Eric Claus
(born in 1936, Haarlem)
"3 Servetta's"
Height: 75 cm
Numbered I/IV
Notes
Eric Claus is an important figure in the field of contemporary classical sculpture. All through the enormous variety of his subject matter, Eric Claus knows how to enchant his public and retain their attention; whether he creates the characters from the popular Italian Commedia dell'Arte, the great philosophers over the centuries or a subject from classic mythology, it is Eric Claus’s artistic vision and unique craftsmanship that never ceases to surprise his audience. Along with his sculptures and paintings, Claus has designed an impressive number of coins and pennants.
As a child, Eric Claus experienced a great deal of resistance towards his artistic tendencies. He was not naturally gifted academically and his parents systematically made it impossible for Eric to express his love for drawing, sculpting and painting. His mother detested any sort of mess and his father any form of visual art. Eric once made a series of bronze plaques and displayed them on the table; his father then threw them all to the floor in one sweeping gesture in the belief that his son should refrain from making such awful things! Eric, however, did not let his parents beat him down:"I feel a tremendous sense of strength when things work against me and I just have to show it".
After the second World War, Eric Claus spent a great deal of time in the circle of '‘Vijftigers’. It was during this time that the lovely Nora van Gent introduced him to existentialism and the works of Dostoyevsky, Turgenjev, Shierbeek and Kosinky’s ‘Painted Bird’. The latter’s fictional character helped the young Eric recognise his indomitable will for survival and an unrestrained desire for freedom. These concepts would later show themselves in his work.
From 1979 to 1990, Claus was Professor at the National Academy of Art in Amsterdam.
Education:
1949-1952 School for Graphic Arts, Amsterdam;
1952-1954 Drawing Academy for Teachers, Amsterdam;
1955-1960 National Academy of Art, Amsterdam;
1979-1990 Professor at the Hoogleraar at the National Academy of Art, Amsterdam.
Some examples of large commissions:
1970: four sculptures in bronze, Sculpture park Oregon, USA
1975: eight sculptures in bronze, Sculpture park Denmark
1985: Monument for prime minister Drees, The Hague
1990: large bronze for the head office of Rabobank Utrecht
1997: 10-guilder coin of Jan Steen
2001: Design for Lindo monument, Tokio Japan
2005: Coin for 25th anniversary of Queen Beatrix
2006: Three objects for Rotterdam Harbour
2007: Katwijk, Sculpture on the Sea Side, project Johan Cruijff 'number 14 in bronze'.
Sculptures by Eric Claus are present in the company collection of De Nederlandsche Bank (Dutch National Bank) in Amsterdam.
Prizes designed by Claus:
P.C. Hooft prize, Louis d’Or, Theo d’Or, Harlekino, Colombina, Hermans, Music Prize 1998, Toon Martens prize, E.C.I. prize, Shell Prize.
Click photo to enlarge
Category
Modern 20th -21st century
Sculpture