Sailor at Wheel - Rotterdam, The Netherlands - Murals on Waymarking.com

The Stella Maris Seamen's House, the former home for seafarers, is located on the ground floor of a small chapel dedicated to Maria Stella Maris. The chapel gets its light because the facade has been pushed slightly outwards in some places and is connected to the building with narrow stained glass windows. The outer wall of this chapel, a free-standing concrete wall measuring four by four meters, was made by artist Bas van der Smit. He was commissioned to do this when the home was built in 1953. In the then very popular concrete grafting technique he made a stylized relief in the colors black, white and red. The color areas are flush with the depth lines in the relief. The work depicts the Madonna and Child (top left) protecting the sailor, who keeps both hands on the wheel, from the stormy waters. The artwork therefore has the title Zeeman at the wheel. This building served as a hotel since 2000 and has been owned by the STC Group for several years, which includes the Shipping and Transport College.
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About the artist

Bas van der Smit (Rotterdam, 1915 - Semur-en-Auxois, France, 1996) was a monumental artist, (wall) painter, draftsman and graphic artist. As a monumental artist he worked in mosaics, sgraffitos, stained glass and brick reliefs. It has been active from about 1930 to the 1970s. His style varied from figurative to abstract and his themes were figure representations, landscapes, city and harbor views. He belonged to the Group Abstract Rotterdam, of which Koos van Vlijmen was also a member. Since 1983 he has lived and worked in France.
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Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   02/04/2021 frenchje visited it