Henricus Petrus Cornelis (Kees) Verschuren (born

Breda Breda ( , , , ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. ...

, 29 August 1941Kees Verschuren; beeldhouwer, collagist, tekenaar, docent aan academie
at rkd.nl, 2015.) is a Dutch sculptor, painter and former lecturer at the

Willem de Kooning Academie The Willem de Kooning Academy () is a Dutch academy of media, art, design, leisure and education based in Rotterdam. It was named after one of its most famous alumni, Dutch fine artist Willem de Kooning. Overview The Willem de Kooning Academy ...

in Rotterdam, known for his monumentalist sculptures in public places in the Netherlands.

Biography

Born in

Princenhage Princenhage () is a neighbourhood in the southwest of the city Breda in the Netherlands, Dutch province of North Brabant. The neighbourhood originated as a village so the neighbourhood council or village council, managed to get the neighbourhoo ...

, a neighbourhood in the southwest of the city

, Verschuren graduated from the Royal Academy of Art,

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

in 1965-66. He and portrait painter Dick Stapel were the only two students, that finished the full-time program in Visual Arts that year. He started as independent artist in The Hague, and came into prominence in the early 1970s as part of new generation of promising artists from The Hague. After graduation Verschuren also started his career as art teacher at the Municipal Lyceum in

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Western Netherlands, lo ...

. In 1973 Verschuren was appointed lecturer at the

in Rotterdam in the department of autonomous art, where he taught in concept development. He was also visiting lecturer at the

Delft University of Technology The Delft University of Technology (TU Delft; ) is the oldest and largest Dutch public university, public Institute of technology, technical university, located in Delft, Netherlands. It specializes in engineering, technology, computing, design, a ...

and several other art academies in the Netherlands until 2003. Since 1975 he has also worked as art consultant for the municipal of Delft and Rotterdam, for the province

Overijssel Overijssel (; ; ; ) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the eastern part of the country. The province's name comes from the perspective of the Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht, Episcopal principality of Utrecht ...

and several individuals.Kees Verschuren
at haagsekunstenaars.nl, 2015. As artist Verschuren had started as painter in The Hague, realized several landscape/land art projects in the 1970s and 1980s,Han Lörzing (1986) ''Landschapskunst: kunstlandschap.'' p.84 realized the monumental Artwork "Sjatoodoo" in Rotterdam in 1989, and had a major solo exhibition in the city hall of

Delft Delft () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, ...

in 2001. He is member of the

Arti et Amicitiae Arti et Amicitiae (lat .: For Art and Friendship) is a Dutch artist's society founded in 1839, and located on the Rokin in Amsterdam. The Society (also called Arti for short) has played a key role in the Netherlands art scene and in particular in ...

art society in Amsterdam, and has received scholarships from the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport in 1974, and from the in 2003.

Family

Verschuren has four sons. One of them, Kamiel Verschuren, has followed into his father's footsteps and works as conceptual interdisciplinary artist since 1995. Another, Oof Verschuren, works as professional advertising and

fashion photographer Fashion photography is a genre of photography that portrays clothing and other fashion items. This sometimes includes haute couture garments. It typically consists of a fashion photographer taking pictures of a dressed model in a photographic stu ...

. And a third son, Zeeger Verschuren, settled as independent

filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

Work

Verschuren is especially known for his monumentalist sculptures in public places in the Netherlands. In the 1960s he had started as painter and participated in the New Hague School. After this figurative movement broke up, he quit painting and started focussing on site-specific art.

Dordrecht, 1969

In the late 1960s Verschuren had started as independent artist in The Hague. He also worked as art teacher at the Municipal Lyceum in

. In January 1969, with the other two art teachers Lode Pemmelaar and Bep van de Akker, he was fired for holding a survey among their students about their sexual experiences. The intention of that anonymous survey had been to show the whole school community the usefulness of appointing a

sexologist Sexology is the scientific study of human sexuality, including human sexual interests, behaviors, and functions. The term ''sexology'' does not generally refer to the non-scientific study of sexuality, such as social criticism. Sexologists app ...

