De groene Kalebas, Amsterdam

In 1954 and 1955 herman de vries had 2 exhibitions, both in De Groene Kalebas, a jazz cafe in Amsterdam. The first exhibition was in May 1954 and the second in February 1955. The first became known by a review by J. Ermers, 'Herman de Vries in de moderne stroming', in Contact. Huisorgaan van de Plantenziektenkundige Dienst 9 (Wageningen June 1954) 185-186. Ermers described the exhibition and added a list of exhibited works:

1. de reden
2. c'est trop à dire, mais c'est bon
3. très seul
4. de keuze
5. toch ...
6. tout est séparé
7. herinnering
8. omdat het voorjaar is
9. provence
10. je suis mal
11. mendelsohn's vioolconcert
12. dark meadow (naar martha graham)
13. mon diable
14. symphonie no. 5 van beethoven en nog iets
15. la fille
16. c'est triste
17. mon ami

From the second exhibition in February 1955 a list of exhibited works has been preserved in the herman de vries archive:

1. de keuze
2. je suis mal
3. schilderij
4. schilderij
5. schilderij
6. schilderij
7. abstracte visie I
8. abstracte visie II
9. verruste [verroeste?] constellatie
10. schilderij
11. schilderij
12. schilderij
13. schilderij
14. gouache, pour un ami
15. gouache, la fille
16. gouache, c'est triste
17. gouache
18. gouache, au printemps
19. gouache
20. gouache, stad

Most of these works have not survived. Over the years, herman de vries created many informal works on paper. Most of these remained unsold and were not otherwise distributed. He kept these works in three large folders. However, in the 1970s, two of the three folders were lost due to water damage. [source: oral explanation herman de vries]