CONTEMPLATIE (WERNER HEYNDRICKX)
'Contemplatie' (‘Contemplation’) is derived from the Latin 'contemplatio','to behold', 'to contemplate'. The sculpture depicts a monk, dressed in a wide cowl, in which he keeps his arms and hands crossed. The cowl is the robe worn by some contemplative orders at choir prayers at set hours of the day. Turning slightly backward, the monk appears to be striding forward. He keeps his head erect. Eyes and mouth are closed. His whole posture speaks of contemplation. He has let go of the world and with a receptive mind and an open heart he "beholds". He is introspective, concentrating on God, on the message of the Bible, on the meaning and questions of human existence. He allows himself to be completely absorbed in… contemplation.
In the sculpture 'Contemplation' the artist has given form to the uniqueness of 'contemplation' in a very personal and essential way. The sculpture exudes both modesty and dignity. The cowl of the monk is stylized without precise detailing. The folds are merely suggested. The dual plane division on the front reinforces the inwardness. All attention is drawn to the stylized face: here again, no strict realism, but a balanced, geometric composition, which radiates tranquillity.
Werner Heyndrickx’ art is inspired. The monk 'contemplates'.
HEYNDRICKX Werner (1909-1986)
Werner Heyndrickx was a sculptor of portraits and figures. His father, Jozef Heyndrickx, was a stonemason. Education at the academies of Sint-Niklaas and Antwerp and at the National Institute of Fine Arts in Antwerp (studio of E. Wijnants). Teacher of sculpture at the Municipal Academy of Fine Arts in Sint-Niklaas and the Higher Institute in Antwerp
His workshop was situated near the Tereken cemetery in Sint-Niklaas. For bronze casting he always worked with Achiel Vindevogel in Zwijnaarde. He attached major attention to the patina of a statue.
Particularly in Werner Heyndrickx's early works one can still clearly sense the influence of his teachers Arthur Dupon and especially Ernest Wijnants: in the monumentality and in the reduction of an image to a number of stylized surfaces . This rather synthesizing style is recognisable in the sculptures of the apostles he made for the church of ‘Kristus Koning’ in Sint-Niklaas. Even though heads, hands and feet have been executed with precision and detail, the vertical folds are stylised. The same approach can be seen in the sculptures ‘Contemplatie’ and ‘Familie’.
Werner Heyndrickx’s portraits exhale sharp observation. They are the result of a relentless search for an accurate resemblance and for the subject’s character.
He took part in many exhibitions in Belgium and abroad: Antwerp, Ghent, Liège, Namur, Paris, Prague and Bratislava. Prizes : the 'Godecharle Prize', the 'Van Lerius Prize', the 'Doutrolon de Try Prize' and the 'Prize of the Province of East Flanders for Sculpture'.
Kunst in de Stad displays some fifteen works by this sculptor.
Kunst in de Stad, September 1th 1984