Don Quixote (Don Quichot)

About this artwork.

The driveway to the Oeckelenhof house is marked by a brick wall bearing the name of the house and a brick statue of Don Quixote sitting on his horse. The sculpture and wall are by Egbert Reitsma (1892-1976), who was also the resident of the Oeckelenhof. Reitsma was a Dutch architect known for his brick architecture - he is also referred to as 'Master of brick'. He was also a member of the De Ploeg art circle.

It is unclear why Reitsma chose the novel character Don Quixote. Don Quixote is the main character in the novel The ingenious nobleman Don Quixote of La Mancha, written by Cervantes. It tells the comic travel adventures of an old nobleman who thinks he is a knight errant. Don Quixote is the stereotype of a foolish hero; he has good intentions but ridicules himself by his clumsy actions.
 
The sculpture dates from 1959. Three years earlier Reitsma had renamed his house, which was originally called Heemstede, in the Oeckelenhof, a reference to the first owner / resident Cornelis van Oeckelen (1829-1905), who became famous as an organ builder.
 
Egbert Reitsma houses two other brick horses in the municipality: Grote Markt 24 (Reitsma is the architect of this building and also made the facade sculpture Sint Maarten) and Rijksstraatweg 138 (The white horse).

Facts & Figures.

• Design
  Egbert Reitsma

• District
  Haren en omgeving

• Year of creation
  1959

• Art type
  Art in / on a building

• Material
  Brick

• Dimensions
  h 2,35 x b 2,05 x d 0,40 m / sokkel h 1,00 x b 5,00 x d 0,54 m