The Husband of the Doll (1991)

Thom Puckey

photo Pieter Vandermeer

photo Pieter Vandermeer

photo Jannes Linders

photo Jannes Linders

photo Jannes Linders

photo Jannes Linders

The artwork

The jolly naked clown wearing a hat resembles Mercury: the messenger of the gods. The work is by the British artist Thom Puckey, who has lived and worked as a sculptor and teacher in the Netherlands since 1978. Puckey returned to figuration during a period when sculpture was dominated by abstraction. For this reason his work fits well among the other sculptures of the ‘Coolsingel ensemble’ such as Monsieur Jacques by Wenckebach.

Although figurative art appears at first sight to be easy to understand, Puckey’s sculptures are rather more mysterious. The elements are certainly recognisable, but are often combined in an intriguing manner. The title of this work The Husband of the Doll seems to refer to a fairy tale or a children’s story. The husband certainly has a comic-strip quality, but Puckey also refers to the history of sculpture. Compare the sculpture with Degas’ Little Dancer Aged Fourteen, Eros at Piccadilly Circus in London and Mercury by Giambologna. By combining the elegant pose with the face of a clown, he creates a perverse image. The naturalistic body is surmounted by an ugly caricature-like head with a sad look. Yet traditional sculptor’s craft is required to keep the sculpture in balance. Skill, humour, art-historical tradition and alienation go hand in hand.

Year
1991
Location
Coolsingel 117
Dimensions
200 x 240 x 110 cm
Material
bronze
Owner
Gemeente Rotterdam

The location

In the grass near Coolsingel 117

Thom Puckey

Thom Puckey

Thomas William Puckey (Bexleyheath, United Kingdom, 1948) studied art at the Slade School of Fine Art and then a master’s degree at the Royal College of Art, both in London. Puckey settled in Amsterdam in 1978, where he has worked ever since. He taught spatial design at Minerva Academy in Groningen from 1984 to 1987, mixed media at the Academy of Art and Industry (AKI) in Enschede from 1985 to 1989, sculpture at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam from 1987 to 1995, and finally autonomous art at St. Joost Academy of Art and Design in ‘s-Hertogenbosch from 1997. Puckey makes work primarily for public space. His artworks can be found in many Dutch cities.

View all artists