Discovering Rebecca in Zadkine's studio

Hammacher visits Zadkine’s studio in Paris almost every year, including in 1951 together with Charley Toorop. He wants to get acquainted with the environment in which art is created, in order to better understand and interpret the work. During one such visit in 1952 his eye is caught by the urn-carrying Rebecca, one of the few wooden sculptures made by Zadkine.

Zadkine created this monumental, over 2.5-metre tall sculpture from polychromed apple wood in 1927 and it had remained in his studio ever since. There it had remarkably survived the Second World War, even though Zadkine was forced to seek refuge in New York during those years.

Hammacher acquires Rebecca for the new sculpture gallery, designed by Henry van de Velde, where it would take pride of place. Because the sculpture is damaged, it is first restored by Zadkine before being moved to Otterlo. It arrives there on 26 March 1952.