Jozef Israëls monument

About this artwork.

High on a plinth stands the bronze statue of a man with two children. With his head bent forwards he holds his daughter in his left arm, whilst his son walks next to him on his right. The man is a fisherman who is coming off the beach with his children. This can be seen by the nets over his left arm and the little boy's shrimping net. On their left is a cross: the grave of their wife and mother. The group of sculptures was inspired by a painting by Israëls’ To Mothers Tomb, which the Groninger Museum has on long-term loan.
 
Abraham Hesselink created the monument in 1922 in memory of the painter Jozef Israëls – to be seen in the relief portrait on the plinth. The painter was born in Groningen in 1824, where he lived until he was sixteen. 
 
During the Second World War, the work was severely damaged. Jozef Israëls was Jewish, which members of the Dutch National Socialist Movement stated on his statue in the spring of 1943. Fortunately, the debris could be brought to safety. The portrait relief was found later. After the war, the artwork was restored by Willem Valk and unveiled again in 1946. For thirty years, it served as a memorial until Eduard Waskowsky's Jewish Monument on the Hereweg was erected in 1977.

Facts & Figures.

• Design
  Abraham Hesselink

• District
  Centrum

• Year of creation
  1922

• Art type
  Monument, Freestanding sculpture

• Material
  Bronze, Natural stone

• Dimensions
  h 4,65 m