Transportation on Peter Alma’s wall paintings | retours
▻http://retours.eu/en/41-peter-alma-transport
Plaisir d’un samedi gris. Hier, en arrivant à la gare d’Amstel dans la banlieue d’Amsterdam, je découvre deux magnifiques peintures murales de #Peter_Alma que je savais être être un des initiateurs du mouvement artistique « #De_Stijl » avec Mondian entre autre, et en consultant sa biographie, je (re)découvre qu’il est parti avec les #Neurath et #Gerd_Arntz à Moscou au début des années 30 pour travailler au sein d’"Izostats"...
https://dl.dropbox.com/s/pghebof0jkb2gqh/peter%20alma%20amstel%202.JPG?dl=0 
https://dl.dropbox.com/s/urnx1b9bvbpc60n/peter%20alma%20amstel%201.JPG?dl=0 In 1939 the east of Amsterdam was given a strikingly modern railway station to replace the Weesperpoort station (located elsewhere). It was situated on the new elevated railway to Utrecht and designed by H.G.J. Schelling, architect of the Dutch Railways. Instigated by the city, which partly funded the station, Schelling optimized the transfer options for bicycle, car, bus and tram. His goal was an “ordered system of modes of transport”.
At the end walls of the high and light station concourse, murals were projected. A closed design competition was held among five artists. Among the jurors were Heinrich Campendonk, professor of Monumental Art at the National Academy, and architect Schelling. The proposed designs had to “connect the minds with travel and traffic in a positive way”, but the artists were not limited in any other way.
The winning design was by Peter Alma, entitled The global significance of the railway system, and its technical progress. The jury appreciated the composition, color palette and simplicity of the scenes, while the other entries featured a lot of worn symbolism. The execution was not easy: the two surfaces were 20 meters wide and 9 meters high. Alma had to work on high scaffolding and told it was like “living vertically” for almost half a year. He was assisted by Jan Bons.
The eastern wall represents the development of steam locomotives, with a group of inventors and a globe with railway lines in the center. The west wall shows the results of the technical development: modern-day steam and electric trains topped by a winged wheel, the symbol of railways.
