Coat of Arms, 2000

Politically corrected coat of arms

work 40/47

Site specific installation. Museum van Loon, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

The van Loon family’s coat of arms consists of two black moors in profile.

Jan van Loon (the gentleman portrayed in the left painting) was the cofounder of the East India Company in 1602, exploiting slave labor in numerous sugar and coffee plantations.

The two portraits of the anonymous moor slaves were placed in the original 18th-century golden frames of the van Loon’s portraits.

Oil on canvas, 80 x 50 cm (each painting)

Photos by Ilya Rabinovich