Artwork Data

Title

Spectre

Artist

Jan Snoeck

Year

1966

Material

beton

Dimensions

h. 80 cm

Artwork Location

Address

Loevesteinlaan, Den Haag

City district

Escamp

GPS data

52.044748839562, 4.2881048259643 View on map

Artwork Description

Text

The art world often thinks in stereotypes and pigeonholes. Those who immediately think of abstracted ceramic human figures when they hear the name Jan Snoeck, are usually not far wrong. The stylised human figures are characteristic of this sculptor from The Hague. Yet the abstract concrete sculpture on the pavement near the Escamp pumping station is also his.

Snoeck made 'Spectre' in 1966. At that time he had not yet found his later characteristic visual language. The circular sculpture standing on a columnar pedestal differs in every way from the work with which the artist later gained fame. It is more plausible to attribute it to an abstract working contemporary of Snoeck.

The title of the grey concrete sculpture seems to refer to the physical concept of the 'spectrum': a band of colours obtained by the dissolution of light. A careful study of the articulated structure of the main form provides clues. Aspects such as the decomposition and articulation of forms and colours provide a basis. Within Snoeck's oeuvre as a whole, however, this sculpture remains an oddity, as any relationship with concrete data or observations seems remote.

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