Portfolio Category: sculptures

IKAROS

IKAROS

IKAROS (PAUL VAN GYSEGEM) The artist was happy to have ‘Ikaros’ located in these historic surroundings, the adjacent building dating from the Late Renaissance, a time when art was strongly inspired by Greek and Roman antiquity. The statue is a representation of the well-known Greek myth. Ikaros crashes into the Aegean Sea. Because Ikaros and…

PASTOOR GORDIJN

PASTOOR GORDIJN

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) located. Gordijn was vicar of the Onze-Lieve-Vrouw parish. He succeeded the socially committed vicar Petrus…

DE WEG NAAR KENNIS

DE WEG NAAR KENNIS

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…

BUSTE PROS MATTHYS

BUSTE PROS MATTHYS

BUST PROS MATTHYS (FRANS HEIRBAUT) As an alderman, Pros Matthys was a thoroughgoing man. And he was not at his trial. As Alderman for Culture of Sint-Niklaas, he took a bold initiative in 1973. He was the creator and founder of the Foundation for Art in the City. As a result, dozens of artworks have…

DE BARING

DE BARING

DE BARING (KAREL AUBROECK) Karel Aubroeck was one of the most famous 20th century Flemish sculptors. His art is characterised by monumentalism. His style is expressionistic, showing an affinity with German expressionism. Some sculptures bear witness of a radical simplification by their geometrical and abstract design. Other statues, through their closed character, radiate a turbulent…

IN DE WOLKEN

IN DE WOLKEN

IN THE CLOUDS (FRENCH HEIRBAUT) High on the pedestal, a little boy climbs to the sky while his playmate looks on. The bronze sculpture appears weightless. The scene is agile, playful, optimistic and emphasizes the carefree nature of youth. While one is scrambling up the unstable rope ladder, the other boy reaches out a helping…

MEISJE MET ZOMERHOED

MEISJE MET ZOMERHOED

MEISJE MET ZOMERHOED (ALBERT TERSAGO) To Albert Tersago observation of the visual as well as the emotional reality is paramount. Hereby people, in all their diversity, are an endless source of inspiration. He is aware of the fact that turning these observations into sculptures requires expertise: throughout the years he studies the secrets of the…

ANTON VAN WILDERODE

ANTON VAN WILDERODE

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

MARIABEELD

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.…

CIRKEL IN CIRKEL

CIRKEL IN CIRKEL

CIRCLE IN CIRCLE (HILDE VAN SUMERE) 'Cirkel in cirkel (Circle within circle)’ is a monumental work, standing out with its large size and striking colour. That’s why it dominatess the busy roundabout on one of the main access roads to the city centre of Sint-Niklaas. Hilde Van Sumere’s entire oeuvre consists of abstract compositions, dominated…

SINT-NICOLAASBEELD

SINT-NICOLAASBEELD

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…

VERZOENING

VERZOENING

VERZOENING (GISLEEN HEIRBAUT) At first glance, the sculpture appears to be an abstract composition, made from a single marble block. Following the example of Brancusi, the sculptor succeeds in creating a strong work of art by leaving out details and preserving the pure form. The harmonious composition of weighed up solid and hollow parts is…

ZEEMEERMIN

ZEEMEERMIN

ZEEMEERMIN (WILLY KREITZ) By the bridge over the pond in the Romain De Vidtspark the statue of a mermaid rises from the water. With her graceful body, half woman, half fish, this mythical figure is a most endearing sight. Kreitz preferred portraying the human body, young girls, mermaids and angels. He created the deceased seafarers’…

TINE

TINE

TINE (LODE EYCKERMANS) In the immediate vicinity of ‘Najade’ (by Alphons Darville) the street is embellished by ‘Zangertje (Little Singer)’ - 1942, and ‘Tine’ - 1960, both by Lode Eyckermans. It is interesting to compare the two statues in function of the style evolution they illustrate. Looking at ‘Tine’ one notices the expressive resilience of…

