Long lost Sculptures by Carel Visser acquired for Rijksmuseum Gardens in Amsterdam

It marks a return to the public space for the 1964 works Signal 1 and Signal 2 for the first time in almost a quarter-century. These two identical lead-clad steel structures stand on concrete bases, with one sculpture rotated 180 degrees relative to the other. The Rijksmuseum has also purchased two maquette models of the sculptures that Visser made at the start of the design process in 1961. From November these maquettes will be on display in the 20th-century galleries on the third floor of the Rijksmuseum.

At heights of four and six metres respectively, it’s impossible to miss Signal 1 and Signal 2 in the Rijksmuseum Gardens. Together they form a composition of rectangular surfaces and volumes attached to a central axis, with each one resting on a round tube on a square base made of concrete. The works are indebted to the visual idiom of De Stijl, which originated in the 1920s. In the 1950s and 60s, artists, designers and architects repurposed the idiom to bring a modern face to the Netherlands of the post-war era. Visser’s monumental and succinct double sculpture is exemplary of this artistic development.

Carel Visser made Signal 1 and Signal 2 for a commission by the Postal Cheque and Giro Service of PTT, the Dutch postal, telegraph and telephone company. Like two modern temple guards, they flanked the entrance to the headquarters of the Postal Cheque and Giro Service on Bezuidenhout in The Hague. The building itself was designed in the second half of the 1950’s by the Rotterdam architect’s bureau Van den Broek and Bakema. With time, the bonds loosened between the steel structure and lead cladding, and in 1980 the lead was removed, and lead-coloured paint was used to coat the steel. When the office building was demolished in 2000, Visser’s sculptures were removed and they disappeared into obscurity.

It was only after a long search that Rijksmuseum curators traced the statues on the premises of the crane and transportation company that had removed them in 2000. The Rijksmuseum took the decision to restore the sculptures to their condition in 1964. This involved intensive preliminary research into the options for permanently bonding lead to steel. Metal conservators of the Rijksmuseum guided the process of the conservation, which involved removing the layer of paint added in the 1980s, preserving the steel structure, glueing the lead to the steel, -an innovative approach in lead cladding- and welding rather than soldering the corner seams, and patinating the lead to retain its coarse industrial look and feel. The original construction drawings and historical photographs served as the guide for reconstruction of the concrete bases. With this, Visser’s design was restored to its former glory. The Rijksmuseum was glad to be able to draw on the expertise of Carel Visser’s son Harm Visser, who provided feedback and advice when it came to aesthetic decisions. Several materials experts and specialist companies advised on the restoration and reconstruction of the sculptures.

Carel Visser was a key figure at the vanguard of Dutch sculpture in the early 1960s. His early work built on the ideas of pioneering sculptors such as Constantin Brancusi and Alberto Giacometti, but in the 1950s he developed a distinctive signature style characterised by a more pronounced abstraction. His minimalist geometric compositions won admirers both in the Netherlands and internationally, as witnessed by his many exhibitions and commissions for sculptures in the public space. Carel Visser’s Eight Stacked Beams (1964) has been part of the Rijksmuseum’s permanent display for many years.

Main Image: Installation Signaal 1 en 2 in the gardens of the Rijksmuseum. Foto: Rijksmuseum/Albertine Dijkema.