Werkman monument

About this artwork.

Armando's five-metre-high sculpture, an enormous tree trunk, was cast in bronze. The tree, which according to its size should be several hundred years old, lacks an important part that is characteristic of trees: the crowning treetop. The trunk has been cut off abruptly. Although the tree is placed amidst real trees, it stands out a great deal from them. This has partly to do with the monumental character of the sculpture and partly with the structure of the stump, which is less realistic. 
 
In the Werkman Year, 1995, the Municipality commissioned a monument from Armando for the Groningen printer and artist Hendrik Nicolaas Werkman. Werkman was shot by the Germans at the end of the Second World War in the woods near Bakkeveen. For Armando, it was immediately clear that the monument had to become a bronze tree. For the artist, who lived through the Second World War as a child, trees are linked to that war. Before the war, he played among the trees and during the war he had to cut them down. Werkman also mentions the cutting down of trees in his letters. This phenomenon made an impression on both men. The tree symbolises strength but at the same time vulnerability, it stands for intransigence and rebellion. A silent witness to what happened during the war years.

Facts & Figures.

• Design
  Armando

• District
  Centrum

• Year of creation
  1995

• Art type
  Monument, Freestanding sculpture

• Material
  Bronze

• Dimensions
  h 5,00 x b 2,10 m