Artwork Data

Title

Schaatssters

Artist

Theo van der Nahmer

Year

1977

Material

brons

Dimensions

h. 140 cm

Artwork Location

Address

De Brink, Den Haag

City district

Loosduinen

GPS data

52.04761897943, 4.2353599016482 View on map

Artwork Description

Text

Dashing across the ice. With their skates, gloves and warm dresses on, two girls are absorbed in their winter sports. Theo van der Nahmer made his statue on Kraayensteinlaan in 1977, but given the clothing and the Frisian thongs, the sculptor placed the charming 'Skaters' in times long past. This has given the sculpture a romantic feel.
It has a very expressive form; you could say congealed movement,' Van der Nahmer said in the neighbourhood newsletter Benoordenhout, July 1977. When I was working on it, I saw that one of the figures was more like a doll than a human being, and that was exactly how it should be: a little wooden, with an expression on her face like "look, here I come", while she could fall at any moment. The girl behind her skates more easily. In this way, Van der Nahmer created a beautiful contrast between the practised skater and the clumsy one.

The bronze sculpture, like all of Theo van der Nahmer's figurative and abstract bronzes, is modelled in wax. This is clearly visible, for instance, in the flapping skirts. Such forms, which strongly resemble fabric, can only be depicted with the aid of thin wax plates. Wax lends itself perfectly to Van der Nahmer's refined design, in which details come to life. The sculptor used the cire perdue or lost wax method. In this process, wax is applied around a core of clay. Then a mixture of plaster and gravel is added to this wax model, after which the wax is melted out. Finally, the bronze founder casts the bronze where the wax was. Only the bronze caster was allowed to assist Van der Nahmer in the creation of a sculpture. Because,' he was firmly convinced, 'you have to make a figurative sculpture yourself, exactly as you want it.

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