Mari Andriessen

Mari(e) Silvester Andriessen (1897 - 1979) was a Dutch sculptor. He was a member of the second generation of the Group of figurative abstraction, also known as De Groep (“The Group”).

The years up to and including the war were difficult for him and other sculptors, as there were few assignments. The 1940-45 period gave a decisive twist to his life and work. 

Andriessen, as 'Aryan artist', had to become a member of the Nederlandsche Kultuurkamer, which was based on National Socialist philosophy, which he refused. Because of this he received no commissions and was not allowed to exhibit. Andriessen held Jewish people in hiding in his house and the resistance had a weapons depot in Andriessen's studio.

When the war ended, many municipalities wanted to have a war memorial. Few knew what such a monument should look like. Andriessen had learned from his teacher Bronner that an image had to be clear, clean and well-organized. He was inspired by Belgian and French realists (Constantin Meunier, Aimé-Jules Dalou and Auguste Rodin).

His best-known works are De Dokwerker (“The Docker”), Anne Frank and “Man for the firing squad”. De Dokwerker on Amsterdam's Jonas Daniël Meijerplein commemorates the February strike of 1941.