Bare breasts are no longer welcome in the town hall of Purmerend. After several complaints about a series of paintings of naked women, the town hall no longer wants to hang them. The artist, Jeroen Hermkens, is furious.
“It’s mind-boggling,” he tells NH Radio. “We have lost all the freedoms we fought for.”
“And then a kind of vice police comes from Purmerend to determine what is and what is not allowed”
Hermkens depicted fourteen women from the Beemster, in which the pureness of the Beemster and the natural beauty of women are central. Hermkens learned through the client from the Beemster that his paintings are no longer welcome.
“And then a kind of vice police comes from the Purmerend to determine what is and what is not allowed.” The plan was to remove part of the paintings, “but then I immediately said: ‘then I will remove everything!'”
Complaints
Hermkens cannot imagine that complaints have been received. “What can people have against this?”, he wonders aloud.
There has been no further contact between the artist and the municipality. On Friday, Hermkens himself will pick up the paintings at the town hall. “So maybe I’ll talk to someone then.”
In response to the message that the paintings of the Beemster women must be removed from Purmerend town hall, Peter Zwart of GroenLinks asks questions to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, reports RTV Purmerend.
The paintings can still be seen today in the Town Hall.
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