. The teachers had been popular among their pupils for taking the classes to exhibitions of

Robert Rauschenberg Milton Ernest "Robert" or "Bob" Rauschenberg (October 22, 1925 – May 12, 2008) was an American painter and graphic artist whose early works anticipated the Pop art movement. Rauschenberg is well known for his Combine painting, Combines (1954� ...

Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

and

Hieronymus Bosch Hieronymus Bosch (; ; born Jheronimus van Aken ; – 9 August 1516) was a Dutch people, Dutch painter from Duchy of Brabant, Brabant. He is one of the most notable representatives of the Early Netherlandish painting school. His work, gene ...

. Late 1968 they had asked the school director permission to visit the movie ''

Barbarella (film) ''Barbarella'' (later marketed as ''Barbarella: Queen of the Galaxy'') is a 1968 English-language French science fiction film directed by Roger Vadim, based on the French comic series by Jean-Claude Forest. The film stars Jane Fonda as the tit ...

'' for their art class. After initial vague answers, they received an official resignation letter. This situation was one of the many similar educational incidents in the Netherland in year 1969.

''Rock in Water,'' 1970s

In the 1970s, in cooperation with Dutch sculptor

Teun Jacob Teunis (Teun) Jacob (Rheden, 11 June 1927 - 12 October 2009) was a Dutch wall painter and sculptor, who lived and worked in Rotterdam since the early 1950s. He made both figure and nonrepresentational art. Live and work Born in Rheden, Jacob st ...

(1927-2009), Verschuren created a massive

land art Land art, variously known as Earth art, environmental art, and Earthworks, is an art movement that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s, largely associated with Great Britain and the United StatesArt in the modern era: A guide to styles, schools, & mo ...

project at the first

Maasvlakte The Maasvlakte Rotterdam (or simply the Maasvlakte; ) is a massive man-made westward extension of the Europoort port and industrial facility within the Port of Rotterdam. Situated in the municipality of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, the Maa ...

, entitled ''Steen in water'' (Rock in Water). This industrial area in the

Port of Rotterdam The Port of Rotterdam is the largest seaport in Europe, and the world's largest seaport outside of Asia, located in and near the city of Rotterdam, in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. From 1962 until 2004, it was the List of bus ...

was built on land reclaimed from the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

in the 1960s. In a period of over five years, adjacent to a

power plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

, the artists developed an area into the largest work of art in the Netherlands in those days.Steen in Water, exhibition
" at TENT, Rotterdam, 2014 The ''beeldenmagazine.nl'' (2015) summarized:

Verschuren and Jacob discovered their own form of
Land Art Land art, variously known as Earth art, environmental art, and Earthworks, is an art movement that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s, largely associated with Great Britain and the United StatesArt in the modern era: A guide to styles, schools, & mo ...
. They combined ideas of earthwork in nature with the environmental art of the Arnhem school. Besides planting, they processed many industrial materials such as asphalt and concrete in their design. It took no less than five years before the project was completed. This had to do with the size but also with the prevailing participation culture, typical of the seventies. For Jacob and Verschuren it was hard working; on meetings and exhibitions, there was little interest while afterwards they received all kinds of criticism. The land art of Jacob and Verschuren is slowly disappearing with the advent of new plants and the operation of nature.

The environmental artwork was commissioned by the

Government of Rotterdam The Government of Rotterdam is the government of the municipality and city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Most of the inhabitants live in the city of Rotterdam, but the municipality also covers a number of small villages, and other parts of the ...

and the local electric power company, who operated the power plant. In the course of the land art project the land was held in a constant flux of construction, combining "industrial materials with a vegetation structure which had to withstand the North Sea storms." Among other artists, that participated in the project, were

Marinus Boezem Marinus Lambertus van den Boezem (born 28 January 1934) is a Dutch artist. He is known for his radical view of art and his works in public space. Together with Wim T. Schippers, Ger van Elk and Jan Dibbets, Boezem is seen as one of the main rep ...

and

Carel Visser Carel Nicolaas Visser (3 May 1928 – 1 March 2015) was a Dutch sculptor. He is considered an important representative of Dutch abstract-minimalist constructivism in sculpture. Life and work Visser was born on 3 May 1928 in Papendrecht. From 19 ...

