Artwork Data
Title
Monument Albert Vogel sr.
Artist
Year
1936
Material
mozaïek
Dimensions
h. 285 cm
Partial collection
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.