World Art Utopia

Iucundi acti labores — Iris Le Rütte, Oldenzaal

Iris Le Rütte’s bronze bench Iucundi acti labores in Kalheupinkpark, Oldenzaal: a sheet of bronze cloth held up by two hands on a lawn under trees
Artwork FileOldenzaal, Netherlands

Iucundi acti labores

SeenSep 2017

Iris Le Rütte · bronze, 2003 · Kalheupinkpark, Oldenzaal, Netherlands · Dutch subtitle: Na gedane arbeid is het goed rusten

Photo: Frans-Banja Mulder, Wikimedia Commons (via Panoramio), CC BY 3.0, 3 May 2008.

In Kalheupinkpark, two hands hold up a sheet of bronze cloth that forms the seat of a park bench. Iris Le Rütte’s Latin title means “after work, it is good to rest”, and the cloth refers to Oldenzaal’s past as a textile town. Source Source Source Checked

Seen Sep 2017. Evidence date: 2017-09-03, a visitor’s dated 360° photo in Google Maps, taken on the lawn about 18 m from the pin, in which the bench stands in front of the same large trees; Pieter Delicaat’s dated photo on Wikimedia Commons shows it there on 9 June 2013 and Frans-Banja Mulder’s on 3 May 2008. The park’s foundation still lists the bench among the park’s artworks on its undated web page. Source Source Source Source Checked

💡 4 things to know

  1. Half a ton that looks lightLe Rütte describes it as a bench weighing half a ton, in the form of a seemingly light, floating drapery held up in the air by two golden hands. Source Checked
  2. A place to restThe title is the Latin translation of “Na gedane arbeid is het goed rusten” (after work, it is good to rest), which the park foundation says suits a bench where visitors can rest for a while. Source Source Checked
  3. A nod to textilesThe cloth forms the seat of the bench and refers to Oldenzaal’s textile past. Source Source Checked
  4. Art after an anniversaryThe bench came from Oldenzaal’s service clubs after the city celebrated its 750th anniversary and the idea arose that there should be more art. Source Source Checked

📍 Where it is

Kalheupinkpark, the English garden of the Kalheupink estate · Oldenzaal, Netherlands Source Source Checked

Open in Maps

The button opens a visitor’s 360° photo of the lawn in Google Maps (September 2017), facing the bench in front of the large trees. Google’s own Street View imagery does not cover this part of the park. The pin is the camera location recorded for the 2008 Commons photo.

🗓️ Sightings

  1. 2003

    Placed in Kalheupinkpark

  2. 20083 May

    Photo by Frans-Banja Mulder

  3. 20139 Jun

    Photo by Pieter Delicaat

  4. 20173 Sep

    360° photo in Google Maps

  5. 2025Jan

    The artist writes about the bench

Green stamps mark dated photographs; amber stamps mark records or reports; red stamps mark loss. Publication dates are not camera dates.

🗞️ In the sources

Hollands MaandbladJanuary 2025

Weight held high

“een halve ton wegende bank in de vorm van een ogenschijnlijk lichte, zwevende draperie, door twee gouden handen in de lucht gehouden”

“a bench weighing half a ton, in the form of a seemingly light, floating drapery, held up in the air by two golden hands” — Iris Le Rütte, in her essay on word and image.

Read the source →

✅ The facts

Artist
Iris Le Rütte (Eindhoven, 1960) Source Source Checked
Title
Iucundi acti labores (Na gedane arbeid is het goed rusten) Source Source Checked
Material
Bronze Source Source Checked
Core
Stainless steel core inside the bronze cloth, which is mounted on two concrete slabs Source Reported
Size
300 cm wide; half a ton, in the artist’s words Source Source Checked
Place
Kalheupinkpark, Oldenzaal Source Source Source Checked
Given by
Oldenzaal’s service clubs (with local entrepreneurs, according to vanberkelbeelden) Source Source Checked

🔗 Related

All sources & image credits

Photo: Frans-Banja Mulder, Wikimedia Commons (via Panoramio), CC BY 3.0, 3 May 2008.

Last checked: 27 October 2026 · How we verify art