Artwork Data

Title

Fontein

Artist

Renske Morks

Year

1988

Material

brons

Dimensions

500 cm

Artwork Location

Address

Bankaplein, Den Haag

City district

Centrum

GPS data

52.0931037063581, 4.30299728772916 View on map

Artwork Description

Text

The fountain at Bankaplein is an oddity in the oeuvre of Renske Morsk. The torso is the inexhaustible motif for almost all of this sculptor's sculptures. Like every starting point in which man is central. The torso, however, tolerates all kinds of interventions in the form better than the complete human figure. Head and limbs have such a strong expression that when they are shown, the image becomes too dramatic, too narrative,' she says in the 1991 catalogue 'The torso in the Netherlands'.
Morks' sculptures are first and foremost expressive. They show that she works from her feelings and intuition. With a strong twist in the body or a head bent backwards (sometimes her torsos have a head), Morks refers to human emotions. Her fragmentary human figures intrigue on the one hand because they are unfinished, and on the other because they are so recognisable in posture and form.
We do not see the torso in her two sculptures from The Hague. Moreover, the toddler on his tricycle at the Diamanthorst is much less expressive than we are used to seeing from Morks. Undoubtedly her craftsmanship was the reason for asking Morks to design a fountain for the Bankaplein. The Hague architect Henk van der Leeden was responsible for the architectural part. The original, opulently executed fountain with statues of Neptune and Amphitrite, among others, dating from 1881, had been demolished between 1925 and 1928. In 1988, the wishes of local residents were fulfilled: once again, the splashing water can be heard. Morks did not attempt to reproduce the earlier fountain by architect H. Westra jr. (1843-1911). She opted for a sober bronze object with leaf and plant motifs, which does, however, breathe the atmosphere of the 19th century.

Close