Art historian Jaap Ekhart is amazed. A stone relief that artist Anno Smith made just after the war has disappeared without a trace from a facade in the Grunobuurt in Groningen. “No one saw or heard anything.”
“The tableau was still there in November, in mid-December I saw that it was gone,” says Ekhart (67). The facade of the residential complex on the corner of Snelliusstraat – Van Leeuwenhoekstraat shows a bare, concrete hole without the ceramic representation of a family from the 1950s.
Ekhart: “A breadwinner who is greeted by his wife and child after a day of work. I think the clock on the wall is a nice detail. I think it stands for the proverb Just as the clock ticks at home, it doesn’t tick anywhere.” .
During the reconstruction after the war, there was a demand for beautification of buildings. Flats, schools, shops and other buildings in the residential areas of Grunobuurt, Helpman, Indische Buurt, Rivierenbuurt and De Wijert were provided with a tile tableau or other decoration by visual artist Smith. Ekhart published a book about it in 2015.
The Grunobuurt still has six ceramic representations by Smith. Was the seventh stolen? “That seems strong to me. You can’t just pull a concrete tableau like that off the wall. That has to be sawn out. And besides, it was damaged and in need of renovation. Who steals a work like that?”
Ekhart hoped that the Patrimonium housing association had taken the work out of the wall to renovate it. Not a crazy thought. “The restoration was planned for this year,” a spokesperson said. “But we are also in the dark as to the whereabouts.”
According to the art historian, Smith’s series of works of art in the City have great cultural-historical value. “It was an optimistic period. That’s why there were many images of flowers, hopping animals, cheerful children and close-knit families. The tableaus give an impression of the formal language of that time.”
According to Ekhart, older residents of the neighborhoods in particular are devoted to it. “They remind us of a safe and cozy period. The works are precious beacons for them in a world that has become very different.” In 2015, the Groninger Museum dedicated an exhibition to the construction ceramics of Anno Smith. “That shows respect for the work.”
According to the art historian, local residents of the missing work – Ekhart himself lives in Beijum – are also disappointed that it is gone. “I spoke with two residents of the porch. They agree that it suddenly disappeared, they didn’t see or hear anything.”
The Groninger is now seeking publicity in the hope that a witness will come forward who knows what happened to the artwork and where it is. “Such a shame it’s gone.”