Clippings from the discussion about Lely’s Column in Lelystad’s regional newspaper, Dagblad Flevoland, 2001.
Open letter
Dear mister Esser,
I am sorry to hear that the statue of Lely will have to be removed from the column and that your decision is final. May I dare make a last effort to make you change your mind? To wit, I am a traditional artist and a painter of portraits, for example of all former mayors of Flevoland and recently of our current mayor Leeuwe. I received my training between 1965 and 1970 at Minerva Academy in Groningen. As former union official in BBK (Visual Artists Union), I am conscious of the copyright demands an artist can make with respect to placing and or function of his artwork; regrettably, we have to activate that right quite often because of cultural barbarians hijacking our ideas.
Like you, I was appalled by the plans of a bunch of individuals who wanted to stick your sculpture, the bronze statue of Ir. Cornelis Lely, high on a column overlooking Lelystad’s buildings – an extravagant plan... I thought you were tolerant for partly conceding to this madness and granting permission for half a year. However, to my utter surprise regarding my own feelings, when Lely was placed on top of that column I became madly excited about the result. How often I have not walked by the statue of Lely in the past and never taken a good look at it, because it was to grand for the Agoraplein – against the backdrop of the dark hotel it was a grey affair. Only now I see how well it is made, and that even at 30 meters high, the strong shape and the structure of the bronze are clearly visible.
Very quietly, I have stood at the foot of the beautiful column made of basalt blocks, so fitting for Lelystad, and looked up and enjoyed the changing backgrounds, blue, white, grey, against which Lely is now situated. A goosy sensation, when I saw the statue on the Visarenddreef, raging high above the station, dazzling..! This experience, and the knowledge that you as mentor of many artists will be open to weird ideas, forced me to write you this letter, and ask you to make a grand gesture and reconsider your decision; for Lelystad, which finally has taken on a profile of its own, for Ir. Lely who will get the attention he deserves, for the artist who designed the column and saw what you yourself must have seen as well, that it is possible and that it is alright, and finally for the both of you, sculptor colleagues, who will become immortal in art-history. With what right do you want to withhold that; may I ask you in all sincerity to reconsider that? In hopes of a positive response, I remain with fraternal greetings,
Martine Bakker
Open Letter Esser
Last week, we announced to close the discussion about Lely’s Column. We did not know then that we would receive a letter of the maker of Lely’s statue, Piet Esser the next day. An open letter, in which he responds to the open letter by artist Martine Bakker, who asked him in Flevo-Post whether his sculpture could not stay on top of the column. And of course we don’t want you to miss Essers letter.
The Editor
Dear Martine Bakker,
I would have expected a different reaction from a colleague, but still thank you for your two nice letters. I haven’t been able myself to see Lely on the Visarenddreef, “radiating above the station” as you describe so convincingly. I did see him, high above me as a kind of Michelin figurine on an advertising pillar. I have nothing against a sculpture on a column, but they have to be conceived as a whole. Now, my sculpture has been dragged in so the column would make sense. On the lovely photographs, which have been taken of the combination – column and sculpture –, and which now adorn the invitation to the Column’s inauguration and the brochure advertising Van Houwelingen, the statue holds its own. A spirited ‘Lely heroicised into a heavenly hero’. But clearly the photos have been manipulated. They do not convey the actual situation, which is indeed hard to achieve from that site in or in front of the city hall. Clearly, for the photomontage of the combination, the photographer has made use of a picture of the sculpture at the time it still stood on the stairs in the Agorahof – at a height of less then 2 meters! And I am only too glad that one forgot to mention me as the maker of the statue in the Van Houwelingen-brochure, because also there, the photo of the sculpture has been tinkered with. My sculpture is not meant to been seen from a great distance, and consequently it has no decorative effect. It was entirely meant as a portrait of Lely, from top to toe. From the few, often somewhat vague photographs from the 1920s, I encountered a robust man, and I was immediately struck by the strong expression of his poise. He was all certainty and intransigence, as he stood firm with both feet in the clay of the polder. Belly ahead – and back leaning backward for a comfortable balance – a cane in hand, not to rest on, but as if to point to the spot where once the great dike will lay. A ‘Maker’, I saw – a creator of dry land. And all of that, wrapped in this marvellous heap of wrinkled clothes – vests and more vests – with which men of that era preferred to dress themselves. On one of those photos it was as if he was looking at me, smiling: “now you make a shot at it, man”.
I ‘made a shot at it’ for four years. Not a square inch of the sculpture has not been intensely touched by my hands and eyes; ‘to the best of my ability’.
(-)
My sculpture (-) was placed on a platform on the stairs of the Agorahof, where actually it received too little sunlight on the main side, the front. But a lot of people passed by it, and on Saturdays there was a market. You passed it on your bike, Martine, every once in a while, and you thought it ‘ a grey affair’.
In March 1999 the stairs where torn down and my sculpture was stored in a warehouse. Bronze can take that; is has a long shelf life.
In the summer of 2000, Mayor Leeuwe and Alderman Van der Zwan came all the way to me, in France. They asked me what I’d think of their plan of placing my sculpture on top of a high pillar.
I looked up at the hundred years old cypress tree, near my house. I will have to think about that, I thought, because I couldn’t imagine my sculpture at the top of my old tree. We parted as friends (-), leaving me with all my options open.
