Maarten Baas German / Dutch, b. 1978

Works
  • Maarten Baas Where There’s Smoke Chair, 2006
    Where there's Smoke Chair, 2006
  • Maarten Baas, Where there's Smoke cabinet, 2003
    Where there's Smoke cabinet, 2003
Biography
Maarten Baas

Maarten Baas (b. 1978) is a Dutch artist and designer celebrated for his boundary-defying work at the intersection of art and design. Born in Arnsberg, Germany, he moved to the Netherlands in 1979 and later studied at the renowned Design Academy Eindhoven, graduating in 2002. 

Baas immediately made a mark with his Smoke series—a graduation project in which charcoal-burned furniture is preserved in clear epoxy resin, exploring themes of beauty, imperfection and transience. His Clay series followed, featuring handmade sculptural pieces expressing vulnerability and tactile artistry. 

 

His most iconic project, Real Time, debuted in 2009. This inventive series comprises 12-hour video loops of performers manually drawing the time—turning clocks into theatrical, poetic installations. 

Baas's distinctive work has earned international acclaim: he was named Designer of the Year at Design Miami/Basel in 2009, and in 2012 The New York Times listed both Smoke and Clay among its “Top 25 Design Classics of the Future.” In 2016, he won the ArtPrize for his Real Time: Sweepers Clock .

 

His pieces are held in major public collections—including MoMA (New York), Victoria & Albert Museum (London), San Francisco MoMA, Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam), and the Pinakothek der Moderne (Munich)—as well as private collections belonging to figures like Brad Pitt and Adam Lindemann .

Baas works out of his studio in ’s-Hertogenbosch (formerly with Bas den Herder via their joint studio DHPH) and continues to blend conceptual artistry with craftsmanship in installations, performance, and public artworks.