Cooperation with Lon Pennock

Later in the 1970s and in the 1980s Verschuren cooperated with the sculptor and environmental artist

Lon Pennock Leonardus Petrus Paulus "Lon" Pennock (22 May 1945, The Hague, – 9 March 2020, The Hague) was a Dutch sculptor, environmental artist, monumental artist and photographer. Life and work Pennock studied sculpture at the Royal Academy of Art, T ...

in several projects. In 1975 Pennock and Verschuren were commissioned to create an artwork for the new tax office in the city of

Helmond Helmond (; called ''Hèllemond'' in the local dialect) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Metropoolregio Eindhoven of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of ...

. The Regional Historical Center Eindhoven (2015) recalled about this project:

The percentage scheme for art in government buildings was applicable here. A certain percentage of the construction costs were allocated to the purchase of art. Lon Pennock and Kees Verschuren were commissioned to create an artwork. That resulted in four items, two in front, one inside and one behind the building; imaginative rolling pennies made of
Weathering steel Weathering steel, often referred to by the genericised trademark COR-TEN steel and sometimes written without the hyphen as corten steel, is a group of steel alloys that form a stable external layer of rust that eliminates the need for painting ...
. The brown rust color is one of the characteristics of this metal alloy. Perhaps that was the reason that the new owner of the artwork in 1996 carried it away as scrap...

Furthermore, in 1977 in cooperation with the architect and painter Hubert de Boer (born 1937) and sculptor and architect Coen Wilderom (born 1944), Pennock and Verschuren developed an urban sketch design for the

Bezuidenhout Bezuidenhout (; ) is the neighborhood () southeast of the Haagse Bos neighborhood of The Hague in the Netherlands. Bezuidenhout includes the Beatrixkwartier financial area near the Central Station and streets such as Bezuidenhoutseweg, Juliana ...

, a part of the

Haagse Hout Haagse Hout (; ) is one of the eight districts of The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Sit ...

district in The Hague. In this district Pennock, Verschuren and light designer Crista van Santen produced a sculpture made of painted steel and neon, which was realised in 1982s. In 1983-84 together with

he was recruited to develop a structure plan for art in a recreation area developed in the town of

Spaarnwoude Spaarnwoude is a village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Haarlemmermeer and lies about northeast of Haarlem. Overview The village was first mentioned in the first half of the 11th century as Spirner ...

, which was implemented. In 1985 with Lon Pennock he made another sketch design for the interior space for the Maasboulevard in

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; ; ; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital city, capital and largest city of the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Maastricht is loca ...

, which was not implemented. Late 1980s Verschuren also developed a concept for the public space for the municipality of The Hague; a redesign of the

balloon loop A balloon loop, turning loop, or reversing loop ( North American Terminology) allows a rail vehicle or train to reverse direction without having to shunt or stop. Balloon loops can be useful for passenger trains and unit freight trains. Bal ...

area at the end of the in

Scheveningen Scheveningen () is one of the eight districts of The Hague, Netherlands, as well as a subdistrict () of that city. Scheveningen is a modern seaside resort with a long, sandy beach, an esplanade, a pier, and a lighthouse. The beach is popular ...

. The car parking possibilities in the area of the Scheveningen beach were rather chaotic, and Verschuren proposed the idea the construct parking lots in the form of

impeller An impeller, or impellor, is a driven rotor used to increase the pressure and flow of a fluid. It is the opposite of a turbine, which extracts energy from, and reduces the pressure of, a flowing fluid. Strictly speaking, propellers are a sub-clas ...

