inwijding van het nieuwe gebouw van het Koninklijke Koloniaal Instituut te Amsterdam 1927

This bronze medal commemorates the opening of the Royal Colonial Institute in Amsterdam. Look at how Jacob Jan van Goor has squeezed an entire building onto this tiny surface, and on the flip side, a whole tropical scene with text! It's like a miniature world. I can imagine Van Goor, hunched over his workbench, carefully carving each line and curve into the die. What was he thinking about? Maybe the grand ambition of the Institute, or the exotic lands it represented. The leaves are so finely detailed, like they could rustle in the breeze if you held them up to your ear. I wonder if he was thinking of other artists who'd worked with bronze, casting and carving away. There's something satisfying about holding a medal like this in your hand, feeling its weight and texture. Artists are always in conversation with each other, across time and space, riffing on the ideas of those who came before. This medal feels like a tiny, tangible piece of that ongoing dialogue.