Solidarity

About the Artwork

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

Inscriptions

Signed near left foot of taller figure: "G. Minne"

Provenance

1968: (H. Schickman Gallery, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) 1968-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Exhibition history

Year in Review for 1968. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 29-March 9, 1969). Traditions and Revisions: Themes from the History of Sculpture. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 24-November 16, 1975). Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Beijing World Art Museum (May 26-August 27, 2006); Mori Art Center (September 16-November 26, 2006); Seoul Art Center, South Korea (December 22, 2006-March 28, 2007); Seoul Olympic Museum of Art, South Korea (April 7-May 20, 2007); Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada (June 9-September 16, 2007); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 21, 2007-January 13, 2008); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (February 15-June 1, 2008); Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, UT (June 22-September 21, 2008); The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (October 12, 2008-January 18, 2009).

Quick Overview

Artist: George Minne (Belgian, 1866–1941)
Date: 1898
Medium: marble
Dimensions: Overall: 69.9 x 63.6 x 24.2 cm (27 1/2 x 25 1/16 x 9 1/2 in.)
Type: Sculpture
Classification: Sculpture
Department: Modern European Painting and Sculpture
Credit line: Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund
Accession no.: 1968.191

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.