Huiselijke zorgen
1913
Rik Wouters
“Household Cares” is the last monumental sculpture Rik Wouters created. It represents his wife and beloved model Nel (Hélène Duerinckx). He usually depicted Nel in subdued everyday scenes, taken from the life of the close-knit couple.
Details
- Plan number: M12
- Zone: Human Nature
- Title: Huiselijke zorgen (Household Cares)
- Creator: Rik Wouters
- Date: 1913
- Material: bronze
- Acquisition: loan by Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen
- Object number: MID.LB.KM.2610
On the creation of this sculpture, Nel writes: “One evening, while Rik confided his sculpting plans to me, I remained standing, arms crossed, head bent slightly forward, pondering. I saw Rik reach for brush and paper and draw feverishly … I was unaware that he was laying the foundations for this piece of art, ‘Household Cares,’ [an] intimate and grand figure….”
Rik Wouters chose to portray his partner in a moment of worry and despair. Her introspective pose makes you wonder what she is worried about. What is troubling her? Wouters’s imagery is not idealized: he has depicted Nel realistically, from nature.
In his brief career at the beginning of the 20th century, Rik Wouters produced an entire oeuvre of paintings, drawings, and sculptures. He is Belgium’s most famous Fauvist, known for the color palette in his paintings. Yet Wouters felt that he was first and foremost a sculptor.
From the same artist
Rik Wouters
Rik Wouters often depicted his wife Nel. His favorite model is dancing here with utmost joy, arms and legs in the air. Rarely did he portray her as carefree and dynamic as in this image. It is also an example of technical mastery: the woman balances on one foot in a highly agile pose.
Rik Wouters
In this self-portrait, Rik Wouters stares straight ahead. The artist frequently portrayed himself, but usually in paintings, drawings, or etchings; rarely in sculpture.
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