Hildo Krop

Hildebrand Lucien (Hildo) Krop (26 February 1884, Steenwijk, Overijssel – 20 August 1970) was a prolific Dutch sculptor and furniture designer, widely known as the city sculptor of Amsterdam, where his work is well represented.

Life Krop was a baker's son. Unwilling to work with an older brother, he set off on his own. In Leiden, he took modeling classes to make marzipan figures. He also worked in France and Italy and as a pastry cook.

Arts By 1906, Krop was in England, employed by a couple as a cook. He discovered his talent as a draftsman and attended summer school in art. Back in the Netherlands, he decided to become an artist and went to Paris, where he studied at the Académie Julian. In 1908, he studied at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam. From sculptor John Rädecker he learned stone carving under Bart van Hove. In 1910, he taught at the HBS (High school) in Haarlem. In 1911–1912, he spent the winter in Berlin, where he studied art under Georg Kolbe and then traveled from Rome to Paris, where he lived with the painter Jacob Bendien and met the sculptor Ossip Zadkine. Afsluitdijk monument, 1940. Legend: "A nation that lives builds for the future" He was responsible for sculptures on many bridges and houses in Amsterdam. These include the Hendrik Berlage monument on Victory Square and the plaque at the monument on the Afsluitdijk. glass and ironworks.

Krop was active through 1967. He was buried in Zorgvlied.

Politics Krop became a member of the Social Democratic Labour Party in 1908, but out of enthusiasm for the October Revolution and disappointment with social-democratic support for World War I (specifically, an advertisement for German war bonds in Het Volk) he switched allegiances to communism. In 1921, he designed the cover for Henriette Roland Holst's book Soviet Russia. In 1931, he made a bust of Lenin. In 1932, he traveled to the Soviet Union and stayed three months.

Krop also cooperated with Soviet intelligence agents. His first spymaster was Max Friedman. Through him, he came to know "Ludwik" (Ignace Reiss). In June 1937, he drew a study of Reiss on the back of a menu for a later bust.

Family Krop was the son of Henry Krop, baker, and Johanna Louisa Cordes. He had two brothers and four sisters.

Krop married Frederika Willemina ("Mien") Sleef on 24 December 1914. They had two children, a daughter and a son. A third child (son) died young. His father-in-law J. W. Sleef was a typographer, a prominent member of the Dutch socialist party and sometime chairman of the Amsterdam section of the socialist SDAP party. Through this family connection, Krop came into contact with leftist organizations and thought.

Works in Amsterdam

Mercurius en de windstreken (1916–18), Telefoondienst, Herengracht (Kamerlingh Onneslaan) Grave of Albert Hahn (1918–19), Nieuwe Oosterbegraafplaats De geboorte van de daad (1921–24), Berlage Lyceum Jozef Israëlskade Menselijke energie (1921–24), Berlage Lyceum Jozef Israëlskade Overvloed and Verkeer (1922), viaduct Spaarndammerstraat/Westerpark/Nassauplein Faun (1924–25), bridge Raadhuisstraat/Keizersgracht Verkeer (1926), hout relief, tram depot Lekstraat Moeder Aarde (1926), Weteringplantsoen De onbevangenheid tegenover het leven (1929–32), Muzenplein Lezende jongen ('Geschiedenis') (1929), school Deurloostraat/Geulstraat Stedemaagd (1933), Ceramic relief, Berlagebrug Nieuw leven/Handen van de Schepper (1939–40), brug Bernard Zweerskade/Beethovenstraat Gedenksteen Hongerwinter (1945), Oosterkerk Monument gefusilleerden (1947), Marnixstraat Monument Henri Viotta (1948), Wagnerstraat Fortuna (1948), Muntplein Verzetsmonument (1948), Nieuwe Oosterbegraafplaats De beschermer en handhaver van de sociale wetgeving (1954), Rijksverzekeringsbank/Apollo House, Apollolaan/Stadionweg Nimf/Baadster (1954–56), Marnixbad Baruch Spinoza (1959), Spinozalyceum Monument joodse grossiers (1959), Centrale Markthallen Zeevaart, handel, recht (1966–67), cement reliefs Universiteitsbibliotheek Amsterdam, Singel Monument H.P. Berlage (1966), Victorieplein Europa, 1953

Other works Relief Monument Afsluitdijk, 1940 Reliefs (1917–1938) and copies in 1957 (sandstone) of the cement works of François Gos and Firmin de Smet, Belgenmonument (Amersfoort) at Amersfoortse Berg Drang naar het leven, Openluchtmuseum voor beeldhouwkunst Middelheim, Antwerp 1949–51 Tile tableaus of Gerechtsgebouw Breda in Breda Ontmoeting tussen water en land, sluice gates Eems Canal, Delfzijl nl:Simon van Leeuwen (1938), Hoge Raad, The Hague Monument omgekomen PTT-ers (1950) Buste Erasmus (1950), near St.Janskerk, Gouda Oorlogsmonument (1949), De La Sablonièrekade, Kampen Monument Pieter Jelles Troelstra (1961–62), Oldehoofsterkerkhof, Leeuwarden Theo van Welderen Rengers (1955), Vrouwenpoort/Westerplantage, Leeuwarden Gevelversiering van een adelaar met een nest jongen in een omgekeerde Mercuriushelm (1920), Zeezicht Zalencentrum at the corner of Nobelstraat/Keizerstraat formerly a bank, Utrecht Ornaments at the entrance of the housing complex "De Utrecht" (1923), Jan van Scorelstraat (Oudwijk) Utrecht