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"The essence of my work is its poetic character and beyond that I absolutely don't want to make things more weighty than they are": this statement was made by Jan Snoeck in an exhibition brochure of art dealer Smelik & Stokking in 2001. His highly simplified human figures in brightly colored ceramics are beloved in The Hague and the rest of the country. You come across them regularly. Also in the courtyard of residential complex De Croissant, which Belgian architect Charles Vandenhove designed for The Hague in 2003. As the name suggests, the shape of the building - in the distance - is reminiscent of a croissant. Low sides, a higher rising center and a round shape. This creates a sheltered courtyard.

That there was art in the courtyard was thanks to the Nieuwe Stad Prize that this housing complex for seniors won in 2003. From 1996 to 2009, the municipality of The Hague awarded this prize annually to the best urban renewal project. The residents could spend the prize money as they chose for something extra to the project. The preferred choice was a work of art by Jan Snoeck.

At the beginning of the millennium, he was just going through a new development in his work. In addition to his wormy human figures, he increasingly produced monumental menhi-like columns in which no human figure could be discovered. He did, however, carve line drawings of simple figures into them. The spatial form thus became the support. The drawings themselves are strongly reminiscent of hieroglyphs. This work on the Bight of Guinea is the only sculpture by Snoeck in The Hague with such a detailed drawing.