Dutch sculpture on display at Erasmus

JAKARTA (JP): A full overview of the trends in Dutch sculpture from the beginning of the 20th century to the present, from figurative to realistic, is currently on display at Erasmus Huis in South Jakarta until July 29.

The exhibition, which presents the works of various Dutch artists of the 20th century, was designed by well-known Dutch interior designer and art expert Ton Berends in cooperation with Erasmus Huis.

For this unique exhibit, Berends, the creator of Gallery Nouvelles Images in The Hague, which he ran for 30 years, has spent almost a full year gathering the pieces to make up the exhibit, which were brought together especially for Indonesia.

The various pieces of art come from the Frans Hals Museum, private collectors and the artists themselves. This is not the first exhibit he has organized at Erasmus Huis. He has arranged a few in the past with a different theme each time, but he started in 1992 with the exhibit of "Dutch design".

Sculpting is a fairly new art to emerge in the Netherlands. It has been around only for about 100 years, compared to other fine Dutch art which has been around hundreds of years. But its popularity has been growing.

In the exhibit, Berends brought together a few pieces from every stage of the 20th century starting with the first Dutch sculptor ever, Jan Bronner.

A former professor at the Rijksacademie Haarlem, Bronner has created about 100 pieces of artwork. He is well-known for his Hildebrand monument at De Haarlemmer Hout city garden in Haarlem. It took Bronner 34 years to create the monument.

Bronner is said to have inspired a few other Dutch sculptors into following in his footsteps of sculpting. One such artist is Mari Andriessen, who created the famous De Man voor Het Vuurpeleton (The Man In Front of The Firing Squad) statue.

Works from other artists, including Wessel Couzijn, Charlotte van Pallandt, Carel Visser, Frans de Wit, Eduard Wind and Henk Visch, are among those presented at the exhibition, which was opened by famous Indonesian sculptor Nyoman Nuarta on June 29.

At Erasmus Huis, the exhibit is open for public viewing from Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m to 12 p.m. Erasmus Huis is closed on Sundays. (Boy)