Wim Harzing - Saint Francis

Wim Harzing Saint Francis Terracotta plaque Height: 33 cm Width: 11 cm Signed Marked: Russel-Tiglia (Tegelen) 640 grams Cool copy
Wilhelmus Anthonius Maria (Wim) Harzing (1898 – 1978) was a Dutch sculptor. Harzing was a son of Anthonius Johannes Wilhelmus Harzing, architect and contractor, and Jozephina Johanna Hendrika Schols. His parents sent him to the HBS in Utrecht. However, he did not finish school and left for Amsterdam around 1915, where he studied at the Quellinus School of Applied Arts. After his final exams in 1920, he studied in Belgium for a while. In 1922 Harzing established himself as an independent artist in his birthplace. His first commission, a design for a Sacred Heart statue, for the Utrecht firm Weduwe van Rossum would later be executed in various formats. His figure of Christ points with his left hand to the Sacred Heart on the chest, while the raised right hand, with a wide hanging sleeve, points to heaven. Harzing worked mainly on commission for the Roman Catholic Church and made large and small statues of saints. His first major commission was a Sacred Heart statue for the Laurentius Church in Voorschoten (1924). For the same church, he designed the altar, a wall mosaic and skylights ten years later (1934). He also made a statue of Christ for Leeuwarden (1938). He was invited to participate in the 1937 World Exhibition in Paris.