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Hildebrand Luciën (Hildo) Krop was born on February 26, 1884 in Steenwijk, as a son of a baker. Because it was expected that Hildo was to take his fathers place in the trade, he was also trained to become a baker. As his grandfather was a drawing teacher and photographer, there was nevertheless always some concern for cultural matters in his family. After a summer art course in 1908, he decided to become a professional artist. He started to follow lessons in Paris with Jean-Paul Laurens and finally signed up for a place in the sculpture class of Bart van Hove at the Rijksacademie in Amsterdam. Following his graduation in 1911 he settled in Amsterdam. As sculpture commissions were scarce, he started working in a furniture factory, where he experienced woodcutting. During this early period Krop met the architect Piet Kramer, who helped him receive his first official commission, sculpture for the Minder Marine Personeel building in Den Helder. Moreover, he introduced the young sculptor to the architect J. M. van der Mey, who was at the time designing the famous scheepvaarthuis on the Prins Hendrikkade in Amsterdam. This project was a breakthrough in Krops career, working on it from 1914 until 1916. During the scheepvaarthuis project Krop gained invaluable experience in building-sculpture and it helped him discover his personal, Amsterdam School-symbolist style. Krop was not only raised with cultural interest, but also with a strong social conscience. Although he was a member of the Sociaal Democratische Arbeiders-Partij (Social Democratic Labour-Party) for only a short period, equality for all people was his lifelong principle. Subsequently, his art played an important role in this. For him the only reason of existence of an artist laid within the community. People cannot live from food alone; they need to see and hear their wishes and ideals in form, sound and colour. (E.J. Lagerweij-Polak, Hildo Krop, beeldhouwer, The Hague 1992, p. 102) And as the community is represented by the government, taking on a working relationship with the office of Public Works of the city of Amsterdam in 1916, he truly served the community from that time until his death, with the exception of the years during World War II. The honorary title Stadsbeeldhouwer which he received in 1956, was a profound statement of admiration for his oeuvre. Many neighbourhoods in Amsterdam, particularly in the south, west and north of the city, owe their homogenous townscape to the outstanding collaboration between the city, the architects and the sculptor Krop. He created works for schools, bridges, viaducts, post offices and several other houses and buildings. Next to that he is famous for free-standing statues and monuments across the whole of Amsterdam. One of the many sculptures he produced for bridges is a statue for the Kinderbrug (Bridge of the Children), entitled De onbevangenheid der mensen tegenover het leven (The Impartiality of people towards life). It reflects his fondness for a social kind of symbolism and shows the power of his figures. The plaster model for this 285 cm. high statue (including base) will be offered as lot 113, a rare occasion, as Krop usually destroyed his small scale models. Krop also executed commissions outside Amsterdam. Important among these were his sculptures for the Dutch pavilion at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, the world's first art deco fair, which opened in Paris on July 18, 1925. The Dutch pavillion was a demonstration of different art forms coming together. The brick building adorned with decorative masonry was executed fully in the Amsterdam School style. Hildo Krop, Lambertus Zijl, Joseph Mendes da Costa and John Rädecker were amongst the active sculptors. Krop himself cut the sculpture of the exterior on the spot. Furthermore he designed two wooden polychrome and gild masks which were attached to the ends of the beams at the exterior, titled Actie naar buiten (Outward action) and Actie naar binnen (Inward Action). This pair of art-historically very important sculptures by his hand are included in this sale as lot 118. A large part of his career Krop flourished as city sculptor, working mainly on commissions for Public Works in Amsterdam. His love for the experiment however, led to another interesting form of his art: stage masks. In 1921 he executed five, African inspired masks for dancer Gertrud Leistikow. Shortly after Krop designed five other masks for the play The Only Jealousy of Emer by W.B. Yeats, in Holland performed under the direction of Albert van Dalsum. Van Dalsum argued that masks were indispensable in his search for a new form of theatre, which