Solidarity (1898): Art, History and Details

Solidarity (1898) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is George Minne (Belgian, 1866–1941).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

In 1898, the Belgian Labor Party commissioned George Minne to make a memorial for Jean Volders, the Socialist movement leader. Rather than making a traditional portrait, Minne represented the socialist ideal of prioritizing cooperation over competition, creating an allegory of brotherhood with two nude men standing in a boat, anxiously trying to keep their balance in a storm. The Labor Party disliked Minne’s design and withdrew the commission. In anger, Minne destroyed his nearly 10-foot-tall plaster model, but the artist’s friends and contemporary critics recognized the power of the sculpture. A smaller study survived and was later cast in bronze. This marble version is the only carved example of the composition known to have been completed

Object facts

• Title: Solidarity
• Date: 1898
• Creator attribution: George Minne (Belgian, 1866–1941)
• Culture: Belgium, late 19th century
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: marble
• Dimensions: Overall: 69.9 x 63.6 x 24.2 cm (27 1/2 x 25 1/16 x 9 1/2 in.)
• Collection: Mod Euro - Sculpture 1800-1960
• Department: Modern European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1968.191

A detail from the museum

Minnne’s sculpture explores spiritual life and inner conflict. His work focused on premodern themes and greatly influenced artists in Belgium, France, and Germany.

Collection credit

Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Cachin, Françoise, and Geneviève Lacambre. L'Art du XIXe Siècle: 1850-1905. Paris: Citadelles, 1990.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.