Through his often humorous works, the Dutch artist explores our relationship to public space. He recontextualizes familiar elements to reveal their absurdity or unexpected poetry.
Place Royale is a symbol of downtown Nantes. Its monumental fountain – inaugurated in 1865 – reflects the city’s 19th-century economic and urban boom: here, a central female figure embodies the city, surrounded by bronze allegories representing its driving forces – from the Loire and its tributaries to the industries of the time.
But what does this monument still say about the city today? That’s the question posed by Willem de Haan. Through his often humorous works, the Dutch artist explores our relationship to public space. He recontextualizes familiar elements to reveal their absurdity or unexpected poetry.
For Place Royale, he decided to “update” the fountain: fourteen hyperrealistic figures of contemporary people from Nantes have replaced the 19th-century allegories. Selected for their professions, commitments, or ties to the city’s transformations, these individuals represent the social, economic, and cultural dynamics of the 21st century.
Through this piece, the artist offers a new way of reading the city, rooted in its current identity and ongoing changes. Blending homage and renewal, the work questions how a city builds its image through monuments, and how it chooses to tell its story in public space.
Do not climb on the foutain.
The Genius of Health, one of the fourteen statues presented as part of Willem de Haan’s Latest Version installation, was deliberately damaged at the end of November. Due to the significant damage observed, and in order to ensure public safety as well as the integrity of the artwork, our technical teams were required to remove the statue.
Le Voyage à Nantes strongly condemns this act, which undermines a work presented in the public space. A complaint has been filed and an investigation is currently underway.
The possibility of restoring the statue is under consideration, in close dialogue with the artist.
We thank the public for their understanding.
The original statues of the foutain
During the summer event, the original statues have been moved on the square and rearranged within a structure resembling a museum storage facility, thus creating a dialogue between past and present.
The Latest Version by Willem de Haan will remain in place until January 2026, while the original statues of the fountain will be restored (Place Royale, Nantes, France).
3 questions to the artist
Willem de Haan was born in 1996 in Apeldoorn (Netherlands). He now lives and works in Antwerp (Belgium).
This work was made possible with the support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Thanks to the Department of Heritage and Archaeology of Nantes.
