The breakthrough (1990) Jaap Zwier

This painting in an ornament frame is called The breakthrough and is a design by Jaap Zwier. The work is located on the corner of Zwaanshals and Woelwijkstraat. The breakthrough is a tribute to boxer Leen Jansen. The name of the work was coined by people in the neighborhood. Jaap Zwier wanted to make a design that suits the neighborhood, because most Rotterdam boxers come from the Oude Noorden or Crooswijk. In order to render the painting of the punching fist through the wall as realistic as possible, Zwier had the scene performed in real life. He spent hours building a wall with a hole in it, until the hole was to his liking. Then he asked someone to pose by standing behind the wall and put his arm and hand with a boxing glove through the hole. While Zwiers took the photos, a woman had to constantly throw stones at the wall to recreate the breakthrough as lifelike as possible. When the photo was successful, Zwiers sent it to an advertising agency that specialized in exterior paintings. The photo was projected onto the ornamental frame and executed by specialized painters. Twenty years later, the work of art had deteriorated due to wind and weather. Many facades were renovated due to a large-scale restructuring of the Oude Noorden. Havensteder (the former PWS) and Sonor took the initiative to fill in existing ornamental lists again and approached CBK Rotterdam for this. This painting was therefore restored in 2011 by Atelier Leo Mineur.