If you are still looking for a work of art for the wall, the Night Watch might be an option. Not the original, but the replica of the Emmen Night Watch Foundation.
The foundation has been painting the most beautiful works in the former savannah stable in the Rensenpark in Emmen for years, but they have now had enough. The foundation has not found any successors and is therefore putting an end to their work. This poses a problem, because where should the four by five meter painting go?
The Emmen Night Watch was created in December 2017. A group of forty amateur painters worked for three years on a full-size copy of Rembrandt’s world-famous painting The Night Watch.
Board member Fokke Wester hopes that a wall for the artwork will be made available somewhere in Emmen. “Our great wish is to place it in a location where it is accessible to everyone, preferably without an entrance fee.” The foundation is looking for someone who can take good care of the work of art. “The owner must have a heart for it, so that years from now, when we are no longer here, the painting will still be alive. Just like Rembrandt and his own painting.”
The foundation had set its sights on De Grote Kerk in Emmen. “Unfortunately, that did not work out. Exhibitions are often held in that church and a large painting that hangs there permanently would be too dominant,” says Wester. The town hall was also considered, but according to the municipality, that is also not a suitable place .
The foundation will be dissolved at the end of this year, with laughter and tears. “We would have preferred if people had stood up and wanted to move the cart forward, but that did not happen,” says Wester. Yet the foundation looks back with pride on their years in the Rensenpark. “We have created beautiful works here.”
Board member Geert Joling has to think about how he will spend his free time if the foundation no longer exists. “I have been here three days a week for almost six years. The initial phase with De Nachtwacht was especially difficult.”
After completing that monster job, the foundation worked on a series of self-portraits by Vincent van Gogh and the canvas The Legend of Rembrandt. The idea behind the last project was to realize a canvas by Rembrandt that was reportedly never completed.
This also became a painting of four by five meters. “On the canvas you see Rembrandt at the end of his life in front of the church council,” says Joling, the driving force behind this project. The foundation faces the same challenge here, because what is a suitable place for two mega paintings?
The search for a new home continues. “We look around us a lot, here in Emmen, Drenthe-wide, nationally. If that really doesn’t work, we will look further abroad,” says Wester.
