In my last post I asked if anyone knew the maker of the statue I have used as a model in a couple of paintings. Thanks to Major… I can now henceforth and forever credit Tom Frantzen as the artist who sculpted the dog I’ve come to call Blue…
Het Zinneke (1999, Bruxelles, Rue des Chartreux)
This “dog thrown into the Senne river” is named “Zinneke” after a Flemish word meaning “mongrel”. Because he is a dog of mixed breed, he symbolises the multicultural nature of Brussels. He is a proper “street sculpture”, as he really is built-in; his legs are sealed into the pavement and the post he is peeing on had been there long before him. The post became part of the sculpture.
This sculpture, commissioned by the Chartreux district committee to attract tourists, was created in the spirit of the “zwanze”. With this dog, Frantzen offers a visual example of this form of humour to all passers-by, especially those looking for an opportunity to share something and have fun together.
The series of paintings involves Blue doing things other than “watering” bollards and the other models came from stock photos, drawings of my own dog Jack and photos of a friend’s dog also (just to cause confusion) called Jack… Het Zinneke however was the first.