''Dobbe eiland,'' 1986

In 1986 Verschuren made a design for "" in Zoetermeer which was implemented. A "dobbe" is a pond dug near a town for drinking or fire water. The Dobbe eiland or Grote Dobbe in Zoetermeer had a long history. With the urban expansion of the city a new city center was built on Grote Dobbe, while the old city was on the other side of the pond. The dobbe isle was created to connect the old and new city center. A 2011 review on Verschuren's sculpture on the Dobbe eiland described : Zoetermeer kunstwerk dobbe eiland

An island as art, is a suitable characterization of the work of Kees Verschuren (1941), entitled 'Shifted'. The circular island, that lies in the Grote Dobbe lake in Zoetermeer, is decorated with iron objects and hedges which are shaped fragments of circles. When you get through one of the access bridges to the island, it provides a fascinating form game of lines, surfaces and vistas... Typical of Verschuren's sculpture is that his iron objects, mostly of steel, simply seems to have cut out, bent and folded to the inside or to the outside.

In the spring of 2015 the sculpture has been removed to make way for a new city plan to connect the old and new city center.

''Sjatoodoo,'' 1989

In 1989 in Rotterdam Verschuren realized the monumental sculpture "Sjatoodoo," Dutch pronunciation of the French ''Chateau d Eau.'' The sculpture (see image on top) visualises the reconstruction of the city of Rotterdam. The ''Magazine art-public'' (2015) described the concept of the sculpture as follows.:

... the theme f the sculpture isHouse of the Water/ House of the Bird - referring to Phoenix rising out of its ashes near the river Maas. Complexity was sought after: the work combines the arts of painting - sculpture - architecture as a visually rich cultural statement within a megalomaniac technological environment - from some distance it shows as a strong construction like so many objects in the world's largest harbour. Close by and inside the sculpture different qualities of inner-space are revealed, where the sound of 6 vertical water beams resonates within the peach-coloured steel constructions, and 20 stairs take you down - amidst rushing waters - to the lake where come to a rest and history seems to stabilize on the surface.

The sculpture is located in Rotterdam

Kralingen Kralingen () is a former village in the Dutch province of South Holland, now a neighbourhood of Rotterdam. It is located about 3 kilometres east of the city centre, in the borough Kralingen-Crooswijk. Kralingen was a separate municipality until ...

in the Business park ''Brainpark'' near the

Erasmus University Rotterdam Erasmus University Rotterdam ( ; abbreviated as EUR) is a public research university located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The university is named after Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, a 15th-century Christian humanist and theologian. Erasmus M ...

and the Kralingse Zoom subway station.

''Dialogue with Erasmus,'' 1995

Standbeeld van Erasmus - Rotterdam - 20377832 - RCE

For a 1995 sculpture route exhibition in Laurenskwartier district the city center of Rotterdam, Verschuren presented a conceptual sculpture, entitled "Dialoog met Erasmus" (Dialogue with Erasmus). He had built a stage beside the statue of

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus ( ; ; 28 October c. 1466 – 12 July 1536), commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and Catholic theology, theologian, educationalist ...

in front of the St. Lawrence Church. Als he turned around the statue itself. People could enter the stage to get into a conversation with Erasmus. Verschuren (2000) explained:

I created an intervention in the public space by turning around the image of Erasmus 90 degrees. I wanted him with his back to the Laurens church. By turning Erasmus around, I let him think out loud. I wanted to wake him, involve him in the Laurenskwartier, and not let him stare into the church all the time. It is a interaction with the history of the city, which is transformed into art. The statement is not so critical, but intended to activate. I hope.

After the exhibition the sculpture was turned back in its original position towards the church.

Later works

In the late 1990s and early in the new millennium Verschuren designed several more sculptures, such as: * 1998, Concrete Image Group, Porporastraat,

Zwolle Zwolle () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is the Capital city, capital of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel ...

