Ossip Zadkine

Who doesn't know him, that bronze figure in Rotterdam with the hole in its body? He is called 'Jan Gat', or also 'Jan with the little hands'. The Destroyed City, as the statue is actually called, is considered worldwide as one of the most impressive monuments for victims of the Second World War. It is even so famous that many also – and this is exceptional for a statue in public space – know the name of the creator: Zadkine. But who was Zadkine? And what else did he create? The exhibition ‘Zadkine by the Sea’ provides a comprehensive overview of the oeuvre of this Parisian master of modernism, who, along with fellow artists like Picasso, Brancusi, and Lipchitz, forever changed the face of Western sculpture. Special attention is given to Zadkine’s close relationship with the Netherlands, where his collectors and clients were often also his friends.

This year, the museum Beelden aan Zee has received the Turing Award of no less than €150,000 for the exhibition concept of Zadkine by the Sea. Read more.

Ossip Zadkine (1888-1967) is considered one of the most important sculptors of the twentieth century. Born in Vitebsk in Belarus, he settled in Paris in 1910. There he became acquainted with modern art, to which he began contributing himself from 1911 with primitivist sculptures in stone and wood. Under the influence of cubism, he developed a completely unique style in the early 1920s, which became increasingly dynamic and baroque during the 1930s. During the Second World War, Zadkine lived in exile in the United States, where his reputation only grew. His expressive sculptures from after 1945 show the resilience with which he was able to give a unique and compelling form to the new ideals of post-war Europe.

Zadkine was a very original artist, with a clear personal vision, in which the inseparable bond between man and nature is central. He thereby played the role of Orpheus, the mythological poet who, with his art, managed to keep the evil in the world at bay. Exactly that meaning Zadkine, who experienced two world wars, also attributed to his own art. The exhibition in Beelden aan Zee focuses for the first time on this ideological motivation of the sculptor. Zadkine's ability to continually reinvent himself, to continuously respond with new forms to the changing world around him, marks him as one of the greatest artists of his time.

This exhibition is organized in exceptional collaboration with Musée Zadkine de la Ville de Paris, Paris Musées.