Leen Droppert

Leen Droppert
Droppert watches the installation of the Geuzenmonument [nl] (1983)
Born	Leendert Droppert (1930-04-24)24 April 1930 Vlaardingen, Netherlands
Died	15 November 2022(2022-11-15) (aged 92) Vlaardingen, Netherlands
Nationality	Dutch
Occupation	visual artist

Leendert "Leen" Droppert (24 April 1930 – 15 November 2022) was a Dutch visual artist.^[1][2]

Droppert was born in Vlaardingen in 1930. He attended the Amsterdamse Grafische School (Amsterdam Graphic School) in Amsterdam and the Willem de Kooning Academy, an evening art adacemy in Rotterdam. In 1947 he founded the Vlaardingse Kunstkring [nl] together with six other visual artists from Vlaardingen.^[2]

Droppert worked as a visual artist and spatial designer since the early 1950s. His works belong to both figurative art and abstract art. Between the 1950s and 1970s he created dozens of wall paintings, ceramic wall sculptures and stained glass windows. He is more known for the various parks and (school)squares he designed during the 1970s and 1980s that includes his works of art.^[2]

It is his most known sculpture is the Geuzenmonument [nl] which was unveiled by Beatrix of the Netherlands on 12 March 1983. The monument commemorates the Geuzen, the first large group of resistance fighters from World War II and the Geuzen who did not survive the war. Each year on 13 March, the Geuzen are commemorated with a silent march to the monument where the Geuzenpenning [nl] is awarded.^[1]

In 2008, Droppert created a flood pile project of the Vettenoordse polders [nl] in Vlaardingen. The project consists of four flood poles, which indicate the water level at the storm surge of 1775. The poles are located at Maasboulevard, Mendelssohnplein, Westhavenkade and Zomerstraat in Vlaardingen.^[3]

Droppert received the honorary medal of the city of Vlaardingen in 2010, and so became honorary citizen of the municipality. The same year, Museum Vlaardingen held the exposition about the works of Droppert named "Zover het oog reikt" on the occasion of his eightieth birthday.^[1][4] In 2020, the year of his ninetieth birthday, Museum Vlaardingen held again an exposition with his works.^[5]

Droppert married to Beatrix van der Kuil who died in 2006. From around 2020 he lived in care home Drieën-Huysen in Vlaardingen due to his declining health. Droppert died there after a short illness on 15 November 2022, at the age of 92.^[1][2]

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  Jacobs strijd met de engel (1956/2001), Vlaardingen
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  Metallic plastic (1958), Vlaardingen
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  Metallic plastic (1959), Vlaardingen
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  Vrouw met vogel (1964), Capelle aan den IJssel
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  Prometheus (1966), Capelle aan den IJssel
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  Schoolkinderen (1967), Vlaardingen
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  Wall sculpture (1974), Hoogvliet
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  Schakel (1974), Vlaardingen
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  Groeinormen (1978), Rotterdam
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  Geuzenmonument [nl] (1983), Vlaardingen
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  Erosie-destructie (1987), Vlaardingen
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  Wall sculpture (1988), Capelle aan den IJssel
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  Hommage aan de zeilvaart (1993), Vlaardingen