Untitled (1964) André Volten
This steel plastic is characteristic of the oeuvre of artist André Volten, who made abstract constructions. He has worked with I and H profiles a number of times in his work. This eight-meter high plastic, which he made during the construction of the St. Paulus School in 1964, is a more constructivist work compared to other works by Volten in Rotterdam. It is a powerful image of expressive simplicity and three-dimensional lines, but the work is no longer in its best condition. It has to deal with rust in various places and suffered from graffiti. Due to the relocation of the school, the work has been stored in 2018. The artwork will be restored and will return to a different location.
André Volten (Andijk, 1925 - Amsterdam, 2002) was one of the most important post-war Dutch sculptors. He developed a non-figurative sculpture with a lot of stainless steel. In the 1950s and 1960s, his work was characteristic of new developments in art. He has appeared in, among other places, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and in Duisburg, in group exhibitions and solo. In the public space he made many freestanding sculptures with a geometric design language. He has made seven works of art for Rotterdam. In 1966 he received the important oeuvre prize from the Fund for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture.