Since June 2015, Amsterdam has a new statue, or rather a statuette: it shows the famous actor Jean-Claude van Damme (the Muscles from Brussels) in one of his famous poses, with his legs wide apart, between two pillars of the Hilton Double Tree Hotel near Amsterdam Central Station.
It was placed there by advertising agency Natwerk, because he is 'an 80's hero and his epic split is phenomenal.'.
The piece of art was placed without the express permission of the City of Amsterdam, but the agency hopes it can remain there for a while.
And who knows, it gets the same cult status as the statue called 'het boomzagertje'. This is a statue of a man sitting on a branch of a big tree near Leidseplein, sawing in the branch. This statue was placed in the 1980's, by an anonymous sculptor, and up to now nobody knows who made. One rumour says it was made by former Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands - but this rumour has no foundation whatsoever.
The 'epic splits' by Van Damme can be seen on Youtube (eg here). Volvo trucks made a commercial with Van Damme and a dangerous epic split between two large trucks. It's worth seeing!
Double Tree by Hilton Hotel (Amsterdam Central Station)
Jean-Claude van Damme epic split statuette