EN GL ISH
ED IT IO N
First time in theNetherlands
The Frick Collection
Must See in the Mauritshuis
Piet Boon’s Huys in New York Dutch Design in New Amsterdam
T H E DE PO T: A L O OK I NSI DE AT T H E BON N E FA N T E NM USEUM MODE R N C L A S SIC : GR A N DFAT H E R C L OC K BY M A A R T E N BA A S PLUS: W I L L E M VA N ROI J E N
ON THE FUTURE OF TEFAF
Luxury living on the Vecht
BUITENPLAATS OVERWEER Situated at less than 20 km from the Concertgebouw, 26km from Schiphol and 5 minutes from the centre of the picturesque village of Breukelen, the Overweer estate offers a comfortable and safe living environment in one of the most beautiful locations in the Netherlands. Overweer features several small-scale apartment blocks, all equipped with a lift and parking garage and each with its own architectural signature. Thanks to the small-scale set-up of the estate, residents enjoy optimal privacy in a park-like setting. Overweer is accessed through secured entrance gates, guaranteeing privacy, safety and peace. Needless to say, a caretaker looks after the residents’ needs, the buildings and the park. Overweer’s idyllic location on the banks of the Vecht River is redolent of an earlier age but offers the added advantages and comfort of new-build residences. The Overweer country estate: the safest investment and the safest living environment. DETAILS: • • Carefree living on the Vecht • Caretaker (comfort and safety) • Central location: 20 km from Amsterdam, 26 km from Schiphol • High-quality construction guarantees comfort • Spacious apartments: from around 145 m2 to 300 m2 • High-grade thermal and acoustic insulation • Fine exterior detailing, use of durable and natural building materials • Hardwood interior and exterior window frames, hardwood terraces and fencing • Videophone installation • Floor heating throughout the whole apartment • Purchase price from € 612.500 to € 1.395.000 • Association of owners (V.v.E.) contribution from € 255 to € 545 per month (depending on the apartment)
OVERWEER COUNTRY ESTATE Straatweg 256, Breukelen www.buitenplaatsoverweer.nl
SALES INFORMATION Ankersmit estate agents 0294 - 234 774 De Koster cs estate agents 035 - 623 36 41
EDITORIAL
FOREIGN AFFAIRS For all its diversity, one thing that certainly defines the art trade is its international character. Collectors may hone in on a certain style, period, name or movement, but borders seldom form a limiting factor, as evidenced by the countless cross-border transactions. And this is not only the case during a fair such as TEFAF, where private jets jostle for space on the tarmac at Maastricht Airport. Even when there are no fairs, the Dutch are constantly receiving art lovers and buyers from abroad, while Dutch connoisseurs are frequently seen visiting foreign art dealers. It is therefore no
surprise that there has been a demand for an Englishlanguage edition of Vernis for some time. With the unique distribution of Vernis via members of the Koninklijke Vereeniging van Handelaren in Oude Kunst (Royal Association of Fine Art Dealers in the Netherlands) and at fairs such as PAN Amsterdam and TEFAF, our magazine has been attracting the attention of foreign visitors for years. Indeed, the outstanding photography featured in Vernis has led many art lovers who do not speak Dutch to nonetheless pick up the magazine. But of course this is not enough. That is why this eighth issue of our magazine appears in two versions: a ‘regular’ Vernis in Dutch and an English-language edition. It is only natural that the launch of the new bilingual Vernis should coincide with our annual TEFAF issue, because TEFAF has always been the most international fair in the Netherlands. We are delighted that TEFAF chairman Willem van Roijen has shared his vision of TEFAF and the increasingly international art world with us. Moreover, architect Piet Boon gives us a sneak preview of his phenomenal project Huys in New York, a city with long-standing spring / summer 2015
TEFAF 2014
ties with the Netherlands – ties that will now be strengthened through this stunning architectural project in which Dutch design and American grandeur come together. Boon’s namesake (no relation), Guus Boon, draws us into his irrepressible passion for collecting. And as this TEFAF issue is somewhat centred on Maastricht, we also descended into the depot of the Bonnefantenmuseum and dedicated our regular feature ‘In Focus’ to tracking down the best addresses in Maastricht. It is a rich issue, and I hope that both Dutch and foreign readers will enjoy reading our many fascinating features and browsing through the rare objects on display.
Robert D. Aronson
Chairman Koninklijke Vereeniging van Handelaren in Oude Kunst vernis#08
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vernis CONTENTS
042 Depot: Bonnefantenmuseum Maastricht Usually the depot of the Bonnefantenmuseum is off limits to outsiders. The Maastricht museum for contemporary and pre-modern art opened its doors for Vernis.
032
Interview: Guus Boon Guus Boon collects everything he can. The estate agent is an “intuitive collector” with a collection that ranges from paintings and standing clocks to canes and snuffboxes. But where do you store such an enormous collection? In a custom-designed palazzo in your back garden.
RU BR I E K E N... 003 | Editorial
041 | Column Ivo Weyel
004 | Contents
058 | Column Martin Roth
011 | Trouvailles
092 | Books
030 | C olumn
096 | Memberships list
Yvo van Regteren Altena 004
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Koninklijke VHOK
052 Feature: Het Mauritshuis The Mauritshuis is attracting crowds with its unique exhibition ‘The Frick Collection’. Director Emilie Gordenker: ‘We only have masterpieces.’ spring / summer 2015
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Onze collectie is op 22 maart aanstaande te bekijken in de Toren van het Bonnefantenmuseum in Maastricht tijdens de Tefaf. U bent van harte welkom.
vernis CONTENTS
07o Portrait: Willem van Roijen
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TEFAF director Willem van Roijen aims to ensure TEFAF remains the most important art fair in the world. “Everything is geared towards that.”
Portrait: Piet Boon Piet Boon’s Dutch Design is conquering New York with the Park Avenue apartment complex Huys. “It all starts with a well thought-out concept and ends by adding a personal touch.”
A L SO... 026 | My favourite piece Fine Art Consultant Hélène van der Ven totally fell for this spot print by Damien Hirst.
076 | Course programme Learn from an old master. 086 | My favourite piece Artist Cole Morgan’s collection was missing a horse. What he needed was this terracotta piece from the Han dynasty.
094 | In Focus Hotelier Camille Oostwegel lists the six best addresses in Maastricht.
