The statue has been standing for over sixty years Bird flying out by Gust Romijn on the forecourt of the Montessori Lyceum Rotterdam on the Schimmelpenninckstraat. Last September, the work was temporarily removed from its permanent place to be fully restored by Meesters In. dhe bronze bird was in need of a facelift and the concrete column has been completely replaced. On Friday, November 4, Bird flying out placed back at the entrance of the school.
The Rotterdam artist Gust Romijn is known for many works of art in the public space of the city, including the large bronze sculpture Clouds at Erasmus MC. Romijn made Bird flying out in 1962 commissioned by Van den Broek en Bakema, the famous Rotterdam architects who designed the lyceum and are known as the architects of the reconstruction. The work was realized in the context of the percentage scheme for the construction of the school.
For this statue of 5,5 meters high and 3,5 meters wide worked Romijn for the first time with it at the time more traditional material bronze. On a two-metre high column, the image dynamically contrasts with the rectilinear architecture. Viewed from all sides, the shape always produces a different image, but retains its open character. At the unveiling on December 8, 1960, architect Jaap Bakema said: "One can see something of a bird in it, but also of a budding flower. If you walk underneath it and look up, it is a pair of bronze glasses to the firmament. A fascinating game of changing cuts and metamorphoses". The artwork was titled Bird flying out, which fits nicely with a school and the education of students.
