Abstract tableaux (abstract tableaux – 60 pieces)

About this artwork.

For the Wijert building, ceramicist Anno Smith decorated the ends of ten residential apartment blocks with a series of abstract, loose tiles: thickened black lines interspersed with blue, white and green glazed areas. In 2013, four of the ten blocks of gallery houses were demolished and replaced by single-family homes designed by Bureau Ritsema. Working alongside the De Huismeesters housing association, residents took it upon themselves to preserve what tiles they could.

In the post-war period, ceramicist Anno Smith created hundreds of porch and facade pieces for the city of Groningen, intended for residential complexes, schools, shops and factories, among other things – it’s not for nothing that Smith is known as the “greatest decorator”. 

Smith mainly depicted everyday objects and scenes: fish, flowers, playing children and working craftspeople. By decorating the severe, strict and uniform architecture that is so typical of the post-war period with individually designed pieces, each building was afforded an identity of its own; an identity that also immediately marks these pieces as Smith’s. His clients wanted uplifting pieces that made art accessible and understandable to all, especially those living in buildings decorated with his work.

Facts & Figures.

• Design
  Anno Smith

• District
  De Wijert

• Art type
  Art in / on a building, Tableau

• Material
  Glazed terracotta

• Dimensions
  h 0,22 x b 0,20 m