Artwork Data

Title

Graspieper

Artist

Dick Loef

Year

1977

Material

Brons

Dimensions

h. 39 cm

Artwork Location

Address

Madesteinweg, Den Haag

City district

Loosduinen

GPS data

52.048916738295, 4.2253899908726 View on map

Artwork Description

Text

In the sixties and seventies of the 20th century, the storytellers among the visual artists received little attention. At the time, the rational approach was considered more important than unbridled fantasy. Dick Loef has always paid little attention to the prevailing trends. Until his death in 1983, he remained a true storyteller, preferring fairytale-like and imaginative imagery to detached forms.

The artist wanted nothing more than to bring people and animals to life in his sculptures in an unusual way. Near the GDA football club building, a remarkable meadow pipit emerges from the undergrowth. According to the dictionary, a meadow pipit is a fieldfare or skylark, but Loef has turned it into an unusual cross between an armadillo and an anteater. In doing so, he seems to want to emphasise that anything is possible in fantasy.

Graceful lines and decorative patterns have been carved into the shield or armour of the meadow pipit. With its long snout the somewhat shy fabulist explores its surroundings. Like Loef's other sculptures, the bronze meadow pipit raises questions about its origin and quality. Is it a mammal? Do meadow pipits also exist 'in real life'? What do they live on? Do they eat insects, leaves or just grass? How do they reproduce? Is it a protected species?

Loef's imagery shows that he once started out as a ceramist. The artist is known as a real modeller. From 1948 to 1952 he studied at the Free Academy in The Hague and received turning lessons from ceramist Gerrit de Blanken in Leiderdorp. In 1953, a scholarship enabled him to further develop his ceramic qualities. He was commissioned to make ceramic reliefs for schools, office buildings, a police station and a home for the elderly.

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