Koning 1923 - 1925

This bronze sculpture, "Koning," was made by Saar de Swart, who was born in the middle of the 19th century and died mid-20th. Look at this King! You can see him, sort of monumental but also quite understated, sitting there with his loyal subjects. I wonder what it was like for de Swart to work with bronze, the malleability and the weight of it all. I mean you don’t just start with this final form. He appears as a large, dignified figure but the subjects beside him are barely at his shoulder, as if his reign is somehow dependent on them. They are a community. Do you see the way the light catches on the figure's face, the thoughtful lines etched around his eyes? It makes you think about the weight of leadership, of responsibility. It’s as though she’s had a conversation with Rodin, trading ideas about how to capture the human spirit in three dimensions, which of course she has in some way. Artists have always been in conversation, across time and space, riffing off each other's ideas. This sculpture feels like a note in that ongoing exchange.