Erwin Olaf

Erwin Olaf was born in 1959 in Hilversum, The Netherlands, and passed away in 2023 in Groningen, The Netherlands. He lived and worked in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

 

During his lifetime Olaf was an internationally renowned artist whose diverse practice centred around society’s marginalized individuals including women, people of colour, and the LGBTQ+ community. In 2019, following the acquisition of 500 works by in the Rijksmuseum, Olaf became a Knight of the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands. On the occasion Taco Dibbits, the director of the Rijksmuseum, called Olaf “one of the most important photographers of the final quarter of the 20th century”.

‘After Rodin’ was commissioned in 2016 by the Groninger Museum in the Netherlands. The series pays homage to the founder of modern sculptor and Impressionist artist August Rodin by photographing members of the Dutch National Ballet replicating some of Rodin’s masterpieces. 

 

Each image is named after a respective sculpture which inspired the dancers’ pose. Olaf further pays tribute to the French master and his use of marble, bronze and stone by posing his subjects against a sparse, stone background which reflects the sculptural characteristics of the dancers.

 

http://www.groningermuseum.nl/en/content/after-rodin-erwin-olaf