Artwork Data

Title

Vrouw

Artist

Dirk Bus

Year

1965

Material

Brons

Dimensions

h. 75 cm

Artwork Location

Address

Zuidwerfplein, Den Haag

City district

Haagse Hout

GPS data

52.101430697486, 4.3591678217209 View on map

Artwork Description

Text

Almost all body parts are represented. Except for the arms. That is why the bronze sculpture 'Woman' from 1965 by The Hague sculptor Dirk Bus can be called a torso. Bus was an arrival in the sixties. He was especially known for his well likenesses of portraits and striking animal portraits. He rarely chose the theme of bunting, perhaps because it was difficult to find in the commission circuit. But here too he shows himself to be an experienced sculptor, who knows exactly which sculptural possibilities the subject offers him.

One such possibility is the concentration on a particular aspect of the human figure. In his torso, Bus emphasised the hip area by enlarging the lap, buttocks and legs. In doing so, he emphasised the sensuality of the female body. Bus also achieved the focus on the lower body by reducing the head - which is often omitted from a bunting - to no more than a button. This way, the head does not distract from what Bus was all about: full concentration on the robust and luxuriantly formed female body.

Another effect of the small head on the sturdy body is that it has an alienating effect, like, for example, the faceless figures in the imaginative, supernatural paintings by Giorgio de Chirico (1888-1978). But not only the proportions of Bus' sculpture are remarkable. The rough surface treatment and the extravagant body proportions are contemporary, while the contrapost of the body and the support at the playing leg are inspired by classical sculpture.

Given the subjects of his monumental sculptures from the 1960s, Bus showed a clear interest in the classics at the time. But he always interpreted antiquity in a self-willed, modern way. Through his activities in associations the Posthoorngroep (1956-1962) and his lectureship at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, Bus had great significance for the Hague art world.

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