'Time is on my side' (inside, panorama) (2019) Oil on canvas 60 x 80, 120 x 80 en 60 x 80 cm
This triptych is the inside of a painting showing inside of the station The Hague 'Hollands Spoor'. This station has a special significance for Bert. It was in his youth the starting point of a voyage to freedom and independence. From here he traveled (without a ticket!) on the age of fifteen from The Hague to Tilburg were a new phase in his young life started. On the central canvas two persons in a wheelchair are waiting for the train and two refugees are waiting at the lower side for a uncertain future. It is still very difficult for persons in a wheelchair to travel by train, because trains often do not wait for them long enough to get in the train in time. Refugees have to wait in asylum centers until the local communities find housing facilities for them. Time was also an important factor in Bert's life. The title 'Time is on my side' refers to that and to the two small clocks on the side panels keeping good time. Furthermore the painting shows on the right side vistas to buildings which were iconic in Bert's early youth and on the left side the tower of the 'Grote Kerk' and the Peace Palace in The Hague and the 'Kurhaus' in Scheveningen.
