Hildo Krop (1884 -1970)

Hildo Krop (1884 -1970)

It’s almost impossible to wander through the city of Amsterdam and not see work by Hildo Krop, the chief sculptor of the city. Many bridges and buildings have sculptured work that Krop is primarily responsible for. The sculpture “Two Cats Making Love”, which can be seen at the Cat Cabinet, is clearly one of his smaller projects and probably falls into the category of “free work”. One of his most famous works, and of a different order of magnitude, is the Berlage monument on Victorieplein in Amsterdam.

Krop studied in Paris at the well-known Academy Julian in order to propel his career as an artist forward. In the Netherlands he studied sculpture at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam. For a short time he taught illustration at the HBS in Haarlem, but quickly left for Berlin to learn from Georg Kolbe at the Kunstgewerbeschule. After brief stays in Rome and Paris he went back to Amsterdam in 1912 to practice his art in the atelier of Hendrik van den Eijnde. Van den Eijnde was involved in the building of the Scheepvaarthuis on the Prins Hendrikkade and responsible for the sculpture work. Krop had proved to be an excellent sculptor and after finishing the job his career as City Sculptor for Amsterdam began.

Naturally, Krop is primarily known for his contribution to public spaces in Amsterdam, but in addition he also worked for the ceramics producer ESKAF, the well-known Glasfabriek in Leerdam, and he also made diverse designs for furniture, forgings and book bindings for various publishing houses.

Bron: www.hildokrop.nl