Artwork Data
Artwork Location
Address
Van Boetzelaerelaan, Den Haag
City district
Scheveningen
GPS data
52.09095177918, 4.271187373576 View on map
Artwork Description
Text
A sculpture as a piece of jewellery. A play on words which we can take literally at Jack van Osnabrugge. For Van Osnabrugge is a gold- and silversmith and manufactures modern, exclusive jewellery. Educated at the Schoonhoven Technical School and the Fachhochschule für Gestaltung Pforzheim, Van Osnabrugge initially profiled himself as a designer of jewellery and objects. In the 1970s, this led to the installation of several monumental sculptures in the city of The Hague. The Hague possesses the only spatial works that Van Osnabrugge ever made. He made the object on the Van Boetzelaerlaan in 1979. Furthermore, he concentrated entirely on the art of goldsmithing.
The iron sculpture on the Van Boetzelaerlaan is geometrically abstract and openwork. It could be a brooch, which, due to the simplicity of the design, does not lose its expressive power, even when greatly enlarged. Conversely, Van Osnabrugge's jewellery often has the character of an object.
In the 1970s, his style was strict, with a minimum of decoration. But in the eighties, his work can be described as lyrically abstract. Without decorative elements, his brooches and pendants become a little looser, for instance with a flowing form in an angular frame or, as we often see later in his work, incisions in irregular forms.
Van Osnabrugge's small sculptures are part of the applied arts, but their sculptural quality is unmistakable. It is portable plastic and thus Van Osnabrugge combines functionality with autonomous art. But sometimes his 'jewellery' is just meant to be put down.