When exactly they started hoisting the sculpture, I don’t recall, but I did acutely worry that the ankles and the cane would bend through, because they didn’t remove the heavy stone pedestal. On November 19th, 2000, I wrote a letter to Mayor Leeuwe asking them to stop ‘messing around’ with my sculpture, and notifying them of the fact that I am
vehemently against placing my sculpture on top of a tall column. Similar letters went to Alderman Van der Zwan and the city council. On February 5th, 2001, I had a further meeting with mayor Leeuwe, in which he again tried to persuade me into granting permission to place my sculpture on top of a column yet to be built. Alderman Van der Zwan was present, and later also Van Houwelingen. The outcome of that meeting was laid down as follows in a letter, which I received from him afterwards:
“1. You do not grant permission to place your sculpture of Ir. Lely on top of the column as designed by mister Hans van Houwelingen.
2. Because your sculpture of Ir. Lely has been stored until a definitive place has been found, you do agree to temporarily placing the sculpture on said column. This temporary placement may ultimately last till half a year after completion of the column. After half a year, the sculpture of Ir. Lely will have to be removed from the column.
3. You have indicated your wish to see the column with thereon your sculpture of Ir. Lely after realisation, in order to give your artistic judgement. Notwithstanding your findings however, this will not affect your decision as formulated under point 1.
4. On Tuesday February 6th, you have also notified us not to be able to grant permission to place a replica of your sculpture on the column.
We have indicated that we will fully respect your position as formulated above, and discuss it in the council of Mayor and Aldermen. This discussion has meanwhile taken place and the council agrees with your position. In addition, we have decided that this letter will be included in the decision making process around the realisation of the column and brought to the attention of the City Council.”
I am not a bit responsible for building the column – one knew beforehand that ‘I would not want to be on top of it’. “What if the column turns out to be a senseless pillar?” you worry. That, Ms. Bakker, is something for Van Houwelingen to answer. Personally, I would think of a carillon, playable from below. A delight for the people in the neighbourhood.
‘And the sculpture; what about the sculpture?’ you ask me as well. I will give you a clear answer: Search and find a good place for that sculpture, and find it fast. It is high time that the bronze Lely is rehabilitated After having been invisibly stacked somewhere since March 1999 and having been standing in the wind for half a year somewhere far and high, it is about time that the sculpture show its qualities for a change. I showed the nice invitation for the October 2002 inauguration of the column to colleagues in Amsterdam. “My, my!” they exclaimed, disconcerted. “How on earth do we get that sculpture off from there?” Then, was my answer, you don’t know Mayor Leeuwe. Sincerely,
Piet Esser, Grezelle, France
Lely’s Column
Okay, we said the debate about Lely’s Column was closed. Then we received an open letter from the maker of Lely’s statue, Mister Esser. And in response to it, there is now a letter from the Column’s maker, artist Hans van Houwelingen. Two exceptions to confirm the rule.
The Editor
Dear mister Esser,
A week after your open letter to Martine Bakker was published, it came to my attention. I take the opportunity to use the same medium for responding. In advance, I want to clearly state that I do respect your decision
not to grant your permission to place your sculpture on Lely’s Column. The intention of this letter is a different one.
While painting, and later conceptual art, revelled in relating to international developments, post-war Dutch sculpture buttressed itself in traditionalism rooted in 19th century sculpture by masters such as Maillol, Bourdelle and Rodin. Initially, this was understandable; there was a need for traditional sculpture, if only to cater to the demand for monuments to the Resistance. Less understandable is the fact that this traditionalism has never evolved, not even when the demand for monuments decreased. Those who didn’t work figuratively worked in an abstract idiom, and that was it, quite simply. More than that, the brotherhood of sculptors was vehemently against any attempt to open up this conservatism.
If, however, art does not develop, it dies. You yourself have a respectable age and you know that there are only a few sculptors alive who still master the ‘trade’. This kind of sculpture has now become the province of dilettantes who perk up many a shopping mall with paltry bronze puppets, which in no way express the ideal you hold so dear.
I have taken your sculpture out of this context and provided a new one for it. Your work has been carried along to a new era with a new way of thinking and looking. I resolutely hold that your statue of Lely could have grown to become the most important work in your oeuvre, had you recognised that you could have generously bequeathed this sculpture to a new generation. A generation, which will judge it in a different light, based on different criteria, but which will greatly appreciate it as well.
It seemed like a perfect opportunity to usher traditional sculpture into the 21st century. I am, therefore, very sorry that you frenetically aim at freezing the era your artwork belongs to, while in fact it has already passed on. I have been trained by your pupils, I truly understand your objections, and, as said, I respect your decision. But believe me, this patricide has been committed as an act of love.
“On the lovely photographs, which have been taken of the combination – column and sculpture –, and which now adorn the invitation to the Column’s inauguration and the brochure advertising Van Houwelingen, the statue holds its own. A spirited ‘Lely heroicised into a heavenly hero’. But clearly the photos have been manipulated. They do not convey the actual situation.” I cite you.
Apart from fixing a PTT logo, these photos have truly not been touched. To prove this, I am willing to send you the negatives. I am not surprised that you don’t believe your eyes. Perhaps, this gives you food for thought.
Yours sincerely,
Hans van Houwelingen, Amsterdam
Source: Dagblad Flevoland, Letters to the Editor section, 2001
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