Children with bird is a large stone statue by sculptor Joan Bakker. His style is immediately recognizable: a dynamic composition with outward diagonals, which create round shapes and holes in the image, creating a beautiful interplay of emptiness, form, line and mass. At first glance one sees only curved lines, but on closer inspection these turn out to be three harmoniously merging figures: an upright girl, a squatting boy and in their raised hands they hold a bird, which spreads its wings to escape its flight. to start. A theme that has been realized more often in schools during the reconstruction period: growing young people who fledge. Due to the demolition of the school building, the artwork was placed in the depot at the beginning of 2019.
Joannes (Joan) Petrus Anthonius Maria Bakker (Oosterblokker, 1919 - 1999) attended the Academy of Visual Arts in Rotterdam, after which he settled permanently in Rotterdam. He was, among others, a student of Herman Mees (1880 - 1964) and the husband of sculptor and ceramist Riet (Maria) Elias. He made it together with Jan Poot (architect at the Municipality of Rotterdam) Liberation Monument at the Brink in Vreewijk, Feijenoord. He designed ornaments for an office building on the Botersloot with great visual power and clear stonemasonry qualities. He could handle the hardest stone types, in which he applied reliefs with attention to the role of light on the different stone types. Several works by Joan Bakker can be found in Rotterdam.
Percentage regulation, involved construction assignment
Owner
Municipality of Rotterdam
About the artwork
Children with bird is a large stone statue by sculptor Joan Bakker. His style is immediately recognizable: a dynamic composition with outward diagonals, which create round shapes and holes in the image, creating a beautiful interplay of emptiness, form, line and mass. At first glance one sees only curved lines, but on closer inspection these turn out to be three harmoniously merging figures: an upright girl, a squatting boy and in their raised hands they hold a bird, which spreads its wings to escape its flight. to start. A theme that has been realized more often in schools during the reconstruction period: growing young people who fledge. Due to the demolition of the school building, the artwork was placed in the depot at the beginning of 2019.
Joannes (Joan) Petrus Anthonius Maria Bakker (Oosterblokker, 1919 - 1999) attended the Academy of Visual Arts in Rotterdam, after which he settled permanently in Rotterdam. He was, among others, a student of Herman Mees (1880 - 1964) and the husband of sculptor and ceramist Riet (Maria) Elias. He made it together with Jan Poot (architect at the Municipality of Rotterdam) Liberation Monument at the Brink in Vreewijk, Feijenoord. He designed ornaments for an office building on the Botersloot with great visual power and clear stonemasonry qualities. He could handle the hardest stone types, in which he applied reliefs with attention to the role of light on the different stone types. Several works by Joan Bakker can be found in Rotterdam.
