timeline
| 1931 | born in Alkmaar |
|---|---|
| 1949-1951 | gardening school, Hoorn |
| 1951-1952 | agricultural work in France |
| 1952-1956 | Institute for Research in Plant Diseases, Wageningen |
| 1953 | "beginning of my life as an artist" |
| informal drawings and paintings | |
| 1956-1962 | informal collages [read the section label] |
| 1959-1963 | white paintings [read the section label] |
| 1960 | wit is overdaad [= white is superabundance] |
| 1960-1963 | white objects |
| 1961-1964 | [revue] nul = 0 |
| 1961-1968 | Institute for Applied Biological Research in Nature, Arnhem |
| 1962 | random objectivations [read the section label] |
| white, other editions and reprints in 1967, 1980 and 2012 | |
| 'natura artis magistra', first sound work | |
| participated in 'NUL', Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam | |
| 1964 | revue integration |
| 1965 | first experiments with language |
| 'there are no contradictions' | |
| 1967 | travels to Eastern Europe and Russia |
| 1968 | 'argumentstellen' |
| 1969 | travels to Algeria, Sahara, Tunisia and Turkey |
| first psychedelic experiences | |
| 'die lust zur zerstörung ist zugleich eine schaffende lust' | |
| 'what is rational?' | |
| 1970 | travels to Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, India and the Seychelles |
| in Eschenau | |
| the real works [read the section label] | |
| 1971 | travels to Southern India and Ceylon |
| chance & change [read the section label] | |
| susanne | |
| 1972 | 'my poetry is the world' |
| experiments with film and photography | |
| the poet in his poetry | |
| 1973 | travels to Morocco, Rio de Oro, Mauretania and Senegal |
| 'a random sample of the seeings of my beings' | |
| chance fields | |
| 1974 | travels to Nepal, India, Thailand and Laos |
| eschenau summer & temporary travelling press publications | |
| 'to be all ways to be' | |
| 1975 | poésie actuelle |
| 'here & everywhere' | |
| 'exposition complète de luang-prabang' | |
| 1976 | travels to India |
| 'this & no thing' | |
| 1976-1978 | documents of a stream |
| 1978-2019 | 'the earth museum' |
| 1978 | travels to Sikkim and Gavdos |
| 1979 | film notes |
| 16 dm² | |
| das grosse rasenstück [read the section label] | |
| 1980 | 'werke 1954-1980', Groninger Museum |
| 'gestern nicht kunst angefangen' | |
| 1981-1982 | long stay on La Gomera |
| 1982 | 'here' herman de vries declares La Gomera as a work of art |
| les très riches heures de herman de vries | |
| travels to Morocco | |
| 1983 | film and publication 'belladonna' |
| 1983-1989 | natural relations [read the section label] |
| 1983 to present | from earth [read the section label] |
| 1984 | mind moving |
| 'die marokkanische sammlung' | |
| travels to Senegal | |
| 1985-86 | scottish diary, journal [read the section label] |
| 1986-2018 | die wiese | the meadow [with slideshow] |
| 1989 | das verschlossene paradies |
| 'erfahrungsfelder' | |
| human life | |
| 1990 (2012) | land consolidation project Weerselo-Dulder [with slideshow] |
| 1991-1995 | integration. journal for mind-moving plants and culture |
| le témoin | |
| 1992 | 'terre, vie et poésie', Mouans-Sartoux |
| 'the real works', Edinburgh | |
| 'remember gustav theodor fechner' | |
| 1993 | botanical works |
| 'ambulo ergo sum' | |
| sanctuary Stuttgart [with slideshow] | |
| 1995 | 'physics & metaphysics are one' |
| 1995-1997 | tuindorpcollecties tilburg [with slideshow] |
| 1996 | 'this' |
| 1996-2007 | 'mesa' |
| 1997 | sanctuary Münster [with slideshow] |
| 1997-1998 | Watergoed, Weerribben (Overijssel) |
| 1997-2008 (2011) | 'trees museum', Wateringse Veld, The Hague [with slideshow] |
| 1998 | Oeuvre Award presented by the Netherlands Foundation for Fine Arts, Design and Architecture |
| 1999 | Digne-les-Bains |
| 1999-2001 | sanctuary zeewolde, Zeewolde (Woldstrand/Nuldernauw) |
| 1999-2003 | 'bois sacré' and 'sanctuaire de roche rousse', Digne-les-Bains [with slideshow] |
| 2001-2012 | 'traces & points' in Digne-les-Bains |
| 2001 | 'philosophische bemerkungen' |
| 2002 | 'wynfrith me caesit - herman me recreavit', Düsseldorf |
| 'different & identic', Lausanne | |
| 2003-2005 | 'sacred space', created for the State of Sabotage territory in Baldrockistan (Australia) |
| 2004-2005 | 'les fenêtres', in the Vallon de Descoure, Digne-les-Bains |
| 2006 | 'spuren' in the Steigerwald [with slideshow] [app available] |
| 2007-2010 | steigerwald cosmology |
| 2008 | 'bomenmuseum = tree museum, Wateringseveld, The Hague [with slideshow] |
| 2009 | 'unity', Kröller Müller Museum, Otterlo |
| 'all this here', Schloss Moyland and Kunsthalle Schweinfurt (2010) | |
| 2010 | 'es ist da', Mies van der Rohe Haus, Berlin |
| 2010-2011 | 'gedenkstätte zwangsarbeiter schweinfurt', Schweinfurt/Oberndorf |
| 2011 | 'i am', Kunstvereniging Diepenheim |
| 2012-2024 | three gardens for Diepenheim [with slideshow] |
| 2013 | 'im winter auf dem grossen knetzberg • ein journal' |
| 2014 | 'all' and 'no thing', Stedelijk Museum Schiedam and Ketelfactory, Schiedam |
| the water lilies, Kunstvereniging Diepenheim [with slideshow] | |
| from the laguna of venice - a journal | |
| 'ZERO. Countdown to Tomorrow, 1950s-1960s', Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York | |
| 'ZERO. Die internationale Kunstbewegung der 50er und 60er Jahre, Gropius Bau, Berlin | |
| 2015 | 'ZERO. Let us Explore the Stars', Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam |
| herman de vries represented with 'to be all ways to be' The Netherlands at the Biennale Arte 2015, Venice | |
| sanctuary natura mater, Lazaretto Vecchio, Venice | |
| 'basic values', Erasmus Huis, Jakarta. The exhibition travelled to Amsterdam and Sittard | |
| 2016 | 'sculptures trouvés', Ernst Barlach Haus, Hamburg |
| 2014-2017 | 'le sommet des philosophes', project as part of the 'traces project' around Digne-les-Bains (Villard des Dourbes) |
| 2017 | sanctuary for HEART, Herning/DK |
| 'chance & change', MUSAC, Léon (SP) | |
| 2019 | 'herman de vries. voor jullie voeten', Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar |
| 'herman de vries – all all all : werke 1957–2019', Lindenau-Museum, Altenburg. Exhibition to accompany the awarding of the Gerhard-Altenbourg-Preis 2019 | |
| 2020 | 'herman de vries. how green is the grass?', Georg Kolbe Museum, Berlin |
| 2021 | 'sanctuarium eschenau', first sanctuarium in a private collection |
| 2023 | 'sanctuary 'ödland', Fabrikschleichach (Steigerwald) |
herman de vries in his studio, Eschenau
[photo Joana Schwender, Hassfurt (2014)]