Boodschapper
Ossip Zadkine
1955
Details
- Collection: Antwerp, Along the Scheldt, The collection
- Material: bronze
- Acquisition method: donation
- Object number: KIS.0139
De Boodschapper (The Messenger), a sculpture by Ossip Zadkine, was donated to the City of Antwerp in 1959 by M. Naessens and F. Bertrand, directors of the former Bank of Paris and the Netherlands (BNP Paribas). In the deed of donation, they expressed the wish that the work would be “a first greeting from Antwerp to ships of all nations calling at the city.”
After standing for decades in the northernmost and most remote part of Antwerp’s harbour, the sculpture was given a new location in 2020, much closer to the city’s residents and visitors: the newly laid-out Droogdokkenpark, just north of the Eilandje. From here, the sculpture – a human figure holding in its arms a boat, a temple, an aqueduct and several miniature human figures – gazes out over the river, the port, the sea and the world. Zadkine’s messenger carries the city and its inhabitants in his arms, moving towards a peaceful future.
Ossip Zadkine (1888–1967), born in Belarus, is regarded as one of the most important post-war sculptors. His work is internationally renowned and marked by strong expression and symbolism. From an art-historical perspective, De Boodschapper (The Messenger) is one of the most valuable works in the Antwerp public art collection.
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