Artwork Data

Title

Tors

Artist

Peter Kortekaas

Year

1984

Material

brons op stenen sokkel

Dimensions

h 220 cm

Artwork Location

Address

Boerenstraat, Den Haag

City district

Centrum

GPS data

52.064682368754, 4.2964151033431 View on map

Artwork Description

Text

Just as the impressionists in the late 19th century recorded their surroundings as if they wanted to capture the elusive light in paint, Peter Kortekaas' bronze sculptures are impressions or quick registrations of what he observes. And just like the impressionists, he first unravels reality in order to subsequently reconstruct it in clay. Adding and removing pieces, his sculptures of people and animals grow in his hands.
The rough surface of the original sculptures gives his bronzes, a number of which can be found in The Hague, a strong plastic effect. Even more than in 'Beeldend kunstenaar', this is expressed in 'Tors' from 1984 in the park near the Fisherstraat. The firm curves of the woman with classic up-dated hair are emphasised by the large lumps of clay from which the body is composed. Holes have not been filled, unevennesses have not been removed. Not as human skin is, but as skin can be when viewed fleetingly, for instance under the foliage of a tree, through which the sun scatters its light.
The torso, the human body without limbs and sometimes even without a head, is an art form that has been used by artists since the 19th century. The French sculptor Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) made a major contribution to the development of sculpture by declaring the torso an independent work of art. A work of art that the viewer did not need to supplement in his imagination. Kortekaas also interpreted the torso in this way. His fragmentary representation of the human body has an artistic and expressive power that makes completion unnecessary.

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