Michiel van der Zanden, Gemeentehuis (Town Hall), 2011(pigmented inkjet print on Ilford Smooth Fine Art Paper)
14,8 x 21 cm. signed edition: 50 € 150, -
Commissioned by Vincent van Gogh House, Zundert
This work is for sale at € 150,-. The proceeds will benefit the Vincent van Gogh House Foundation. For more info and contact: info@michielvanderzanden.nl or vincent@vangoghhuis.com.
Van Gogh's birthplace
Riding my bike on a spring morning, I noticed this beautiful Neoclassical front of the Town Hall of Zundert. I immediately thought of an old postcard. Zundert is a small town near Breda and known for being Vincent van Gogh's place of birth.
The Town Hall was built between 1830 and 1840 and designed by the architect Pieter Huyser from Breda. It's located directly opposite Vincent van Gogh's birthplace. From his bedroom window, the young Vincent looked directly at the facade.
Building Blocks
When I was asked by the Van Gogh House (www.vangoghhuis.com) to make a multiple artwork, I decided to make an interpretation of this Town Hall by using toy (building) blocks. Blocks which Van Gogh may have played with in his youth: the type of classic toy which by definition has nostalgia in it: Research showed different variations and origins. One pioneer was educationalist Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852) and his construction sets ('baukasten') by which children could train their spatial aptitude. Later in the 19th century, with these first constructiuon sets as an example, Richter's Anker Steinbaukasten were produced.
3D
This print 'Town Hall' shows the building stone facade as a construction plan. The image is a 3D Computer Generated Image therefor I used Blender, by which highly realistic lighting and material expression can be achieved.
Later on, the model will also be made out of hard plastic.