Text

Perfection in clean lines, chamfered corners and simplified forms. These are the characteristics of Johan Altorf's formal language. He was one of the most important sculptors in the Netherlands around 1900. This characteristic language of form is clearly visible in the black marble. This can be seen in the stylised owl and vulture with snake, which have been incorporated in the entrance to a block of flats designed by the architects J. Wils and F.L.J. Lourijsen on Jozef Israelsplein. Altorf was not concerned with the symbolic meaning of the owl (wisdom) or the snake (evil). The focus was on the beauty of the animals, which the sculptor emphasised by working out only the broad outline of the animal and leaving out the details.

With his animal representations, Altorf followed in the footsteps of the Amsterdam sculptor Joseph Mendes da Costa (1863-1939), who had already gone down the road of stylisation and the production of large clay plasters. Although Altorf also produced monumental work, such as the Goeman Borgesius monument and the Juliana monument in The Hague, he is best known for his stylised representations of animals, often reliefs integrated into architecture. This sculpture, which is strongly interwoven with the architecture, is therefore also referred to as architectural sculpture.

Altorf's fame extended beyond the city limits of his birthplace, The Hague. In Leiden, he was asked to design the 3 October monument and he contributed to two town halls designed by the architect A.J. Kropholler (1881-1973) in Wateringen and Leidschendam. For an apartment building on Rotterdam's Westzeedijk, Altorf again collaborated with architect Lourijsen. For the three entrances to this Rotterdam apartment building with luxury flats, he designed various animal figures, including chameleons, a cockerel and several birds.