098 | Future antique Grandfather Clock by Maarten Baas. 006
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Ensemble All sorts of winged celestials, jewels and other finery and a selection of Eastern and Western art. A look at what the members of the Koninklijke VHOK have on offer, thematically photographed by Marie Cécile Thijs. spring / summer 2015
An Art Nouveau Sunflower Pendant Paris c. 1900 LĂŠopold Gautrait 1865-1937
Jan van Nassaustraat 76 | 2596 BV Den Haag | +31 (0)70 324 09 87 | silver @aardewerk.com | www.aardewerk.com
COLOFON
SPRING/SUMMER 2015
|
VOLUME 05 #08
Editor-in-chief
Mischa van de Woestijne Managing editor
Melinda Braaksma / Edit Value (melinda@editvalue.nl) English translation
Francesca de Châtel Art direction
Antoine Hamers / Wolk Ontwerp (antoine@wolkontwerp.nl) Publisher and magazine concept
Mischa van de Woestijne / MI7 Media Intelligence (mischa@mi7.nl) Contributors TEXT
Nic Chadwick, Aya Langeveld, Jorrit Niels, Yvo van Regteren Altena, Martin Roth, Ivo Weyel, Mischa van de Woestijne PHOTOGR APHY
Paul Barbera, Michael Bodycomb, Peter Boer, Frank van den Burg, Jesaja Hizkia, Friso Keuris, Tekenteam.nl, Marie Cécile Thijs, Marte With special thanks to
Robert Aronson, Caroline Esbach, Lars Gude, Paul van Rosmalen, Jettie Rozemond, Nynke van der Ven Advertising, subscriptions and back issues
Koninklijke Vereeniging van Handelaren in Oude Kunst in Nederland Damrak 375 NL-1012 ZJ Amsterdam TELEPHONE +31 (0)20-6238904 E-MAIL info@kvhok.nl INTERNET www.kvhok.nl Printing
Van Aalst Printmanagement, Zaandijk Distribution
The English edition of Vernis has a print run of 18,000 copies. Vernis is distributed through the members of the Koninklijke VHOK and at the main art fairs in the Netherlands and Belgium. EN GL ISH
ED IT IO N
vernis
First time in theNetherlands
The Frick Collection
MAGAZINE OF THE ROYAL ASSOCIATION OF FINE ART DEALERS IN THE NETHERLANDS (KVHOK)
Must See in the Mauritshuis
VOLUME 05
Piet Boon’s Huys in New York
SPRING / SUMMER 2015 #08
Dutch Design in New Amsterdam
T H E DE PO T: A L OOK I NSI DE AT T H E BON N E FA N T E NM USEUM MODE R N C L A S SIC : GR A N DFAT H E R C L OC K BY M A A R T E N BA A S PLUS : W I L L E M VA N ROI J E N
ON THE FUTURE OF TEFAF
Cover UK.indd 1
01-03-15 18:00
COVER IMAGE: SNUFFBOX WITH PICTURE OF NAPOLEON, COLLECTION GUUS BOON (P. 32) PHOTOGRAPHY: MARTE © 2015 KVHOK/MI7 MEDIA INTELLIGENCE VERNIS IS A PUBLICATION OF THE KVHOK AND MI7 MEDIA INTELLIGENCE. NO PART OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE REPRODUCED, INCORPORATED IN AN ELECTRONIC DATABASE OR PUBLISHED, IN ANY FORM, WITHOUT PRIOR PERMISSION IN WRITING FROM THE RIGHT HOLDERS. (COPYRIGHT ACT, ARTICLE 15) ISSN 2211-4017
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MM IE GI K E RE K EE BZRIZE LI VL L E V IR EZB RE B ER E KG R EG IM ANTIQUITIES ANTIQUITIES SNIOC T- N ANCIENT EI-CANCIENT NA - SCOINS EITCOINS IUQITNA
GALLO-ROMAN GALLO-ROMAN SEBRONZE LKAREHBRONZE NAKED FO ERUNAKED G FIGURE IF DEKFIGURE A OF N HERAKLES EZNOF ORBHERAKLES NAMOR-OLLAG H. 15 cm. H. 15 1st-2nd cm. 2891st-2nd 1cent -s06AD. 91cent Aex SUAD. priv. .llocex coll. .vpriv. irpUSA xecoll. .D 1960s-1982 AUSA tnec1960s-1982 dn2-ts1 .mc 51 .H
TEFAF TEFAF MAASTRICHT, 51MAASTRICHT, 02 hcraM 2 13 2 --13 3 22 1-,March T22 HCMarch IRT 2015 SAA2015 M FAFET MECC - STAND 73-4 STAND DN437 ATS 437 - CCEM MECC MiekeMieke Zilverberg Zilverberg m a d r-e tRokin s m A- V Rokin 60 K 2- 11012 060 1 -- 01012 KV 6 nAmsterdam i kKV o R Amsterdam - grebrevliZ ekeiM telefoon telefoon 020 6259518 1020 06236259518 835 mobiel 60 lemobiel ib 06 om 53832601 806 15953832601 526 020 noofelet www.miekezilverberg.com www.miekezilverberg.com moc.grebrevlizeinfo@miekezilverberg.com keim@ info@miekezilverberg.com ofni moc.grebrevlizekeim.www
The Fair that Defines Excellence in Art MECC MAASTRICHT NETHERLANDS
13-22 MARCH
2015
WWW.TEFAF.COM
PRINCIPAL SPONSOR
TROUVAILLES RUBRIEK
Special research projects and unexpected discoveries often reveal amazing stories about the origin of antique pieces and rare art objects. Vernis brings together some of the most interesting anecdotes from the art world.
SPECIAL THANKS TO
Jettie Rozemond
ANTIQUAIR JUWELIER MARJAN STERK
RETRO BRACELET CARTIER
The 1940s saw a movement towards greater sobriety in jewellery design. No more platinum jewels, lavishly covered in diamonds as during the Art Deco period, but instead smooth yellow gold, much fewer diamonds and mainly coloured stones. On the other hand, the designs were a lot more exuberant and architectural, as this Cartier bracelet demonstrates: a sober and modern design and a restrained use of gemstones.
Despite the fact that it is nearly 80 years old, the style matches today’s taste. The bracelet has a striking three-dimensional design and the beautiful blue of the sapphires is nicely offset by the warm colour of the gold. Cartier has always been a leading jeweller, both on an artistic and technical level, and it ensures the consistent high quality of its jewels. As old Cartier pieces of this quality rarely come onto the market, a piece like this can only be classified as a trouvaille.
