On December 29, 2020, the famous Dutch sculptor Kees Verkade, much admired by me, passed away. The Dutch daily De Volkskrant wrote: “He was world famous and loved by a large audience, but the museums did not want to have anything to do with his recognizable, human figures”.

I think it’s a shame that figurative sculpture is despised by the art elite. I can say from my own experience that making a similar portrait is really not easy. As far as I am concerned, it is entirely unjustified that museums have ignored his work and critics have hushed it up. I can fully agree with his opinion about much that could be seen in museums in 2009: “There is such a whole room full of car tires. Or such an asshole shredded pieces of paper and left them crumpled on the floor. Everyone is standing there in a hushed voice saying oooh and aaah. At such a moment I think: am I crazy or is it them?”. Rotterdam has a beautiful statue of him called “Triumph”, in honour of the 50th anniversary of the reconstruction of the city.

Kees Verkade lived in Monaco, where he died at the age of 79. He was still very active. For example, he worked on a statue to commemorate the victims of the corona pandemic and as a thank you to all care workers. That artwork will be unveiled later this year (2021). 

In a documentary that was made in honour of the 50th anniversary of his work in 2009, Kees Verkade talks about his work.