should address the imagination instead of simply reproducing reality. (Lagerweij-Polak, in: Jong Holland, Vol. IV (1988) p. 4, no. 6) According to this theory, masks make it easier for the individual to relate to universal human themes. The use of a mask required the person wearing it to really concentrate on his movements. By moving the head, light and shadow on the mask express the different emotions of the character. The original stage masks were executed in polychrome papier mâché. The same play was also performed in Dublin and London together with Krops masks. As Yeats was very impressed by them, he dedicated the rewritten prose version of the Only Jealousy of Emer, Fighting the waves from 1928 to Krop. (ibid Lagerweij-Polak 1988, p. 8) , On the title page of his book Wheels and Butterflies, in which Fighting the Waves is included, a vignette made out of three of the masks in question is illustrated. Unfortunately the masks were destroyed in a fire in Dublin, but the five bronze casts from 1922 can still be admired in the Amsterdam Stadsschouwburg. In 1924 Krop designed another mask, now for Van Dalsums play on the fifteenth century French saint Genesius written by Henri Ghéon (1875-1944), which took place in 1926. Genesius was a Roman actor who was summoned by emperor Diocletianus to interpret the death of the Christian martyr St. Adrian on stage. As Genesius hated Christians, he did not want to play this role, but he had no choice. The emperor allowed him to wear a mask though, so his contradictory feelings would not be too obvious. During the play however he was miraculously converted to Christianity. The piece was an enormous success in Dutch theatres, partly due to the expressive mask by Krop. It was cast in bronze as well, and will be sold as lot 133. Krop started ceramics around 1925, when he made a little elephant for his son which he baked in a pot-bellied stove at home. This process fascinated him so much that he took up lessons with the famous ceramist Bert Nienhuis for a year, to become fully experienced in the techniques of baking and glazing pottery. He bought an oven for enamelling, which worked on coal so he could raise the temperature slowly, and from about 1927 onwards, a series of small, often anecdotal sculptures came into existence: human figures, masks and especially animals. Although Krop initially made them for his own amusement and mainly between commissions, they are the result of great technical skills, anatomical knowledge and sharp perception. He experimented a lot with different ceramic techniques. As the oven itself played a crucial part in this, he acquired several of them during his life. They all had a different influence on his pottery, seven or eight layers of glazing on the figures was no exception. Krop became a skilled craftsman in ceramics. As a result his repertoire of motives extended. Many anecdotal scenes came into existence after World War II, like the series De Walletjes (1951) of which a terracotta version of a bare-breasted girl in the window talking to the sailor, is offered in the sale as lot 108. Another example is a polychrome glazed ceramic of Three Dancers from 1953, of which the whereabouts were unknown until recently, presently offered as lotnumber 105. There are more serious subjects as well, as there are the monumental head of Vincent van Gogh, a rare example of a lifelike portrait in polychrome terracotta (lot 137), animals like the large Cormorant (lot 106), mythological figures like the decoratively adorned Daphne (lot 119) and several small baked versions of monuments. The pleasure the process of pottery gave him is very much reflected in these works, showing his character and sense of humor. They are expressive and show Krops ability to visualize posture and action. (Lagerweij-Polak 1992, p. 95) Krop died in his studio on August 20, 1970 at the age of eighty-six. THE PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF HILDO KROP

Hildo Krop (1884-1970)

Three dancers

Details

Hildo Krop (1884-1970)
Three dancers
signed with initials 'HLK' (underneath)
glazed polychrome ceramic
41 cm. high (incl. base)
Conceived in 1953, this piece is unique

Literature

E.J. Lagerweij-Polak, Hildo Krop, beeldhouwer, The Hague 1992, no. V160 (as: destroyed)

Special notice

Christie's charges a Buyer's premium calculated at 23.205% of the hammer price for each lot with a value up to €110,000. If the hammer price of a lot exceeds €110,000 then the premium for the lot is calculated at 23.205% of the first €110,000 plus 11.9% of any amount in excess of €110,000. Buyer's Premium is calculated on this basis for each lot individually.

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