Greetings from the Nieuwmarkt

It has taken a while, but the art work ensemble in the underground metro station at Nieuwmarkt, Amsterdam, is now complete again and fully restored at last.

In 1980, Louis van Gasteren together with Jan Sierhuis, Bert Griepink, Roel van den Ende and Tine Hofman created the 'Gesamtkunstwerk' for the Nieuwmarkt underground station, as part of a chain of station artworks along the Amsterdam East Line.

The photo collages of 'Greetings from the Nieuwmarkt' are back on the wall after an absence of more than ten years. The two triptychs with broken mirrors on each side of the platform were recently cleaned.
The faded photos and posters in the compositions of wall fragments at the entrance to the platform have been replaced. The slogan 'We'll Keep Living Here', painted anew with white gloss, is still wet and stands out against the wall as never before.

The underground mission is done!

Read the pamphlet 'Demolition Ball and Battle of Waterloo' here. I wrote it in 2011 as an appeal for conservation and restoration of the original artworks when the East Line metro stations were renovated.

Martijn Sandberg, 21 February 2023

Related articles, section 'blog':

'Demolition Ball and Battle of Waterloo', 29 June 2011
'Artworks metro stations', early documents, 5 August 2011
'Favourite Sites in Amsterdam', 3 February 2018
'With A Colleague's Regards', 1 March 2018
'Inventory Post-War Wall Art Amsterdam', 6 December 2018





Scale model, on wall in house of Louis van Gasteren, photographed in 2011. (photo: Martijn Sandberg)




'Groeten uit de Nieuwmarkt' with Louis van Gasteren and Jan Sierhuis, 1980. (photo: Marcel Antonisse)




'Wij blijven hier wonen', assemblage in metro Nieuwmarkt, Amsterdam, 1980. (photo: Fernando Pereira)




'Groeten uit de Nieuwmarkt' with Jan Sierhuis, archive photo, 25 August 1980. (photo: Marcel Antonisse)


<< BackPrint >>