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Land Art in De Volgerlanden, an account
The project found its beginnings in the sixties of the twentieth century.
the land and the art
Holland thanks its name to the woods which stood there - 'holt land' (wood land). The higher lands were gradually deforested and the wetlands and lakes were laid dry. The result was a virtually flat country with 360 degrees horizon all around you.
I photographed this sunset above the farmland on one of my many walks along the perimeter of the town, Zwijndrecht, where I have lived for four decades. I loved to sketch and paint these landscapes.
The landscape, which had become an agricultural area during the course of hundreds of years, surrounded the town, except on the south side where it is bounded by a river, the Oude Maas. On the photograph we see the fields which lie around the town Hendrik Ido Ambacht, which used to be called Hendrik-Ido-Oostendam-Schildmanskinderen-Groot-en-Klein-Sandelingen-Ambacht.
Pollard willows can still be seen in many rural places in Holland.
When I returned from having spent my youth in California, it was the typical Dutch wetlands landscape which attracted my attention. For centuries the willow, which is an indigenous plant in the Netherlands, was cultivated for the many uses there were for its branches: such as woven fences, baskets, broomsticks, mats on which dikes were built, etc.
Pollard willows in the Dordrecht Biebos - oil painting on panel 1963 - 80x40cm.
During the sixties I used to paint these willows in the natural habitat, not realizing that less than ten years later I would be incorporating them into my land art projects.
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