SPOUTNIK

Spoutnik and the Space Race

Hans Zandvoort wearing a Spoutnik headdress and carrying a “De Poëzie van de Ruimte” sign in Dordrecht, 1961.

Hans Zandvoort wearing a Spoutnik headdress and carrying a sign reading “De Poëzie van de Ruimte” (The Poetry of Space), Dordrecht, September 1961

Hans Zandvoort’s Spoutnik painting, 1958, with the word “SPOUTNIK,” antenna-like lines and geometric forms against a blue background.

Hans Zandvoort
Spoutnik, 1958
Acrylic and collage on canvas
66 × 56 cm

Following the launch of Sputnik 1 in October 1957, satellites, antennae and capsule-like forms appear repeatedly in Zandvoort’s work of the period.

In paintings and works on paper from this period, circular forms, projecting antennae and enclosed structures recur in increasingly varied configurations. In one major painting, Zandvoort incorporated the word SPOUTNIK directly into the work.

Untitled painting by Hans Zandvoort, 1960, with circular yellow, green and blue forms arranged around a vertical geometric structure.

Hans Zandvoort
1960
Acrylic on wood
41 × 33 cm

Untitled painting by Hans Zandvoort, 1960, with large green circular forms and geometric shapes against a blue and turquoise field.

Hans Zandvoort
1960
Acrylic on canvas
61 × 46 cm

Self-portrait drawing by Hans Zandvoort showing the artist painting a nude model as a small satellite carrying a dog passes outside the window.

Hans Zandvoort
Self-portrait with satellite
Ink on paper

SELF PORTRAIT

In this undated self-portrait, Zandvoort depicts himself painting a nude model while a tiny satellite carrying a dog passes outside the window. The drawing brings the imagery of Sputnik and Laika into an everyday studio scene.

Untitled Spoutnik work by Hans Zandvoort, 1958, with a black-outlined capsule-like form, projecting antennae and circular shapes.

Hans Zandvoort
1958
Acrylic on paper
30 × 40 cm

Untitled Spoutnik work by Hans Zandvoort, 1958, with outlined capsule-like structures and circular forms in ochre, brown and green.

Hans Zandvoort
1958
Acrylic on paper
30 × 40 cm

Untitled Spoutnik work by Hans Zandvoort, 1958, with two vertical capsule-like forms, circular motifs and projecting lines in blue and green.

Hans Zandvoort
1958
Acrylic on paper
20 × 30 cm

In February 1958, Zandvoort’s cartoon Sans légende appeared in Le Figaro, a satirical response to the fate of Laika, the dog launched aboard Sputnik 2.

The cartoon contrasts a Soviet satellite carrying Laika with an American satellite carrying a bone. The surviving newspaper clipping was preserved among his papers.

Hans Zandvoort’s 1958 cartoon Sans légende, showing Laika aboard the Soviet Sputnik 2 satellite and a bone aboard an American satellite.

Hans Zandvoort
Sans légende, 1958
Newspaper clipping
8 × 10 cm

Untitled Spoutnik painting by Hans Zandvoort, with two tall capsule-like forms and antennae in red, yellow, green and black.

Hans Zandvoort
Acrylic and metallic paint on hardboard
61 × 50 cm

Spoutnik was one of the first distinct bodies of work Zandvoort developed in Paris. Created in the years following the launch of Sputnik, the surviving paintings, drawings and archival material document his engagement with satellites, rockets and the new visual language of the Space Age.

By the early 1960s, the recognizable imagery of the Spoutnik works began to give way to increasingly abstract forms. Zandvoort called the body of work that followed Opposition.

Explore Opposition →