PROVENANCE PARIS, AROUND 1940 M ATERI A L A N D TECH N IQU E 18- CAR AT YE LLOW GOLD AND B LUE SAPPHIRE S DIMENSIONS L 20.5 X W 20 MM
spring / summer 2015
PRICE UPON REQUEST
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FEATURE TROUVAILLES
VANDE RVE N ORIE NTAL ART
GUANDI
This extraordinary sculpture represents the Chinese god of war Guandi on horseback. It is made of refined biscuit porcelain, enamelled with colour glazing and decorated with gold-leaf accents. What makes this piece special is that those who discovered it soon started to suspect that this was the object that had been included in a famous 1911 publication about Chinese porcelain by Gorer & Blacker Chinese Porcelain & Hardstones Vol II. Research has revealed that this was indeed the case. Gorer & Blacker’s book states that this sculpture of Guandi belonged to G.L. Bevan at the time, a London-based collector. However, Mr. Bevan proved to be a shady character and he was arrested for fraud and then bankrupted. As a result, he was forced to auction his collection in 1922. After his release he fled to Havana with his mistress, where he went to work in a liqueur distillery. This effigy of Guandi eventually resurfaced in London in 2014. It is not clear where the figure had been in the intervening period. Perhaps further research will lead to new discoveries. PROVENANCE CHINA, KANGXI PERIOD (1662 - 1722) M ATERI A L A N D TECH N IQU E PORCE L AIN , E MAI LLE SUR BISCUIT PORCE L AIN DIMENSIONS H 34,5 CM PRICE UPON REQUEST
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TROUVAILLES FEATURE
ARONSON ANTIQUAIRS
BROWN DELFTWARE TEAPOT WITH SILVER ORNAMENTATION M A R K E D LV D FO R LI E V E VA N DA LE N
This Delftware teapot is a rare object. Lieve van Dalen, the owner of the earthenware factory Het Jonge Moriaanshooft in Delft, introduced this brownish-green colour scheme with yellow decorations, which could only be achieved by applying a difficult technique. This is why objects with this colour background are considered the high point of Delftware production. Such objects were inspired by Japanese lacquer work and Chinese porcelain with a shiny black background and golden decorations, the so-called famille noir. The format is also remarkable: early teapots are often small, as tea was a luxury and the teapots were used to brew strong tea, which was poured into a teacup and diluted with water. This teapot is however even smaller and was probably meant for tasting so that guests could make a choice between several tea blends. Ladies may also have taken the small teapots to shops, so that they could taste the teas before buying them. PROVENANCE THE NETHERLANDS, 1695-1715
HOTEI JAPANESE PRINTS
SHIOHIGARI, THE COLLECTING OF SHELLFISH AT LOW TIDE ITO SHINSUI
M ATERI A L A N D TECH N IQU E DE LFT WARE DIMENSIONS H 16 CM PRICE UPON REQUEST
Ito Shinsui (1898-1972) was the most important 20th-century artist in the Bijin-ga genre (representations of beautiful women). This woodblock print shows a girl collecting shellfish. According to comments of the publisher at the time, Watanabe Shozaburo, the print was produced with 10 different woodblocks and 25 to 30 overlapping print runs, which explains the exceptional depth of colour. Shinsui made more than 150 prints, mainly of women. His prints from the earliest period – before 1923 – are extremely valuable because the 1923 Tokyo earthquake totally destroyed his studio and his publisher’s warehouse. All the woodblocks and the already produced but still unsold prints went up in flames. This print is a numbered piece, no. 148 of 500. PROVENANCE TOKIO, 1931 M ATERI A L A N D TECH N IQU E COLOUR WOODBLOCK PRINT ON PAPER DIMENSIONS 40 X 26 CM PRICE €3,850
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FEATURE TROUVAILLES
E.H. ARIËNS KAPPERS, MASTERPRINTS
GIRL ON THE GREBBEBERG, VIEW OF THE BETUWE AND THE GREBBE RIVER JACOB ERNST MARCUS
In the course of the 35 years that E.H. Ariëns Kappers has been dealing in prints, his collection has always featured a few etchings by lesser known, but qualitatively good masters, such as Jacob Ernst Marcus (1774 St Eustatius – 1826 Amsterdam). Usually they were part of a larger series known as Study Pictures and Fragments, which featured portraits by contemporaries, but also landscapes drafted by Marcus. Besides an exhibition in 1972, this artist has never attracted much attention and Marcus’ drawings can mainly be found in public collections these days. Imagine therefore Ariëns Kappers’ surprise when he recently bought a drawing by Marcus at the auction of I.Q. van Regteren Altena’s collection drawings and subsequently found the etching that was derived from it among his prints at home. Literature: Jacob Ernst Marcus, Graveur en tekenaar. Tentoonstelling Willemstad, Curaçao, Aruba and Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam,1972. P R OV E N A N C E I .Q . VA N R E G T E R E N A LT E N A . COLLEC TION STAMP VE RSO. SIG NE D VE RSO: “J . E . M A R C U S A D V I V F T/A A N D E G R E B B E ” M ATERI A L A N D TECH N IQU E DR AWING IN PE NCI L , PEN AND WASHED INK DIMENSIONS 19 X 25.7 CM PRICE UPON REQUEST
FOUMANI PERSIAN GALLERY
PAIR OF LACQUER PAINTED DOORS QAJAR DYNASTY
The Qajar Dynasty ruled Persia from 1796 to 1925. During this period European-influenced art styles flourished. One of the most popular painting styles was the strongly naturalistic Gol-o-Morgh, ‘bird and flower’. During the rule of the Safavids in Shiraz this style attained exquisite levels of sophistication. With their beautiful red-and-gold floral patterns, the lacquered doors depicted here are a perfect example of the Shiraz School. These doors once belonged to the famous Kevorkian collection. When they went on loan to the Exhibition of Persian Art in New York in 1940, the organizers, Professor A. Pope and P. Ackerman, described them as, “naturalistic red roses and birds on gold ground”. Today they are known as “The Nightingale and the Rose Garden”. PROVENANCE QAJAR DY N A S T Y, PE R S I A , 1 8 3 0 -1 8 6 0 M ATERI A L A N D TECH N IQU E LACQUER PAINTED [PLANE WOOD] DIMENSIONS 167.8 X 45.5 CM E ACH PRICE UPON REQUEST
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TROUVAILLES FEATURE
FLORIS VAN WANROIJ FINE ART
HERCULES VANQUISHES THE SNAKES AFTER A MODEL BY FRANCESCO FANELLI
Born in Florence, Fanelli was immensely popular, both in England where he worked for King Charles I and in his home country Italy. Even after his death (around 1653) casts of his models were still made. This Hercules is an example of that. Two versions of this group have been preserved. One group is part of the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen collection and the other, after which this group was made, is in the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. Special thanks to Dr Emile van Binnebeke, curator at the Royal Museums of Art and History in Brussels for his help in cataloguing this group. Van Binnenbeke ascribed the type of this Hercules representation to Fanelli. P R O V E N A N C E E N G L A N D O R I TA LY, S E C O N D H A L F O F T H E 1 7 T H C E N T U R Y, AROUND 1650-60 M ATERI A L A N D TECH N IQU E BRONZE ON A WOODE N PE DE STAL DIMENSIONS H 22 X W 11 X D 13 CM PRICE €12,500
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FEATURE TROUVAILLES
ROBERT SCHREUDER ANTIQUES
DRUNKEN FAUN BY GIUSTINIANI MANIFATTUR A G IUSTINIANI
La Manifattura Giustiniani could be described as the Wedgwood of Naples. This famous manufacturer of ceramics in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was founded as a family business in the 17th century. The Giustinianis started out producing floor tiles and wall reliefs. Around 1800, they expanded their range with consumer articles and art objects. Giustiniani produced dinner sets and sculptures inspired by recently excavated treasures from Antiquity for a clientele of wealthy Grand Tour travellers. Pompeii was around the corner and young English lords were eager to take a piece of Antiquity home to show off what they had found at the foot of the Vesuvius. Terracotta sculptures were especially popular, because the sand-coloured patina was most reminiscent of the stone or marble surface of the original. This faun bears a Giustiniani mark that was only used during a brief period, which means the sculpture can be dated between 1829 and 1836. The original faun from the 1st century AD was excavated in 1754 in Villa dei Papyri in Herculaneum and is currently on display at the Museo Archeologico in Naples. PROVENANCE NAPLES, 1829-1836 M ATERI A L A N D TECH N IQU E TE RR ACOTTA DIMENSIONS W 31 X H 30 CM PRICE €2,850
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TROUVAILLES FEATURE
GALLERY TINY ESVELD
VASE WITH BUTTERFLIES LE VERRE FRANÇAIS (CHARLES SCHNEIDER)
Le Verre Français is one of the many types of cameo glass made by the Schneider Glassworks in France. The glass was made by the C. Schneider factory in Epinay-surSeine from 1918 to 1933. It is a mottled glass, usually decorated with floral designs. However, this piece features two large, elegant butterflies in strikingly vivid colours, which are depicted three times around the vase. Butterflies are lucky charms in many cultures and the design on this vase is very attractive. This is the first Le Verre Français vase with a décor applied in this manner that has been found. A real trouvaille, in other words.
KUNSTGALERIJ ALBRICHT
POLYNESIAN NUDE J.C.B. (JAN) SLUIJTERS
PROVENANCE FRANCE, 1920
This Polynesian nude – painted around 1922 – is a classic work by Sluijters. After 1920, Jan Sluijters (’s-Hertogenbosch 1881 - 1957 Amsterdam) developed a more realistic painting style, but the use of bright colours and the loose stroke would remain a constant in his oeuvre. Most of his nude studies were made during the interwar period and the influence of Kees van Dongen remained clearly visible. Sluijters painted very sensual nudes – exotic models, including black and mulatto women, appealed to him and this ‘Polynesian beauty’ has also been represented in a sensual manner. The full, half open, bright-red lips, the raised arm and the hand that disappears behind the head, the soft light-brown body and the dark face are accurately depicted with broad brushstrokes. The decorative flowers in the bluish-black hair and the sailing boat to the right in the background accentuate the exotic character of the scene. The bluish-grey Fauvist colour contrasts on the face show the extent of Van Dongen’s influence, even though the subject matter reminds us more of Paul Gauguin’s work (1848 – 1903).
M ATERI A L A N D TECH N IQU E SE VE R AL L AYE RS OF G L A SS
PROVENANCE THE NETHERLANDS, AROUND 1922
DECOR ATE D WITH ETCHINGS
M ATERI A L A N D TECH N IQU E OI L ON CANVA S
DIMENSIONS H 47 CM
DIMENSIONS 106 X 84 CM
PRICE €12,800
PRICE UPON REQUEST
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FEATURE TROUVAILLES
GUDE & MEIS ANTIQUE CLOCKS
FRENCH GILT BRONZE MYSTÉRIEUSE SIGNED PLANCHON
FONTIJN ANTIEK
DUTCH LONG-CASE CLOCK WITH BAROMETER SIGNED SAMÚEL WALKER
This long-case clock has a striking and rare characteristic: the barometer has been placed in the door. The practice of placing barometers here was common for just a brief period between 1725 and 1750, making this piece even more unique. The brass casting in front of the basket lenticle is designed in pure Louis XIV style and shows, among other things, a man playing a harp riding on the back of a sea creature. On top of the clock, a gold-plated wooden Chronos figure is flanked by two gold-plated vases. The brass corner pieces represent the four seasons. The timepiece has an anchor escapement and a power reserve of one week. The rack striking mechanism strikes two bells on the hour and half hour and has a wonderful chime to mark the quarter hours. The clock has a seconds hand, a date and moon phase indicator and an alarm. Below the winding holes there is a ships automaton. To guarantee its authenticity, the barometer clock has been signed twice: on the clock face, ‘Samúel Walker Amsterdam’, and on the barometer scale, ‘S: Walker Amsterdam’.
Antique clocks are always a feast for the eyes, but their most important function is nevertheless to tell the time. Usually clocks have hands, but there are exceptions, which can be amusing. Here a small turtle floating in the water indicates the time by directing its head to the correct hour. This is not only amusing, but also makes you wonder about the technology behind it. Clocks in which the mechanism driving the hands are invisible are known as ‘Mystérieuses’. The clock itself is made of gilt bronze and is shaped like German horizontal table clocks from the first half of the 18th century. The clockwork and the case are signed Planchon, a clockmaker known for combining different styles. So how does it work? The invisible force is magnetism – a clockwork with a revolving magnet below the tin board in combination with a small piece of metal in the turtle. Even when the mystery is solved, it’s still an amusing trouvaille.
PROVENANCE PARIS, AROUND 1870
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PROVENANCE THE NETHERLANDS, 1735
M ATERI A L A N D TECH N IQU E
M ATERI A L A N D TECH N IQU E OAK VE NE E R IN L AID
G I LT B R O N Z E A N D T I N
WITH WALNUT AND ASH-WOOD BORDERS
DIMENSIONS
DIMENSIONS H 277 CM
H 9 X W 20 X D 20 CM
PRICE €38,500
PRICE €12,500
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TROUVAILLES FEATURE
K U N S TC O N S U LT - 2 0 T H C E N T U RY A R T | O B J E C T S
PRE-WAR CRATE DESK GERRIT RIETVELD
Pre-war crate desks by Gerrit Rietveld are rare. Besides the desks in the collections of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and Centraal Museum Utrecht, there are about a dozen pieces, most of which are in a poorer state than this one. Rietveld’s ground-breaking designs for crate furniture went on sale at the luxury department store Metz & Co. from 1935 onwards. This crate desk dates back to this period and was bought at the main branch on the Keizersgracht in Amsterdam. The original owner lived in Amsterdam in the 1930s, where she was studying at the School for Social Work. Apparently she always treasured the piece, as she only parted with it when she moved to a nursing home late in life. Rietveld’s modernist belief that a crate “represents a free method of carpentry, with sober means and that gets straight to the point”, led him in 1934 to design furniture pieces made of standardized pinewood boards – cheap material for packing cases. PROVENANCE THE NETHERLANDS, 1930S M ATERI A L A N D TECH N IQU E PAINTE D PINE WOOD DIMENSIONS H 70 X W 100 X D 60 CM PR I C E €27, 50 0
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FEATURE TROUVAILLES
A. AARDEWERK ANTIQUAIR JUWELIER
A RARE LOBSTER TUREEN JACQUES PEIROLET
The basic shape of this charming tureen with its matching platter is very sober and therefore typically Dutch. However, the pronounced rocaille-shaped feet and the use of a lobster as a handle is exceptional for Dutch silverware. The ornaments are inspired by the work of the French royal silversmith François Thomas Germain. Germain was especially known for the silver plants and animals, which he applied as ornaments to his pieces, which earned him recognition as a silversmith but also as a sculptor. Germain’s success at the French royal court did not go unnoticed and soon he received numerous commissions from other royal court, including the Russian, Portuguese and Danish courts. As his characteristic style spread across Europe, it inspired Jacques Peirolet, who shaped the lobster on the lid entirely true to life, exactly as Germain would have done. PROVENANCE THE NETHERLANDS, 1765-66 M ATE R I A L A N D TEC H N I Q U E S I LV E R , R E P O US S É , P O U R E D A N D E N G R AV E D DIMENSIONS W 28 X H 16 CM PRICE UPON REQUEST
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TROUVAILLES FEATURE
LESLIE SMITH GALLERY
JOURNEY 2-5 ANNA DEN DRIJVER
Anna den Drijver (The Hague, 1975) graduated from the Fotoacademie Amsterdam in 2013. The development of identity, especially of children and young adults, forms a unifying theme in her work. By placing figures outside of their context, by searching for postures or looks in which different age groups come together or by placing children or figures in an alienating environment, such as wide-open landscapes, Den Drijver challenges the viewer to place himself in the picture. This creates an intriguing tension between the visible and the invisible, the inner and outer worlds and reality and illusion. While this artwork is a photo, it looks a lot like a painting and many viewers have to look twice. The clouds in the sky and the choice of colours make ‘Journey’ reminiscent of 17th-century landscapes – an exceptional piece!
PROVENANCE AMSTERDAM, 2014
RUBEN AARDEWERK ANTIQUES
MINIATURE SOUVENIR OF THE LION MONUMENT IN LUCERNE AFTER THE DESIGN BY BERTEL THORVALDSEN (1770-1844)
The ‘Dying Lion of Lucerne’ combines art, history and natural beauty in Switzerland’s most treasured historical monument. Designed by the famous Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770-1844) and hewn by the German Lukas Ahorn (1789-1856), the Lion Monument was created in 1821 to commemorate the members of the Swiss Guard who perished during the French revolution. In 1792 the Tuileries Palace in Paris was stormed by the masses. Swiss mercenaries tried to protect the royal family, an operation in which 600 soldiers perished. Upon hearing of the bloodbath, a Swiss officer from Lucerne who had been on leave decided to erect a monument in his hometown. The resulting sculpture is embedded in a 109 m-wide wall of sandstone rock. The mortally wounded lion is represented on a bed of shields and spears with above it the inscription: Helvetiorum Fidei ac Virtuti (to the loyalty and bravery of the Swiss). To some, the Dying Lion remains “the saddest and most moving piece of rock in the world”. PROVENANCE SWITZERLAND OR SOUTHERN
M ATERI A L A N D TECH N IQU E
G E R M A N Y, A RO U N D 1 82 1 -1 8 3 0
MODERN ART PRINT
M ATERI A L A N D TECH N IQU E WORKE D
ON DIASEC
AND CUT IVORY
DIMENSIONS 40 X 60 CM
DIMENSIONS H 3.1 X W 6.9 X D 2.4 CM
PRICE €2,600
PRICE €2,250
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FEATURE TROUVAILLES
THEO DA ATSE L A AR ANTIQUAIRS
DUTCH TRANSITION COMMODE WITH MARBLE TOP
KUNSTHANDEL INEZ STODEL
RENAISSANCE RING
This Dutch commode from around 1775 features elaborate French detailing, with two large drawers below the marble top. The commode rests on cabriole feet with ormolu ‘sabot’ fittings. The middle section of the commode juts out and the commode is lavishly inlaid with marquetry of classical vases framed with floral scrolls. The classical vases resemble designs by the Frenchman Maurice Jacque(s) (+/- 1712-1784). His designs were especially used on tapestries in France, but were also sometimes applied to furniture pieces in the Netherlands. The vase motives are repeated in the central section of the commode where a cartouche frames a vase of flowers. The corners of the commode are bevelled and inlaid with trompe l’oeil fluting.
It is always a miracle when early Renaissance rings like this one stand the test of time. It is not clear where the ring is from exactly; but it was definitely made in Europe around 1600. The ring is made of high-grade gold that was engraved and enamelled. You can see the traces of black enamel, but it has been almost completely worn away. A table-cut diamond was mounted on the ring later. The table form was the most common cut during this period. In the early 16th century, diamond cutters discovered that diamond crystals – which grow in the form of an octahedron, a regular octagonal shape or a double pyramid – could be split at their broadest point. The resulting two halves were pyramid shaped, which is the cut that is commonly seen in Renaissance jewellery. By cutting this pyramid down to about half its size the broad ‘table stone’ emerged. Rings from this period often feature imitation diamonds – glass or mountain crystals – but rarely real diamonds.
OAK FRAME VENEERED WITH
PROVENANCE EUROPEAN, AROUND 1600
CITRON AND PALM WOOD,
M ATERI A L A N D TECH N IQU E E NG R AVE D AND E NAME LLE D GOLD
EBONY AND SYCAMORE
PROVENANCE HOLLAND, AROUND 1775 M ATERI A L A N D TECH N IQU E AMBOINA, ROSEWOOD,
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MOUNTE D WITH A TAB LE - CUT DIAMOND
DIMENSIONS
DIMENSIONS RING SIZE: 15.5 MM
W 144 X H 85 CM
PRICE UPON REQUEST
PRICE UPON REQUEST
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TROUVAILLES FEATURE
K U N S T H A N D E L P. D E B O E R
BIRDS FIGHTING JAN BRUEGHEL THE YOUNGER AND STUDIO
It is not uncommon to find small paintings on copper with a theme like this. Often they are by Jan van Kessel. Sometimes, however, a piece made by a different painter is discovered. ‘Birds Fighting’ by Jan Brueghel the Younger and studio is one of those rare pieces. It is in exceptionally good condition, which makes it even more special.
