The House of Polignac is one of France’s great noble families. There are close ties between the Grimaldi Family and the Polignac Family. In 1920, Princess Charlotte married Count Pierre de Polignac, and they had a son who would become Prince Rainier III.Born in 1909, Prince Louis de Polignac was the...
The House of Polignac is one of France’s great noble families. There are close ties between the Grimaldi Family and the Polignac Family. In 1920, Princess Charlotte married Count Pierre de Polignac, and they had a son who would become Prince Rainier III.Born in 1909, Prince Louis de Polignac was the son of Prince Henri de Polignac and Diane de Polignac, cousin of Prince Pierre of Monaco. Very close to Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace, Prince Louis de Polignac was the godfather of H.S.H. Prince Albert II. He was President and Chief Executive of Société des Bains de Mer, sat on the Board of the Prince Pierre of Monaco Foundation, and was also a member of the Singer-Polignac Foundation. He died in 1996. In 1997, the Prince Louis Polignac Foundation was created to promote the arts and sciences.
Kees Verkade, a Dutch national, was born on 12 October 1941 in Haarlem (Netherlands). After secondary school, he enrolled at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, where he graduated with first prize. A resident of the Principality from 1979 onwards, he participated in many joint and solo exhibitions. He was commissioned to create numerous sculptures to decorate official buildings in his native country, and also in Europe, the United States and, of course, the Principality of Monaco, which acquired several of his works. Among the Verkade sculptures to be found in Monaco are: Invitation in the Saint-Martin Gardens; Sport in front of the Louis II Stadium; a bust of Prince Louis de Polignac (the cousin of H.S.H. the Sovereign Prince) in Square Beaumarchais; and First Step in front of Princess Grace Hospital. In 1999, a retrospective devoted to the artist was held in Monaco to celebrate his forty years as an artist. That same year, Prince Rainier III awarded him the insignia of the Order of Cultural Merit and Officer of the Order of the Grimaldi. A complete retrospective of his work, titled Circle of Love, was held in 2012. Kees Verkade passed away on 29 December 2020 in Monaco. His final work, Salutifera Unitas, was commissioned by a Dutch foundation to thank the healthcare staff who worked through the coronavirus pandemic
