Since the devastating fire on New Year’s Eve, which partially destroyed Amsterdam’s Vondel Church, artist Ruud Spil has been in Vondelstraat every week. Over the next three years he will record the renovation process of the church – with charcoal and oil paint: “One man’s death is another man’s bread.”
“Neo-Gothic, I also thought it was a kind of Batman-like church,” describes Ruud Spil, while looking at the Vondelkerk, standing against a clear blue sky. “I always cycled past the church and then I looked up at the clock to see what time it was.”
This is the second time we visit Ruud’s; the first time the rain came pouring down and the reporter’s umbrella served as protection for the charcoal drawings in Ruud’s cart that would otherwise get wet. Today it’s time to draw again. And Spil has been doing this once or sometimes several times a week since the fire.
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In his career as an artist, Spil painted landscapes for a long time. Cows were also a favorite: “I painted the king’s cows in Norway.” Why a church now? “I had a thing for that church. And when it suddenly caught fire, I thought: that image of a burned church, you can see that for a moment, I have to capture it.”
“Suddenly I saw all kinds of scaffolding. I didn’t know the rebuilding would go so quickly. So then I knew: I had to be quick.” He hesitated for a while, because he ‘did not want to profit from such a terrible event’, but decided: “One man’s death is another man’s bread.”
Picasso
After consultation with Stadsherstel, Spil received permission to carry out the renovation on and next to the church over the next three years. Wearing an orange vest and safety goggles, he spent the past few weeks among the debris on the roof of the church: “When they see me, the construction workers shout: ‘Hey, Picasso!'”
In the near future, he will deliver a work of art to Stadsherstel every month, on charcoal or oil paint. These works of art are then sold and postcards are also printed.
Healing process
And although being an artist is often seen as a lonely profession, Spil is not shy about having a chat. Passersby who see him work are happy to share their memories about the church or give their opinion about his work: “Always positive.” Also during our visit, people, tourists and Amsterdam residents continuously stop: “Is this charcoal?”. An expat neighbor brings a thermos of coffee.
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Spil: “I also occasionally get the idea that it is some kind of healing process, because I draw it and people start talking to me about it.”
Whether it is also a bit of an obsession: “Yes, I think so. But that’s kind of my nature, I’m not one of those Japanese people with a camera who wants to capture everything quickly. If I make a drawing once, whether it’s cows or markets, it immediately becomes a whole project.”
In August his works will be exhibited for the first time in the Amstelkerk.