P R OV E N A N C E A N T W E R P, 1 6 0 1 - 1 6 7 8 M ATERI A L A N D TECH N IQU E OI L PAINT ON COPPE R DIMENSIONS 18.5 X 25.5 CM PRICE €135,000
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FEATURE TROUVAILLES
HOOGSTEDER & HOOGSTEDER, THE HAGUE
FLUYT SHIP ESCAPES FROM PIRATES, THREE SCENES FROM THE BATTLE LUDOLF BAKHUIZEN
This painting is unique in Ludolf Bakhuizen’s oeuvre. We see three scenes from a sea battle depicted next to each other – like a cartoon from the Golden Age. This is very unusual. Peter Sigmond, the former curator of the Rijksmuseum, is researching this remarkable painting and here we get a glimpse of his findings so far. The story’s hero is a Dutch fluyt ship, heavily armed with cannons. On the far right, we see how the ship is attacked by pirates, who have hoisted the Dutch flag to mislead their victims. The middle scene shows how they nearly overhaul the ship – the most exciting moment in the battle. Luckily on the right we see that the Hollander, which had been cornered, gets to windward of a pirate while at the same time hitting the middle of another enemy ship with cannonballs. Will the Dutch ship escape? Bakhuizen is a master: the sea is lifelike, the clouds are beautiful and there are stunning details everywhere. For example, look at how the fire to the right reddens the clouds of smoke and makes the gilding shimmer in the light. PROVENANCE THE NETHERLANDS, AROUND 1700 M ATERI A L A N D TECH N IQU E OI L ON CANVA S, MONOGRAMMED L.B. BOTTOM RIGHT ON BARREL TON DIMENSIONS 103 X 132 CM PRICE UPON REQUEST
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The important glass collection Engels-de Lange Selling exhibition 16-23 May 2015 Covered glass on stem with lion masks, decorated with white glass and gold. Venice or façon de Venise, second half 16th century.
Frides LamĂŠris Kunst- en Antiekhandel Nieuwe Spiegelstraat 55 1017 DD Amsterdam +31(0)20 6264066 info@frideslameris.nl
M Y FAVOU R I T E PI ECE
JOY TEXT
Jorrit Niels PHOTOGRAPHY
Friso Keuris
COLOURS “With its bright tones, this 1.20m x 1.20m hand-coloured etching makes me incredibly happy. That’s the main reason I bought it. I totally fell for it. If you look carefully, each dot has a different colour. And mine is nothing compared to some of the others in which there are hundreds of dots; it’s very special. I love that art can be so uplifting. Besides the fact that it made me happy, I also absolutely wanted to own a Damien Hirst. His work fits with other things I own, such as photos and other paintings. I also think he’s interesting as an artist. He’s done groundbreaking work, with his animals in formaldehyde, but also with his spin paintings. He perfectly captures the ‘Zeitgeist’.” TAKING CONTROL “Whether you like his work or not, you can’t get around Hirst. He’s almost become a brand. What makes it even more interesting is that he has managed to twist the art world around his little finger. In 2008, he broke a certain pattern when he held his own auction at Sotheby’s. It was the first time an artist put his own work up for sale at an auction. Until then, sales had always taken place through art dealers or when private owners put pieces on the market. Hirst took a big risk. If the piece hadn’t sold, the price of his work would have plummeted across the board, also in galleries. The auction took place a day after the collapse of the investment bank Bear Stearns – the start of the credit crunch. But it worked out, and his prices are more stable than ever, both at auctions and in galleries.” 026
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NAME
HÉLÈNE VA N DER V EN PROFESSION
FINE A RT CONSULTA NT OBJECT
SPOT PR INT BY DA MIEN HIRST ‘QUENE 1-A M’ FROM 2004, NR. 52/100 OWNED SINCE
2012 SPECIAL
Bought with a loved one, a beautiful souvenir.
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FEATURE MY FAVORITE PIECE
TRENDSETTER “It’s controversial for artists to auction their own work, but it’s interesting to look at how he went about it. You can only do that kind of thing if you have a strong personality and the nerve to go against the established order. Now it has
become more common. Hirst took a great risk, but now he gets to determine the price of his work. Only an enfant terrible would have had the guts to do this.” DOMINANT “Everyone who sees it han-
ging in my living room likes it, which is very striking for an artwork. It’s also the first thing they see because it is dominating the living room. It is not even that big but the colours are very special.” MYTHS “I wasn’t always this crazy about
Hirst. It’s grown on me. Initially, I had a
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‘I wasn’t always this crazy about Hirst. It’s grown on me’
hard time with the animals in formaldehyde, but when I see them now I find them incredible. Those works refer to myths and legends, and he interprets them in a contemporary context.” CONSULTANT “In my role as an art
consultant, I advise people on the buying and selling of art. Especially when it comes to buying, you try to find out their preferences and then you try to tailor everything to their demands. For once, this was a piece just for me. It was very refreshing to view a piece just for myself for a change!” spring / summer 2015
COLUMN
TEXT
Yvo van Regteren Altena
FRAGRANT BEACON ILLUSTRATION
Tekenteam.nl
A centuries-old perfume shop in Florence is the ultimate example of how an old brand should be managed, says Yvo van Regteren Altena. As I am the author of several global city guides, people often ask me about my favourite restaurants, hotels and shops. Besides Paris and London, I also have many favourite addresses in Italy. In Milan I always drop by at ‘Peck’s’ deli emporium and have a look at the vintage watchmaker ‘Era Lora’. In Naples I also have a few addresses for handmade sunglasses, velvet house slippers and last but not least soft cashmere jumpers. But if I had to pick just one place out
of all of these, it would be the Officina Profumo - Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella in Florence, the world’s oldest perfume shop established 400 years ago. This beacon of fragrance dates back to the 13th century, but its original location and some of the rituals attached to it have been preserved until today. In 1612 the shop beside the Florentine monastery of Santa Maria Novella, which was run by Dominican monks, received an official status from the Duke of Tuscany. Like today it was already abundantly supplied then with skincare products, liqueurs, scents and healing creams made with natural ingredients. Catharine de’ Medici used various products from the Officina. Her favourite scent is still being produced, and is today complemented with many new variations, including the 030
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highly recommended Vetiver, Tabacco and spicy Acqua di Sicilia scents. As soon as you enter, a powerful potpourri scent assails the nostrils. Made from a mixture of Tuscan herbs, it is a favourite among pampered travellers and Florentine taxi drivers. That’s what makes this shop so unique: both fashionable Japanese tourists and Italians love this place. The shop is managed by the enthusiastic Eugenio Alphandery. As one of the few managers of old brands, he knows how to retain the old traditions and is only moderately interested in innovation. That’s why this monumental, museum-like shop with its many frescoes still appeals to the imagination after four hundred years. Alphandery recently opened a new section in the shop where you can enjoy a perfect cappuccino and wander around the monastery garden as you consider some new goods. Whatever you do, make sure you get a tin of the peppermints that have been produced here according to the same tested recipe for over a century, and don’t forget the inimitably perfumed Tabacco candle. And lastly, don’t miss the recently introduced box of cioccolatini.
