PAARD EN RUITER | Kunst in de Stad

cycle route, sculptures, walk-blue route

PAARD EN RUITER (JAN CALMEYN)

Next to the terrace of Walburg Castle, at the edge of the pond, stands a striking bronze statue of a horse with a rider protecting a child. This horse in this spot forms an obvious contrast to the idyllic picture of the English garden with tall trees, lots of greenery, and water features with the ducklings going under.

This sculpture does not show the usual heroic strong figures, but a horse, rider and child becoming almost unrecognizable and threatening to perish in fear. This sculpture was made in 1977, a time of fear due to the Cold War and impending atomic violence. It shows that intrinsic, existential fear of man. All the figures are deformed, deteriorated and barely held together in tatters. The horseman continues to protect the child, but even the child is no longer the paragon of joy and innocence. Everyone is affected by omnipresent fear. Just as Picasso tried to capture that unreality in the “Guernica”, Jan Calmeyn goes on to give total despair a face in this image.

Despite the fact that the image is now almost 50 years old, it sadly remains burningly topical. The threatening language of the superpowers in 2025 rekindles in each of us that existential fear for the future.

The making of this sculpture is a feat. Traditional sculpting and moulding has not been applied here. This technique is very common for small sizes but rather exceptional for larger sizes, such as this one. The sculpture is made of pieces of wax melted together. This operation must be carried out in a cool room to maintain the desired shape. The rags and seams are deliberately kept visible, reinforcing the intensity of the sculpture. Starting in 1975, Jan Calmeyn has his designs modelled in wax cast in bronze using the lost wax technique. 'Horse and Horseman' is one of Jan Calmeyn's early works. Later his sculptures evolve toward abstraction.

CALMEYN Jan (1942)

Jan Calmeyn is a sculptor from Sint-Niklaas. He is a late bloomer as he only starts sculpting at the age of 33. In 1975 he wins the 'Prize of the Province of East Flanders' with 'Ramses I'. In 1977 he receives an honourable mention with cash prize in the Mark Macken Competition. In 1981 he becomes laureate at the Triennial for Small Sculpture in Budapest