patterns, materials, corrections, the evidence of a hand at work. Each object whispered more about how he approached imagery and printmaking.
A chance conversation with my client / collector, for whom we reframed those giant works, widened the thread again. They told me they remained friends with Thera Bikkers and passed along her contact information. What followed has been one of the most rewarding research collaborations I’ve experienced as a gallerist.
Thera had preserved an extraordinary archive: correspondence, exhibition records, photographs, invitations, clippings, and works in storage. We spoke by phone several times and arranged a meeting in Toronto to go through everything. A single afternoon turned into an extended session of discovery. Binders of notes, albums of press, and framed works from different decades offered a narrative far richer than any summary could convey. I left with stacks of photocopies, digital scans, and a sense that Rudolf’s life — his teaching, printmaking, exhibitions and friendships—unfolded before me in surprising detail. What struck me most was how many of those stories looped back to the same places and people I’ve come to know: Beal Art, the Thielsen Gallery, EC Canada, Fanshawe Fine Art, OCAD, and the many artists and students whose careers intersected with Rudolf’s. The Thielsen connection felt especially resonant; a gallery with a seventy-year history in Canadian art had given Rudolf some of his earliest public exposure, and now, decades later, his work was literally being reframed and returned to the city where his career began and in the gallery I now own.
From Thera’s correspondence I learned about exhibition dates, letters of encouragement, and photographs of openings long past. Small details—handwritten notes about edition numbers, a receipt for supplies, Exhibition flyers —became touchstones that helped me understand the breadth of his practice and the community that supported it. Handling the prints themselves, particularly those two enormous monoprints, gave me a renewed appreciation for his hand: the scale he wasn’t afraid to work at, the layering of ink and paper, the care with which he composed imagery for the printed surface.
Those discoveries have led to practical next steps. Together with Thera, I’m cataloguing what we can, and conserving works that need attention. We’re planning a focused presentation at the gallery that will bring some of these reframed pieces — including the large monoprints — back into public view, paired with archival material so viewers can see the context behind the work. I hope this research lays the groundwork for broader recognition: a more detailed catalogue, talks with local institutions, and continued collaboration with Jeff Heene at Beal Art so Rudolf’s influence on teaching and printmaking in the region can be better appreciated.
For me, this has become more than a preservation project — it’s a personal circle closing. The piece that called to us at Up With Art set me on a path that led to Thera’s door, a room full of memories, and a deeper relationship with the art community here in London. It’s a reminder that works of art travel in unexpected ways: across decades, between people, and sometimes back to where they began. I’m grateful to Thera, My Collectors & Friends, Beal Art, and everyone who’s shared stories or loaned materials. I’m proud to be part of ensuring Rudolf Bikkers’ work is seen, studied, and celebrated in the city that helped shape him.