Yvo van Regteren Altena is a journalist and writer
spring / summer 2015
Bonebakker Juweliers, Conservatorium Hotel, Van Baerlestraat 27 1071 AN Amsterdam, Netherlands www.bonebakker.nl, tel +31 206737577
‘TO ME, COLLECTING IS ENTIRELY INSTINCTIVE’ TEXT
Mischa van de Woestijne
PHOTOGRAPHY
Marte
When Guus Boon was growing up, the conversation at the dinner table did not revolve around art and design, but around bargains on the The Hague housing market. Later when Boon had to furnish his own home, he decided to do it in style. And he never stopped. After furniture, it was clocks and paintings. Now after 50 years of collecting, Boon aptly remarks: “It’s quite full in here.”
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GUUS BOON INTERVIEW
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INTERVIEW GUUS BOON
‘ You start wanting more. I started buying clocks, grandfather clocks, and mantel clocks. I have about 20 of them now, all of them masterpieces’ 01 previous page
Guus Boon in his office with on the foreground, bronze
sculpture by Fred Carasso.
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Oil on canvas Henriette Ronner-Knip (1821-1909).
Guus Boon, real estate agent and art collector in Bosch en Duin, is sitting in his living room and looks around with a satisfied air. The place is crammed with stuff: small cabinets and cupboards are filled with vases and other objects, while paintings line the wall up to the ceiling. The floor is covered with not one, but several carpets, and at set intervals the space is acoustically filled with the penetrating chime of one of the many antique clocks. Boon jumps up and walks up to one that is almost three metres high. Through the cheery sounds of jangling bells, he says: “I have about six standing clocks. This is the most beautiful one, built around 1720 in Rotterdam by William Gibb.” Boon opens the small door, turns the hands until the hammers start furiously hitting the chimes. He listens briefly and then hurries over to another piece: “Look at this one: second half of the 18th century, by Jan Henkels. No chimes, but look at all those figures!” Here too, Boon turns the hands of the clock until it springs into action. A Dutch scene unfolds inside the brandnew-looking clock. “Look at that cow, the swans, the guy in that little boat who is fishing eels, the fish that are being drawn up, the windmills. It’s so beautiful; I can look at it for hours.” Antique furniture The great variation in art and curios in Boon’s enormous villa could give the impression that the collection is made up
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of family heirlooms; that this collection is the result of a passion that has been passed down through generations. But no. Except for two Delft cockle vases, Guus Boon has bought everything himself. Because Boon does not come from a line of collectors: “My grandfather was a coal merchant, my father was an estate agent. I got my estate agent’s diploma during my military service and started a real estate agency in this neighbourhood in the early 1960s. In the mid-1970s, Boon bought a house with about 10 rooms and a considerable amount of land and embarks on a renovation that ends up costing about as much as the house itself. He has never moved since. After the renovation, which lasted a few years, Boon and his wife found themselves living in an enormous empty house. “So I had to buy furniture, and that’s kind of how it all started.” Boon chose furniture that matches the character of the house: no sofa suites from the furniture mall, but classic original pieces. “I slowly started buying things with help from friends working in the antique business. Through them and through other antique dealers and auctions, I also started learning about paintings.” The passion for collecting that had long been simmering within him has now been fully awakened. Boon starts buying in his own way; without a strategy and with no clear intention to start a collection. The estate agent wanted “a good price, a good name and a good picture”. The development of his collection was initially determined by a practical problem. “I started going to auctions. That was quite something, because it’s not easy to get in as a private individual. But I still wanted to, even though I had to work during the day. Christie’s used to hold its auctions at Hamdorff in Laren and I would walk in at the end of the auction, straight from work. As the auction was alphabetical, my early acquisitions are all of painters whose surname starts with a letter at the end of the alphabet.” Boon points to a number of paintings:“Ruysdael,Sluijters,Schelfhout, Van Ostade...” spring / summer 2015
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Under the dome: fresco Jan Asselbergs.
Detail of the dome.
Karel Appel: ‘Red-haired figure’, 1999.
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The back of ‘Red-haired figure’ with personal dedication.
Snuffboxes, all featuring the portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte I.
Marble sculpture: Giovanni Lombardi, around 1800.