ZANGERTJE

ZANGERTJE

ZANGERTJE (LODE EYCKERMANS) In the immediate vicinity of ‘Najade’ (Alphonse Darville) the street is embellished by the statues, ‘Zangertje (Little Singer)’ -1942- and ‘Tine’ -1960. Comparing these statues gives an interesting insight in the evolution of style. ‘Zangertje’ is all purity and simplicity. The single decorative accent in the hairdo emphasises the frail nudity. The…

SLAVINNETJE

SLAVINNETJE

SLAVINNETJE (ERNEST WIJNANTS) ‘Slavinnetje’ (‘Little slave’) is sculpted in 1917. Stripped of all clothing, in her nakedness she evokes even more vulnerability than the statues ‘Bacchante’ and ‘Gratie’. She is standing upright, diginified, her eyes closed and her hands stretched forward. She appears one and all ‘givenness’. Slavinnetje is related to a larger group of…

GRATIE

GRATIE

GRATIE (ERNEST WIJNANTS) The sculpture ‘Gratie’ (Grace) dates from 1917. As he repeatedly does, the sculptor has added a subtle exotic accent to this classical looking work. This is especially noticeable in the original shape of the hairdo. ‘Gratie’ is part of the group of sculptures ‘Drie Gratiën’ (Three Graces), the break-through work for Wijnants.…

BACCHANTE

BACCHANTE

BACCHANTE (ERNEST WIJNANTS) Bacchante’: in Greek and Roman mythology she is a devotee of Dionysos-Bacchus, God of wine. This standing figure in bronze dates from 1928 and was purchased in 1931 by the Koninklijke Musea voor Schone Kunsten van België (Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium) and is also on show there. Especially in…

DE SCHAAPHERDER

DE SCHAAPHERDER

DE SCHAAPHERDER (FRANS HEIRBAUT) Jozef Smekens : °Sinaai 03/11/1904 +Sint-Niklaas 05/04/1989 The shepherd and his dog… The shepherd, though small in stature, has been modelled life-size and radiates an imposing vitality. This is reflected by his striking features, quiet yet at once alert. The monumental character gains volume by the pose of the man…

DE ZWEMMERS

DE ZWEMMERS

DE ZWEMMERS (WERNER HEYNDRICKX) This plaster work is the model for the actual bas-relief in white stone, on display in the swimming pool Sinbad. The statue was first modelled in clay, then cast in plaster and finally transferred to the white stone with the help of a compass. It is therefore not a ‘direct carving’.…

ADOLESCENTE

ADOLESCENTE

ADOLESCENTE (ALPHONSE DARVILLE) In a letter, from Alphonse Darville to Kunst in de Stad, dated March 12, 1988, the artist offers them an early work in marble, on the condition that they pay its transportation costs. He calls it "La statue de marbre de mes 20 ans". The work had until then been displayed in…

BUSTE KAREL MECHIELS

BUSTE KAREL MECHIELS

BUSTE KAREL MECHIELS (ALBERT TERSAGO) MECHIELS Karel (1927 – 2017) Painter, draughtsman, pastelist, aquarellist and etcher. Studied at the academy of Sint-Niklaas. Continued his studies after the war at the academy and the Higher Institute of Antwerp. Won several prizes: in 1949 the ‘Prize Laurent Meeus’; in 1951 the ‘Prize Burgemeester Camille Huysmans’; in 1952…

BUSTE ALBERT DELVAUX

BUSTE ALBERT DELVAUX

BUSTE ALBERT DELVAUX (BOB WELLENS) DELVAUX Albert (1913 - 2007) Composer and cello player. Studied at the Royal Academy of Leuven and then Liege. Got the prize for virtuosity for cello (1935), a higher degree for chamber music (1936) and a first prize for counterpoint and fugue. After this, he studied conducting at the Mozarteum…

NAJADE

NAJADE

NAJADE (ALPHONSE DARVILLE) The main pedestrian shopping street in the centre of Sint-Niklaas is the Stationsstraat. When the street was renovated in November 2013, seven statues, by three artists, were given a new, prominent place. They make the Stationsstraat more than a mere shopping street. People who are not fond of shopping are pampered in…

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