Talents (1962) Henk de Vos

photo Otto Snoek
About the artwork

Henk de Vos was a very talented sculptor, who had the gift of combining very fine lines with large compositions. The monumental formats enhanced the subtle power of his work, which gives it a certain emotionality: subdued and serene. De Vos has used a special combination of materials in this facade relief. The bricks are used as a substrate and placed horizontally, vertically and diagonally. They are covered with natural stone (marble) or concrete. We see four figures, three of which are standing and one lying. We also see three hands, of which the judge seems to want to warn us. The work is placed transversely to the architecture of the building, making it clearly visible.

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About the artist

In the late 1930s, Henk de Vos (Rotterdam, 1911 – Ribiers, France, 1982), left the Netherlands shortly after his education at the art academy in Rotterdam. He arrived in the Dutch East Indies and was repatriated in 1949 after his wanderings and captivity, after which he started working as an artist in Rotterdam. He was a book illustrator, graphic artist and set designer. But also active in monumental art with concrete reliefs, gobelins, mosaics and wall sculptures in perspex. In 1961 he became a lecturer at the academy in Rotterdam and worked there until his retirement in 1976. He was a talented artist who, among other things, made the relief for the Beurs metro station, depicting a welder.

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