When you next visit the O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library we invite you to go to the lower level and see a new piece of art that has been donated to the University of St. Thomas and has found a new home with us. This piece of sculpture by Loet Vanderveen is called Elephant Herd.
The description for this work reads: Loet Vanderveen grew up in Rotterdam, Holland where he visited the city zoo. He recalls the horrific day of May 14, 1940 when the Germans bombed Rotterdam and the zoo was structurally compromised. The Dutch army shot many of the animals to prevent them from roaming the city and harming residents. Vanderveen recalls a few animals survived and he describes the movement of one of the elephants this way: “. . . in the midst of it all, there was one elephant roaming. It was very, very poetic.” In some of his sculptures Vanderveen explores this memory in the form of a single elephant. In the work he donated to the University of St. Thomas, Vanderveen expands on the subject and reveals the grace and beauty of an elephant herd moving together.

Take a peek at a similar work of art by this artist, and we’re certain you’ll want to see ours in person.