Ek van Zanten studied at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten on the Amsterdam Stadhouderskade from the age of fifteen, where he was taught by Piet Esser, a professor of sculpture, among others. From him, Ek Van Zanten learned to depict movement — movement caught at the right moment.
He worked a lot from models and made animal figures, took classes in the evenings. During the last two years of the course, he worked with both wood and stone.
Throughout his creative life, Ek worked with different materials like clay, wax, plaster, eventually casting his works in bronze.
He created large sculptures all over the Netherlands, including at the Dutch embassy in Washington.
In 1953 he received a grant for further studies at the École Nationale d’Architecture et des Arts Décoratifs (Higher School for Visual Arts) in Brussels. In 1955 Van Zanten participated in the third edition of the international sculpture exhibition in Park Sonsbeek, with his sculpture ‘Lady in Chair’. He won the Prix de Rome that year, which enabled him to work in Rome for two years. Moving back to the Netherlands, he initially lived in Amsterdam until he moved to Naarden in 1961.
DAME IN STOEL
1953, Sonsbeek
Through the Dutch–Belgian cultural agreement, Ek obtained an internship in Brussels, where he sculpted a small figure of a lady seated in a chair, shading herself with a hat. He later transformed the piece into a life-sized plaster sculpture, exhibited in Sonsbeek Park (Arnhem). The work attracted media attention and was featured alongside sculptures by Henry Moore and Van Zanten in several newspapers.
AUTO
1959, Rom
The inspiration for the car came in 1958 when Ek lived in the centre of Rome. He saw the enormous American car driving through the narrow streets of Rome.
EUROPA AND THE BULL
1963, Hilversum
Europa and the bull was made in commission for the municipality of Hilversum in 1963, for which he received the cultural prize.
DIJKWERKERS
1970, Rotterdam
The Dijkwerkers above ground on the dike, which was raised after the flooding in 1953. The sculpture is representing two male figures lifting a basalt block
TEGENSTANDERS
1978, Amsterdam
Two football players at the Amsterdam Olympic Stadium from 1978 stand over the first minute of the 1974 World Cup final when Johan Cruijff was brought down in the German penalty area.
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