Back in the fifties when I was a small boy, I used to go by tramway over the “Laan van Meerdervoort” in The Hague. Every time the carriages approached the “Suezkade” I pressed my nose to the window, because I knew that on the bridge was a statue with two beautiful automobiles on it.
It’s been a long time since I lived in The Hague, but I’ve never forgotten those toy cars, so not long ago I went back to The Hague to find out if the statue was still there. Indeed, it was!
I had no idea why the cars were a part of the statue, not even if they were known makes. However, they do go give an impression of momentum and speed. Maybe that was what the artist was trying to express. I was intrigued and with the name of the sculptor, that was chiselled on the base of the statue, I went to the “Rijksarchief voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie” (Netherlands Institute for art history) in The Hague. There I found a folder with information about the sculptor and this statue.
The mother with her two children depicts “Safety in Traffic”. The statue dates from 1937 and was made by the sculptor Dirk Wolbers. Obviously in 1937 safety was already an issue. Mothers, bringing their offspring to school, were urged not to cross the street too reckless. Traffic had already become too dangerous for that. And it shows in the faces of the two kids. The boy looks very tense. His whole attitude spells action. Within a few seconds - when mother gives the signal - he’ll rush to the other side of the street.
The attitude of the girl shows her fear. Afraid of the oncoming traffic she shrinks back and tries to find protection with her careful mother. The three of them are enclosed by the two automobiles that are the subject of this story and these very two automobiles received lots of criticism when the granite statue was placed on the bridge. It was argued that the cars were much too small compared with a real car and too big for a “Dinky Toy”.
It was thought that the statue as a whole was all right, nobody would get excited about it, but on the other hand, nobody would be offended by it.
Among other works, Dirk Wolbers also made seven statues for the Town Hall of Rotterdam, but he became famous when he made a statue of Maria de la Queillerie, wife of Jan van Riebeeck, the first president of the South-African Republic. In 1954 this statue was presented to South-Africa by the Dutch government.
In 1957 Dirk Wolbers died a very poignant death. When crossing a busy intersection in Voorschoten, near The Hague, he failed to see an approaching lorry. He was hit and died from his injuries.

(Sources: an article from - probably - the “Haagse Courant” dated march 30, 1988 and a newspaper cutting dated September 29, 1937, from an unknown newspaper)

photos Rutger Booy

October 2002