Artwork Data

Title

Monument Albert Vogel sr.

Artist

Anton Molkenboer

Year

1936

Material

mozaïek

Dimensions

h. 285 cm

Partial collection

Gemeentelijk monument

Artwork Location

Address

Frederik Hendrikplein, Den Haag

City district

Scheveningen

GPS data

52.0884843621181, 4.27588604672522 View on map

Artwork Description

Text

Surrounded by bushes, Frederik Hendrikplein in Statenkwartier is a monument to the elocutionist Albert Vogel (1874-1933), who lived in this district. It is one of the few monuments in the Hague that is decorated with colourful mosaics. Actually, it is a kind of fountain, because on top of the statue there is a water point. The water flows quietly down over the statue into a semi-circular basin.

Anton Molkenboer was responsible for the design of this memorial. Molkenboer was usually mainly active on the flat surface. There are many paintings, prints and book illustrations by his hand. In his later work, he concentrated on stained-glass windows and mosaics. His mosaics in the St. Antonius Abbot Church in Scheveningen are a well-kept secret.

The monument to Vogel is a simple memorial in structure: a column on a pedestal with a semi-circular water basin underneath. In blue, purple and yellow, Molkenboer has applied a barefoot figure in a long robe in the middle of the column. In one hand, the figure is holding a staff with flowers, while the other is raised. A halo behind the head completes the scene. The style in which the depiction was made reveals that Molkenboer belonged to the symbolist artists of around 1900.

With the figure on the column Molkenboer most probably refers to Albert Vogel himself, while the flowing water can be seen as the stream of words he produced as an elocutionist. From 1906 onwards, he appeared on stage all over the world for some 34 years. He underlined his texts with grand gestures. In addition to his lectures, he wrote books, such as his magnus opus 'Rhetorica'. In 1926, he founded the Society for the Advancement of the Art of Speaking.

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