Life-size Herman Brood mural is left behind when moving

A life-size mural by Herman Brood has become the artistic icon of the Fontys School of Journalism in Tilburg. But if the program itself moves this year, the colorful work will remain behind in the old school building. Moving with you is too expensive.

Herman Brood was a cultural centipede who, among other things, sang, painted and wrote poetry. His works often consist of bright, so-called primary colours, many of which hang in the Herman Brood Museum in Zwolle. The artist was invited in 1996 to brighten up a wall of the then new training building in Tilburg.

About eight by three meters is the painting by Herman Brood, which has adorned the wall in the auditorium of the Fontys course since 1996. He is seen as the eye-catcher of the building, is featured on PR material and coffee mugs. However, the school of journalism (FHJ) will soon say goodbye to it.

The program will move this summer from the Professor Gimbrèrelaan to the Spoorzone behind the Tilburg train station. With a work of art on canvas you would say: pack that bite and hang it up again. But taking the mural with you, according to Nancy de Goey, is a real mission impossible. She is involved in the move on behalf of the FHJ.

bearing wall
Two Belgian experts in moving murals took a look at the relocation options and did some tests. They indicated that additional research was needed to see the best way to move the effigy. Those tests alone would cost 4,500 euros. The FHJ saw no benefit in that.

Some options that, according to De Goey, emerged from that exploratory study were:

  • Saw the entire (bearing) wall out, move it and re-brick it.
  • Soak the painting off and stick it back elsewhere on a smooth wall. This will cause you to lose the underlying structure of the wall, which would distort the painting.
  • 3D print the structure of the wall in the new location and peel off the painting and stick it to the new 3D wall.

expensive jokes
“You can imagine that these are extremely expensive jokes. The Belgians made a very rough estimate in the order of magnitude of a few to tens of tons,” says De Goey.

And so the FHJ leaves the gigantic work of art where it is now: in the auditorium. Very unfortunate, says De Goey, because it is the icon of the current building and the study programme. In order to allow Brood’s creative and free-spirited spirit to live on in the new building, a full-size photo of the work is printed and hung in the new building in the Spoorzone. According to a Fontys spokesperson, it is not yet clear what will happen to the ‘old’ FHJ building. The municipality advises what may be done with the building.

Xandra Brood: ‘Sin’
Herman Brood’s widow, Xandra, said in a reaction that she thought it was ‘a great shame’ if the work was lost. Such as with a possible demolition of the building. “I did not know that he made such a large painting in that building. Although that is not very surprising: he made a lot of works very quickly, which he often also gave away.”

If the building and the wall are to be demolished, she does have a suggestion: “If necessary, sell it in parts, so that many people have a Brood part at home. That would of course be very nice.”

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