Have You Noticed the Statue on the Stadhuisbrug? By M.J.Douglas
My curiosity with Meisje Op Kermispaard (lit. Girl on Carousel Horse) began three weeks ago. I stole a glance at the statue while rushing for cover from a torrential downpour. When I was back in the city centre a couple days later, I made a point to pass over the Stadhuisbrug and get a closer look at her. Usually equestrian sculptures are very serious business — intended to commemorate nobility or war heroes of times long passed. This one is distinctly silly. The horse’s mouth is agape, the girl’s hands are in the air, and it’s planted haphazardly on this bridge in the middle of town with no pomp or circumstance whatsoever. There is something to be appreciated about art that can just exist in a public space without needing to signal its importance to the world. However, without a plaque to reference I was led to the natural line of questioning: where did this thing come from?
A Google search on the bus for: ‘girl on horse statue Utrecht centre’ granted me a TripAdvisor page. I learned its name and uncovered my first clue via a review left by one Jorge E. He wrote: “Beautiful statue that represents a girl on a cart horse and that was donated to the city for recreation day celebrations and leisure activities.” While I’m not qualified to say what sorts of leisure activities one can do on a statue, Jorge did mention it had been donated to the city. Another search under the sculpture’s proper title gave me a lot more to work with. I found that the catalogue Kunst in de Openbare Ruimte Utrecht (lit. Art in Public Spaces Utrecht) had a page on it. From there, I discovered a relevant article written by Debbie Van Terswiga for Indebuurt under her column Utrechtse Mysteries. These two secondary sources helped me piece together the full story.
Meisje Op Kermispaard was created by local sculptor Pieter d’Hondt (1917 – 1997), who is responsible for several other bronze cast works scattered across Utrecht. Most famously, d’Hondt was the artist behind the statue of Anne Frank found next to the Janskerk. d’Hondt was commissioned by the Stichting Stadsontspanning Utrecht (lit. Utrecht City Relaxation Organisation) on the occasion of the organisation’s thirtieth birthday — 1986. The SSOU was created as a committee dedicated to organising leisure activities, though it slowly evolved over time into a volunteer organisation. d’Hondt’s depiction of a cheerful girl riding a merry-go-round is a nod to the SSOU’s stated ethos ‘to provide and promote mental and physical relaxation’ to the people of Utrecht. Now in its seventieth year active, the group has a pretty sparse online presence but continues to organise the annual festival welcoming Sinterklaas to town on November 15th. Their website says they currently have a vacancy for Petes, and you get to keep the hat! Ask your local Dutchie for clarification if needed. I did reach out to learn more, but the SSOU did not respond to the opportunity to comment.
Art pieces like Meisje Op Kermispaard populate our cities and often end up unnoticed by passersby. Their tendency to fade into the background noise of urban life is exactly what I believe makes them worth getting to know. Within these works there is always a bit of modern folklore waiting to be dug up. In the process of investigation, you end up learning a lot more than you originally intended and become a little closer to the city you call home.
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