Robert Zandvliet mural installed at the Dordrechts Museum, Netherlands

Aan ’t Groothoofd
Dordrechts Museum, Dordrecht, Netherlands
On view through September 2019 - January 31, 2034

The mural, Aan 't Groothoofd,  is based on the idea of ​​a water mirror and a passage from morning to night. The idea that light and color change over time is an important starting point. From the warm orange light of the morning to the brilliance of moonlight on water at night. Walking along the wall, the image evokes experiences of landscape and time, an impression of water and sky, without a horizon. An impressive work of art that lasts.

Zandvliet developed the mural especially for the Dordrechts Museum. In the two years prior to its realization, he sought a connection between the image, the city, history and above all: painting. Zandvliet's practice is a continuous investigation of painting, its possibilities and history. For example, paintings from the museum collection played an important role in the development of the mural. Some of those paintings are now on display in the Dawn to Dusk exhibition.

For example, the paintings of Constant Gabriel, Johan Barthold Jongkind and Edgar Fernhout. Some of them, such as Jongkind, visited Dordrecht because of the light where three rivers meet: the Groothhoofd. After the Oude Kerk, the Groothhoofd is the most visited and portrayed place in Dordrecht. The title of the mural refers to that connection between Het Groothoofd and painting.Zandvliet also consulted other painters outside the collection, such as Willem de Kooning and Mondriaan. Painters who, because of their fascination for landscape, water and light, form an interesting frame of reference for the landscape of Zandvliet.