Portfolio Category: walk-blue route

JOHANNA AND MARGARETHA OF CONSTANTINOPLE 1217 ( FRANS) HEIRBAUT On the same promenade of the Grand Place, our attention is caught by a sculpture group with two skeletons. They evoke mixed feelings in the viewer. On closer inspection, this is a complex, daring work of art. On the occasion of the celebration of 800 years…

ZITTENDE VROUW (GEORGE GRARD) The walk starts on the Market Square, right in front of the Tourist Office, which is housed in the historic building ‘De Cipierage’, a Renaissance building dating from 1662, and used to be the jail of Sint-Niklaas. Throughout the years, it was restored several times and was used as police station,…

LA TORDUE (GEORGE GRARD) A second statue facing the Tourist Office, close to  first one, is also by Georges Grard. Larger and more fragile in her nakedness, ‘La Tordue’ draws all attention to herself.   ‘La Tordue’ refers to one of his earlier works ‘The Sea’ or ‘Lying Nude’ in Ostend. This last statue (1952-1955)…

PASTOOR GORDIJN (AUGUST NOBELS) Large school buildings, a parish hall and a home for the elderly flank the wide Hofstraat. There, close to the statue of Our Lady Mary, in all its simplicity, is the portrait of Pastor Gordijn (1862-1939).   Gordijn was pastor of the parish Onze-Lieve-Vrouw. He succeeded the socially committed pastor De…

DE WEG NAAR KENNIS (ROBERT VANDEREYCKEN) The artist Robert Vandereycken is not only a sculptor, but also a graphic designer, which clearly shows in this work ‘De weg naar kennis - The way to knowledge’. He appears to be making a three-dimensional transformation of a stylized drawing. He simplifies and structures the volumes, delineates the…

ANTON VAN WILDERODE (WILFRIED PAS) On the corner of the Collegestraat we can see the porch of theRecollects church, adjacent to the  Recollects friars’ convent, who had to flee Hulst in 1646. The church was built in a Baroque style and was completed in 1696. Later, and up to this day, the convent buildings accommodate…

MARIABEELD (FRANS VAN HAVERMAET) To the left of the entrance to ‘Het Hof’, a home for the elderly, you’ll find a neoclassical statue depicting Our Lady, made of French sandstone. It dates from the late nineteenth century (1876). The statue used to stand over the main entrance gate to the Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Presentatie School, in the Plezantstraat.…

SINT-NICOLAASBEELD (ACHIEL PAUWELS) At the foot of the City Hall belfry of , in the Market Square  stands the impressive image of Saint Nicholas, since 1217 the patron saint of the then parish and village community. Saint Nicholas, in Flemish usually called ‘Sinterklaas’, is the celebrated children’s friend. The statue refers to the tradition concerning…

HET WOORD (IDEL IANCHELEVICI) We cannot ignore it! Our attention is unavoidably drawn to one of the most famous sights of Sint-Niklaas: the large sculpture ‘Het Woord’(‘The Word’), while in its background we see the towers of the City Hall belfry and the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk. Since 1988 the Market Square is dominated by the monumental statue…

BALLERINA (MARIETTE TEUGELS) Arriving at the Hofstraat you encounter the ‘Ballerina’. The sculptor, Mariette Teugels, is fascinated by the beauty of the young female dancer and wants to depict the figure as realistically as possible. The young dancer bends her lithe body deeply forward and graciously ties the silk ribbons of one of her pointes.…

PAARD EN RUITER (JAN CALMEYN) When you access the wooden promenade opposite the statue of ‘Sint-Nicolaas’ you come across an eye-catching bronze statue of a horse and rider, protectively holding a child. It is an image typical of the seventies of the past century (1977), the era of the cold war and the nuclear threat. Quite…

DE LOPERS (MARIETTE TEUGELS) The bronze group ‘De Lopers’ is the first acquisition of Kunst in de Stad (1980) and remains one of the most popular works the association has ever bought. It is a dynamic work of art, which from the outset was highly valued by young and old alike.  Three young bodies in…