Henriette Roland Holst and Joke C. Bos
The Queen Wilhelmina Boulevard will have a Cultural Mirror featuring Henriette Roland Holst, painted by Joke C. Bos. Henriette Roland Holst, writer, poet and socialist politician, who lived in Noordwijk from 1869 to 1959. Her contemporaries characterised her as ‘our greatest poet’. Especially in the period between the two World Wars, Henriette Roland Holst was an important and influential writer, who struggled in her personal life with moral principles, depressions and a complicated marriage.
Would you like to know more about Henriette Roland Holst? Click here.
The mirror includes an excerpt from the poem:
De zachte krachten zullen zeker winnen
van Henriette Roland Holst.
De zachte krachten zullen zeker winnen
in ’t eind -- dit hoor ik als een innig fluistren
in mij: zoo ’t zweeg zou alle licht verduistren
alle warmte zou verstarren van binnen.
De machten die de liefde nog omkluistren
zal zij, allengs voortschrijdend, overwinnen,
dan kan de groote zaligheid beginnen
die w’als onze harten aandachtig luistren
in alle teederheden ruischen hooren
als in kleine schelpen de groote zee.
Liefde is de zin van ’t leven der planeten
en mensche’ en diere’. Er is niets wat kan storen
’t stijgen tot haar. Dit is het zeekre weten:
naar volmaakte Liefde stijgt alles mee.
Artist: Joke C. Bos
Joke C. Bos, visual artist and Noordwijk resident, has made a portrait in sepia of Henriette Roland Holst, painted in 2016. Joke made the portrait of Henriette Roland Holst as part of the celebrations marking the anniversary of 150 years of Noordwijk as a seaside resort. “I have received many accolades for this portrait. It was purchased by Dorine Holman, literary agent, and is currently hanging in the Authors’ Cottage.” In 2003 Joke had already been commissioned by the Van der Meer bookstore to create a work of art based on a famous extract about Noordwijk from one of Henriette Roland Holst’s poems. Early this year, this panel was put on display once more in Kerkstraat. “I consider the fact that this portrait is now hanging along the boulevard to be an incredible honour, and it is also amazing that Henriette Roland Holst is given her place in the spotlights like this.”
Joke C. Bos also hails from Noordwijk, but this seaside resort is so much more to her than just the place where she lives. “It is a unique spot by the sea that has that special light, which makes it so perfect for painting. The very fact that I can see this every day is a privilege.”
“My inspiration comes from day-to-day life. It is not so much about the external observed reality, but more about the layer under that. Mankind in all of its manifestations is the central theme of my work, and sometimes its secrets are unveiled.”
For more information, visit the website of Joke C. Bos: www.jokecbos.nl