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Art, Work, The Family, The Dance (Kunst, Arbeid, Het gezin, De dans)

Klaas van Dijk

About this artwork.

The shopping centre on Jacob van Ruysdaelstraat in the Kostverloren district is a fine example of the so-called reconstruction architecture of the 1950s. The shops were commissioned by housing association Gruno according to a design by the Groningen architect K.G. Olsmeyer. The side walls of the blocks are bricked up in red brick and contain murals with stylised representations of a father and mother with child and dog, two men with shovels, two dancing women and flying birds. They symbolise the family, work, dance and art respectively. 

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.

Location.

Jacob van Ruysdaelstraat 2, 16, 18, 30 (zijgevels)

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Facts & Figures.