Artwork Data
Artwork Location
Address
Plesmanweg, Den Haag
City district
Scheveningen
GPS data
52.099668435556, 4.3013975587956 View on map
Artwork Description
Text
Amongst the lush plants in the garden around the former Ministry of Transport, there is a female figure. A half-naked lady in limestone. She is kneeling on the ground, her hands half wrapped around her head, sliding a cloth from her hips. It is a sculpture by sculptor Leen Blom.
Blom settled in The Hague in 1925. After completing the Royal Academy of Art, he joined the studio of the famous Belgian sculptor Albert Termote (1887-1978) in Voorburg. Termote was regarded as the nestor of figurative sculpture in The Hague from the early 1920s.
Blom's work also fits within that figurative tradition. Typical for this sculptor was his preference for moments from everyday life in which it seemed as if people were being caught. Like this half-naked lady. Perhaps she is bathing?
This statue was presented to the city council around 1940 on the initiative of Mr W.H.A. Elink Schuurman, together with neighbours of the Wittebrug. Shortly afterwards, it was placed in the garden at the main entrance of the then new KLM building. The beautiful garden around this (now) national monument was designed by the garden architect Sophia Rosse-Luyt and executed by KLM staff. Blom's female figure still stands out beautifully here.