Elephant (Olifant)

About this artwork.

An elephant emerges elegantly from the green area between the c.b.s. Anne Frankschool and the library of Hoogkerk. Elephant is one of the many commissions Klaas van Dijk has carried out for public authorities and private individuals. Van Dijk created the elephant from stone for the schoolyard of the Christian nursery school De Zonnebloem. Housing corporation Woonstade (now housing association Wierden en Borgen) brought the artwork to its depot in 2008 and had it restored. The nursery school on the H. Lofversstraat 25 in Hoogkerk is making way for a new building. In cooperation with the arts committee Hoogkerk, the housing corporation found a new location for the artwork at De Sanstraat in December 2014.
 
The artist, Klaas van Dijk, was trained by the well-known Groningen sculptor Willem Valk. In the 1920s and 1930s, he was a member of the Groningen artists' association De Ploeg. Although the Netherlands was his home base, he also worked in France and the United States. In 1977, he received the cultural Egberts Prize in Groningen, for his services to De Ploeg, among other things. Van Dijk worked tirelessly to ensure that young artists would join this association.

Facts & Figures.

• Design
  Klaas van Dijk

• District
  Hoogkerk

• Year of creation
  1970

• Art type
  Freestanding sculpture

• Material
  Natural stone

• Dimensions
  h 0,75 m x b 0,53 x d 0,82 m