The Horizon (2004) Cor Kraat
Since 2004, there has been a relief made by the Rotterdam artist Cor Kraat on the facade of the former Rotterdam Seamen's House on the Westerstraat. The Zeemanshuis used to be a place where passing sailors used to stay. Kraat was asked to make a design for the facade. He made a large, stainless steel wall sculpture of a sailor looking ahead with his binoculars. The Horizon is a recognizable image for everyone. Below the work there is a sign on the wall with the text: “The target of the canal is always on or behind the horizon”.
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.