. * 2002, Concrete sculpture G/H/L, on roundabout in

Sliedrecht Sliedrecht () is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is covered by water. Sliedrecht is known for the many large dredging companies (including Boskal ...

. * 2005, Sculpture entitled "De verwijzing" (2005) in the Saendelft district in

Zaandijk Zaandijk () is a town in the municipality of Zaanstad, province of North Holland, Netherlands. It lies about 11 kilometres (6.8 miles) northwest of Amsterdam and had a population of 8,686 in 2017.Statistics Netherlands (CBS), ''Statline: Kernc ...

. * 2007, Column for human rights, Zuidpoldersingel, Spiegelmakerssingel

Pijnacker Pijnacker () is a town in the Netherlands, Dutch province of South Holland. It is bordered by Zoetermeer to the north, by Nootdorp to the northwest, by Delfgauw to the southwest, by Rotterdam (specifically Overschie) to the south and by Berkel en ...

. In the atrium of the main hall of the city hall in The Hague in 2009 Verschuren presented the project "Human Rights in your kitchen too!." More recently he has turned back to painting, and the design of

tapestries Tapestry is a form of textile art which was traditionally woven by hand on a loom. Normally it is used to create images rather than patterns. Tapestry is relatively fragile, and difficult to make, so most historical pieces are intended to han ...

. In 2012 he had an exhibition of some of his monumental tapestries in the main hall of the

Pulchri Studio Pulchri Studio (Latin language, Latin:"For the study of beauty") is a Dutch art society, art institution and art studio based in The Hague ('s-Gravenhage), Netherlands. This institute began in 1847 at the home of painter Netherlandse kunstschil ...

in The Hague.

Gallery

File:Zwolle Porporastraat Holentenbroek Kees Verschuren Beeldengroep 1998.jpg, Porporastraat, Zwolle 1998 File:Zwolle Porporastraat Kees Verschuren 1998.jpg, Porporastraat, Zwolle 1998 File:Sliedrecht kunstwerk G-H-L.jpg, Sliedrecht, 2002 File:Pijnacker kunstwerk kolom van de mensenrechten.jpg, Pijnacker kunstwerk kolom van de mensenrechten, 2007

Exhibitions, a selection

* 1972. ''Group expo with and others''. Stadskantoor, Breda. * 1972. ''The Hague realism with Pat Andrea'', Galerie Petit, Amsterdam.Ed Wingen.
Absurdisten
" ''De Telegraaf''. Amsterdam, 1972/10/26, p. 11.Lambert Tegenbosch,
Twee Hagenaars
" ''De Volkskrant''. 's-Hertogenbosch, 1972/12/02, p. 31.Hans Redeker,
Uit Galeries & Ander Nieuws: Haags
" ''NRC Handelsblad,'' Rotterdam, 1972/12/08, p. 6. Geraadpleegd op Delpher op 29-11-2019. * 1973. ''Gallery of new realists,'' Dordts museum, Dordrecht.H.J.M.
Galerij der nieuwe realisten in het Dordts museum
" ''De tĳd : dagblad voor Nederland''. Amsterdam, 1973/02/01, p. 10. * 1974. ''New Hague School with Pat Andrea, Hermanus Berserik, Peter Blokhuis, Jurjen de Haan, Cecile Hessels, Jan Kuiper, Bos Lens, Walter Nobbe, Hendri van der Putten, Lieske van der Seyp, Aat Verhoog and Kees Verschuren.'' Galerie De Beerenburght, Gelderland.Ed.
Kijktips
" ''De Volkskrant,'' 's-Hertogenbosch, 1974/04/12, p. 11.

References

External links

Keesverschuren.nl
homepage
Kees Verschuren
at haagsekunstenaars.nl {{DEFAULTSORT:Verschuren, Kees 1941 births Living people Dutch sculptors Dutch male sculptors Royal Academy of Art, The Hague alumni Academic staff of Willem de Kooning Academy Artists from Breda