Text

Since 1967 they have stood in front of NIB Capital on the Carnegielaan. The three big, stone men of sculptor Niel Steenbergen. They are wearing long coats, two with bowler hats, one of them carrying a dog and a folder. The third, equipped with an Alpine cap and walking stick, gestures to the man with the umbrella. With 'The conversation', the bank wanted to convey that the customer was being helped in a personal conversation and not at a counter.

The superfluous frills should be removed, as long as you keep an eye on the big picture,' Steenbergen once said. He was not referring specifically to his sculpture. Yet this statement could apply directly to 'The Conversation', which is devoid of any superfluous decoration. The contrast between the sober execution and the lifelike dynamics of the conversation has an alienating effect. Thus, 'The Conversation' comes across as true to life, but it is not. For the men are the unreal size of over 2.5 metres. And their coats are stiff around their bodies. This creates an ironic, almost surrealistic effect.

Steenbergen was a gifted sculptor and penciller. In 1938, he won the prestigious Prix de Rome, a state prize that enabled promising young artists at the time to study classical art in Rome and to gain further training. After 1945 his career took off. In addition to secular work, the deeply religious Steenbergen received many church commissions. He made religious sculptures and reliefs, altars, liturgical objects and church decorations in plaster, bronze, wood and natural stone. At the same time, Steenbergen developed a style all of his own, which clearly shows that the Romanesque art of the Middle Ages was his source of inspiration. This resulted in numerous sculptures with characteristic almond-shaped eyes. Het gesprek' is different, more modern in appearance, than these archaic sculptures. Yet it is certainly just as striking and intriguing.