On Tuesday 4 July 2023, Chair of the committee Kunst & en Wetenschap Erasmus School of Law, Caroline Pietermaat, opened the artwork Haven by artist Hanna de Haan. The work of art was commissioned by Erasmus School of Law for the central hall of Sanders building and is a gift on the occasion of the deanship of Suzan Stoter (2013-2021).
The artwork consists of various wooden panels that form a continuous harbor panorama. Hanna's handwriting, as employees may recognise from her work between the glass walls on the 5th floor, is clearly recognisable. The quick scratches in the wood are applied with the same immediacy as the black lines on the glass. Hanna brings movement and tension to the image and knows, without losing meaning, to let the lines retain their searching, unfinished and sketchy character.
Art firmly anchored in Erasmus School of Law’s DNA
Right from the start, Rotterdam legal science has been closely linked to art. Founder and first Dean of Erasmus School of Law, Professor Piet Sanders, laid the foundation for this. He was a leading art collector and beneficiary of art and culture. He supported, along with his wife, many beginning artists who later became acclaimed artists. Thanks to Piet Sanders, the famous painter Karel Appel created the giant ceramic (frieze) above the entrance of Tinbergen Building at Campus Woudestein.
Art has therefore played an important role in the transformation of Sanders Building over the years. Until now, it has only enriched the private office areas in Sanders Building. With Haven, this limitation has been broken and the art of Erasmus School of Law is also accessible to students and visitors.
About Hanna de Haan
Hanna de Haan's work mainly consists of drawings and woodcuts, but she also likes to experiment with different graphic techniques. These techniques include cardboard print, blueprint or a combination of print and rubbing, collages and drawing. Most of her work is about city buildings or structures. She is intrigued by the speed with which cities change, as does the fact that a city is never finished but is always designed and transformed into something new. Constructions give an impression of how a building is named, but they do not show the final building and leave De Haan some room for imagination. For more information about Hanna and her work, please visit: www.hannadehaan.nl.
- More information
For more information, please contact Ronald de Groot, Communication Advisor at Erasmus School of Law: rdegroot@ese.eur.nl, +31 6 53 641 846.
Photo 1: From left to right: Caroline Pietermaat, Hanna de Haan, Quint Linderman (Student Board Member), Suzan Stoter, Joshua Kruithof (President JFR), Harriët Schelhaas (Dean) and Ellen van Schoten (Vice President Executive Board).
Photo 2: Caroline Pietermaat, Chair of the committee Kunst & en Wetenschap Erasmus School of Law, performed the opening ceremony.
Photo 3: Former and present Dean of Erasmus School of Law, Suzan Stoter and Harriët Schelhaas.