Untitled

About this artwork.

An imposing white sandstone monument stands in Esserveld Cemetery. An almost naked female figure is situated high atop a pedestal. With her arms above her head, she lets a cloth hang down along her body to the base, which emphasises the elongation of this sculpture. A U-shaped wall has been placed behind the statue, bearing the names of 43 resistance fighters from the city of Groningen who died in the Westerbork transit camp during the Second World War. At the unveiling of the monument in 1948, an urn with ashes from Westerbork was also placed. A framed poem by Petra Schuttinga-Van der Togt has been added in front of the memorial. Elsewhere in the cemetery the graves of several other members of the Groningen resistance can still be found. There are some English soldiers buried there as well.
  
Willem Valk played an active role in the artists' resistance during the Second World War. As a member of the Central Artists' Commission, he coordinated financial support for members who had run into financial difficulties due to the loss of assignments (as a result of their refusal to become a member of the Kultuurkamer). In the first decade after the war, Valk therefore was awarded commissions for more than 20 war memorials in Groningen and abroad.
 
In addition to war memorials, Valk made numerous portraits, nudes and sculptures for buildings in Groningen. Because of the latter he was given the unofficial title of city sculptor.

Facts & Figures.

• Design
  Willem Valk

• District
  Helpman

• Year of creation
  1948

• Art type
  Monument

• Material
  Sandstone

• Dimensions
  h 2,15 m