Along the Maas, ode to Jaap Valkhoff (1998) Cor Kraat

photo Otto Snoek
About the artwork

Jaap Valkhoff (1910 - 1992) was born in Crooswijk and performed as an accordionist at a young age. Together with his sisters and brother, he played in dance venues, such as 'Alcazar' and the 'Cosmopolitan' at the Schiedamsedijk. He wrote many songs. 'Hand in hand comrades'And'Along the Maas'are songs that still have a special meaning for the city today. In the XNUMXs he started a number of cafes with his brother, of which the legendary 'Oase bar' in the Schilderstraat was one of the most famous. The artwork now stands diagonally opposite this place Along the mesh, ode to Jaap Valkhoff. The initiative was taken by the Valkhoff family. It didn't have to be a statue, because "I'd rather not have pigeon shit on my father's head", but something recognizable. Artist Cor Kraat immersed himself in the life of Japie Valkhoff and his songs. He portrayed this by saving a strongly abstracted form of an extended accordion in the red plate of the image, as a symbol of theater and nightlife. You can discover a ship in the blue plate. The color refers to the sea and the night. The profile of Jaap Valkhoff is recognizable in the gray plate. The color gray stands for glass and cement, the basic elements of the rebuilt city.

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About the artist

Cor Kraat (Rotterdam, 1946) was educated at the Rotterdam Academy of Art from 1965 to 1971. From 1979 to 1992, Kraat worked in the artists' collective Kunst & Vaarwerk with Hans Citroen and Willem van Drunen. Kunst & Vaarwerk focused on monumental art in the city. Between 1979 and 1983 Cor Kraat taught screen printing at the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam. Kraat was also co-founder of the Black Cat gallery, a gallery for contemporary visual art on the Mauritsweg from 1978 to 1987.

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