Rhone — Fo(u)r Decades of Graffiti (Special Edition)

About the book

Some have a big mouth to compensate for their shortcomings. Others have the skills to back it up. For Rhone, one seemed to feed the other. Big stature, big pieces, big ambitions and, yes, an even bigger mouth. But always with the work to match.

Special edition. Twenty numbered copies of Rhone — Fo(u)r Decades of Graffiti were made as a special edition. Every copy is hand-numbered and signed by the editors. Numbers 6 to 20 are available here. Each is bound in linen with screen-printed typography and a tipped-in photograph mounted on the front, a different work by Rhone on every copy, so no two are the same. Copies are sent at random: it is not possible to choose a number or a cover. The special edition is available exclusively through the publisher.

Numbers 1 to 5 share the same finish but come in a box with three spray cans that Rhone customised with his own drawings before his death. In his view, this was the ultimate version of the special edition. These five copies are not sold through the website; please contact the publisher for enquiries.

Pre-order. Rhone — Fo(u)r Decades of Graffiti is published on 26 November 2026. Orders placed before that date are pre-orders: the book ships around the publication date. You will receive a shipping confirmation with a tracking number as soon as it goes out. You pay when you place the order, not when it ships. Anything else you order at the same time travels with it, so order separately if you need those titles sooner.

Book launch. The book will be presented on Thursday 26 November 2026 at the Centraal Museum in Utrecht, as part of the exhibition Graffiti (10 October 2026 – 29 March 2027). Admission is paid, at a reduced rate. Further details about the launch will be announced shortly. Please note: pre-orders cannot be collected at the launch. Because of the logistics involved and details that are still being finalised, collection is not possible, and this will not change once those details are confirmed. All pre-orders are shipped around the same date.

Rhone (1968–2025) was part of the generation that helped push Dutch graffiti forward from the mid-1980s onwards. As a member of the W.O.W. crew in the early 1990s he played a key role in a period that changed train writing in the Netherlands. He was also part of a wider network, travelling, meeting writers and leaving his name far beyond his own city.

For years Rhone had been developing plans for an extensive book about his life and work. He collected photographs, filled black books, wrote notes and reorganised his archive with the publication he envisioned always somewhere in mind. Shortly before his sudden death in May 2025, he and Ferry van Zijderveld (publisher of this book) agreed to begin working on it together.

Rhone left behind an immense archive of sketches, photographs, black books, ephemera, rap lyrics, artworks and stories from four decades of graffiti. Henny Overbeek — his close friend for nearly forty years and the person he had entrusted with that archive — and Ferry van Zijderveld took on the task of shaping the material. Rather than attempting to reconstruct the enormous book exactly as Rhone had imagined it, they created a focused monograph that preserves his energy, ambition and uncompromising dedication to graffiti.

Across 296 pages, the book follows him from his first pieces in Zwolle in 1985 and his first steps in train writing to the Utrecht walls and tracksides where he stayed active for more than three decades, and on to his final paintings. Photographs, black-book material, sketches, letters and personal stories are enriched with memories and anecdotes from friends, fellow writers and key figures in the scene, revealing both the development of his work and the person behind the self-proclaimed “King”. The book includes a foreword by Richard van Tiggelen and a postscript by Mikel van den Boogaard, based on an interview with Henny Overbeek and Ferry van Zijderveld.

Rhone — Fo(u)r Decades of Graffiti offers a close look at his mind, his craft and his place in Dutch graffiti history. It is a final salute to a writer who never stopped drawing, painting, collecting, talking and pushing the culture forward.

The book was made possible with the support of the Jaap Harten Fonds and the Municipality of Utrecht.

The images shown are mock-ups. The final book may differ. They may not be used for promotion, press or any other purpose.