Street Art Cities

A new mural adorns the side of a housing complex in Burgemeester Röellstraat in Amsterdam Nieuw-West. The artwork is inspired by the collection of the Scheepvaartmuseum and part of the Museum Mural project.

It is no surprise that the French artist was linked to the Maritime Museum. His paintings mainly show boats and ships. “I grew up in Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie, France, a village southwest of Nantes. There were many fishing boats in the harbor. Boats have inspired me from an early age.” He continues: “Buy a boat and you can go anywhere. That does something to your imagination.”

For this mural, Pommier not only drew inspiration from the French harbor that is so familiar to him. “I received photos of the collection of the Maritime Museum. This way I could choose which ships I found interesting.”

The Dutch wind made painting a gigantic wall challenging, says the artist. Yet he completed his colorful work of art after nine days. The housing complex now features three sailing boats in warm tones, floating in a sea of ​​green and blue lines.

“The boats are indeed on the water, but I wanted to create a kind of relief with wavy lines. Many sleek shapes can be seen in the vicinity of the building. I wanted to break that with these flowing waves.”

Pommier was also inspired by the environment for the use of color. “The different colors symbolize the multicultural society in the neighborhood. I have already had a few reactions from local residents – fortunately all positive.”

At the initiative of the @mauritshuis_museum , a very special street art project started in 2024: Museum Murals. On 20 walls throughout the Netherlands, 20 street artists will create a new life-size work of art, inspired by a painting, object or story from the collections of 20 different museums. From Texel to Heerlen and from Groningen to Ouwerkerk, in the middle of a residential area, on an old factory wall or along the railway: The Museum Murals ensure that art becomes accessible to everyone and the whole of the Netherlands a little more beautiful.