KAREL GOMES
SCULPTURES

Karel Gomes, born in 1930 in Rotterdam, died in 2016 in Zwanenburg, studied at the Rijksacademie in Amsterdam. His work has been purchased by museums, municipalities and private individuals in the Netherlands and abroad. Sculptures by Karel Gomes can be found in the Rijksmuseum, the Amsterdam Historical Museum and the Central Museum in Utrecht, among others. He was the only artist who had work in the Rijksmuseum during his lifetime. Important images of Gomes include: the Jewish refugee, the medieval dance of death, the torture series and the Ghandi monument on the Churchillaan in Amsterdam. Commissioned by the Saint John the Baptist Church in Hoofddorp, he made the Kruisweg Statie for the sculpture garden behind the church, a book has been published about this; “The Way of the Cross on the Way of the Cross”.

Gomes’ work is characterized by powerful, expressive images with unique style. The gesture and the emotion are captured in a spatial form, in which the space and the free air around it must also cooperate. Whether his work is small or monumental, the images have enormous expressiveness. Figurative, sometimes detailed, then more coarsely worked out, but with all the essentials. Karel has left his mark on the Haarlemmermeer with ten works. “The Polder boy” and sculpture group “De Recreanten and Leeghwater” are just a few examples. Karel Gomes did not classify himself under any particular art movement.