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Appel Gradually Boon moved beyond the items at the back of auction catalogues and started acquiring other objects. “You start wanting more. I started buying clocks, grandfather clocks, and mantel clocks. I have about 20 of them now, all of them masterpieces. A clock always has something extra: a calendar, chimes or a mechanical movement. I always have them restored in mint condition, because I don’t like it when they look shabby.” But it’s not just clocks. Over the years, Boon’s collection has kept on growing. He started frequenting art dealers and galleries. And this is how at some point he ran into one of the greatest artists in the Netherlands. And as if by chance, his surname started with the first letter of the alphabet. “I was at an art dealer in Amsterdam in 1999, and not only was there a wonderful Appel on the wall; the artist himself was there too. I wanted to buy the painting, but with a little extra. So I tell the guy: “I want a painting by Appel, but I also want Mr. Appel to put his signature on the back. The guy looks at me and says: “You can buy the painting, but you can forget the signature. Mr. Appel never signs anything.” So I say: “But he’s sitting right there.” Upon which my wife walks up to Appel – because he was still sitting on a foldable chair in the corner with a glass of wine – and says to him: “I want to buy that painting of yours, and I would really like it if you could write something on the back.” But Appel wasn’t in the mood for a private signing session and says to my wife: “I don’t do signatures. I already have too many lawsuits running about signatures that are supposedly mine. It’s very simple. I don’t do it anymore.” So my wife says: “You only have to write For Mrs. So-and-so, from Karel.” “Oh,” says Appel, “that’s a funny name, I don’t mind doing that.” He still hesitated for a bit when he found out that my wife’s name was actually Boon, but he still did it. So that does make it special: ‘For Elly Boon, with great pleasure. Appel’.” vernis#08 –
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INTERVIEW GUUS BOON
Collections According to Boon, there is no clear strategy to his buying behaviour, which means there is also no coherence to his collection. “I have many different styles and periods. I buy what I like, though the quality keeps getting better. Sometimes I buy modern works, and sometimes old ones. I recently bought a small painting by Pieter Brueghel. A nice piece with a constant value, that’s nice too.” What’s more, Boon’s impulsive buying behaviour has resulted in many different collections. “I’ll tell my wife: ‘Els, I am starting a new hobby. I’m going to collect canes.’” And as Boon likes getting down to it, he already has about 30 canes by now including pieces that conceal fire arms, swords, knives, measuring devices, pens and ink, but also a cane that is made entirely of glass and filled with wine. Boon particularly likes their ancillary functions. “These go back to Napoleonic times. If the officers survived a campaign, they broke the bottom or top end off the stick and drank the wine. This cane was never opened. I don’t know whether the owner was killed or whether he simply wanted to keep the wine. In any case, it’s pretty special.” Another collection from the same period is of snuffboxes with a picture of Napoleon on it. “At the time every soldier had a snuffbox with him and they soon figured out that it was handy to have one with the picture of Napoleon on it because he tended to ask soldiers for their snuffbox; if he saw his own portrait on it, then you knew you’d be promoted.” And this is how Boon assiduously collects everything that attracts his attention: from wine (8,000 bottles) and whisky (400 bottles) to Roman, Greek and Egyptian art, 2,000-year-old oil lamps and ushabtis (small statues from Ancient Egypt which were placed in tombs to do manual labour in the Land of the Dead). “I bought those in one go, from a museum in Rotterdam. Unfortunately, it was being closed down and the collection was being sold. So I thought, ‘Great, I’ll have those.’” 038
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Egyptian terracotta figures and bronze gods: 4th to 1st c. BC.
Long-case clock with chiming mechanism: William Gibb.
Dial of long-case clock: Jan Henkels, around 1772.
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Bronze sculpture O. Zadkine.
Ceramic piece, Karel Appel, 1986.
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INTERVIEW GUUS BOON
Palazzo But Boon’s greatest pride is not displayed on a shelf or hanging on the wall; it is in the garden where he had a ‘palazzo’ built about 15 years ago “as a clubhouse for my friends, and of course to exhibit art”. The design of the 400-square-metre construction was based on extensive research. “I was in Vicenza in northern Italy. There are many Renaissance villas there – Villa La Rotonda by the architect Andrea Palladio is probably the most famous.” This villa from 1570 became the inspiration for Boon’s own palazzo: “I wanted to create a building that referred to Villa La Rotonda. Not a copy or anything, but using the same principles and detailing. I bought some books and based on that I started making design sketches.” It was not easy. “I can’t draw to save my life. But every time my wife went to bed, I took the books and started sketching. I worked through the night; it almost drove me to drink. In the end, a Belgian architect who knows how to work with classical materials drafted the whole thing.” It took Boon three years to have his palazzo built. The portraitist Jan Asselbergs spent a year and a half on the ceiling fresco of the Boon family in the dome of the building. “Everyone is on it, except for me. Asselbergs had painted me with a ponytail in tight-fitting trousers that didn’t leave much to the imagination. In his view this fitted in the palazzo, but I wasn’t too keen on it. We couldn’t agree, so in the end he erased me.” Boon has no regrets; it in no way diminishes the beauty of his palazzo. “You don’t really need much more than a space like this. A place to sit, to discuss and to philosophize, a kitchen and a sleeping area.” And then there’s the art: here too, it takes up all the space. Works by Ruysdael, Van Honthorst, Appel, Corneille, Van der Leck, Warhol, Sluijters, Picasso and Van Dongen. Paintings, sculptures and other objects, the cane, snuffbox, ushabti and oil-lamp collections. For each object, Boon has a story, remembers exactly where 040
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it came from, what was done to it, what he paid for it and what it could be worth. Not that he ever sells anything. “Why should I? I like having it, to look at. If you sell it, it’s gone, that would be a shame. But what will happen when the estate agent and art collector is not around anymore? “Well then they better sell the whole thing. I think everyone should start their own collection, it’s much more fun.”
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Domed pavilion.
Mischa van de Woestijne is freelance
journalist and Communication Consultant. spring / summer 2015
COLUMN
TEKST
Ivo Weyel
OLD MASTERS ILLUSTRATION
Tekenteam.nl
A unique Rembrandt that just won’t sell... The old masters are not rated at their true value in today’s art market, says Ivo Weyel. I just don’t understand. Which is nothing special in itself (there are many things I don’t understand), but in this case it’s about paintings. More specifically, about a portrait depicting an unknown man by Rembrandt. The owner Otto Naumann, an American art dealer, has been hauling it about for years. He had it with him at the TEFAF in 2011, but buyers showed no interest. He’s asking 34 million euros for it. That’s a considerable sum, but come on, a Rembrandt, how unique is that? But while Nau-
mann has been fruitlessly hauling the work about, countless other art works have been sold for multiples of his asking price. A Cy Twombly, for instance, for 60 million euros (a painting of scrawls on a blackboard), an Andy Warhol for 89 million euros (an edited photo of a car accident). And then there’s Jeff Koons, whose works regularly fetch 50-60 million euros, or Gerhard Richter, whose pieces make around 20 million euros on average. One of Richter’s photorealistic works even peaked at the same 34 million euros that the Rembrandt is meant to cost. Call me old-fashioned, but I just don’t get it. And really, I love modern and contemporary art, I even collect it (modestly), so I’m not one of those who think that no real art has been produced since the rise of abstract art. But how come the old masters make so much less than contemporary works? Take just uniqueness for starters. spring / summer 2015
There are many thousands of Picassos around (the good man painted and sculpted prolifically), while there are barely 300 Rembrandts out there. And how come people are willing to pay 50 million euros for the umpteenth Koons’ balloon, when a self-portrait by Sir Anthony van Dyck was recently sold for a measly 9 million euros. And even that is a record for this famous 17th-century painter. Connoisseurs called it “the most unique Van Dyck that was put on the market in half a century”, and then it stalled at 9 million euros, a tenth of what a Warhol costs? Shame on you, art buyers! The most annoying part is that it’s going to change. The day will come that old masters will again fetch the record prices, because our appreciation of art is constantly changing. In the 1970s for example a Warhol fetched a couple of hundred thousand euros if you were lucky, while the impressionists topped the charts (they have since fallen). Only I don’t have enough money to invest in the impressionists. I even let a contemporary art opportunity slip away. A few years ago Jeff Koons designed a holder for a bottle of Dom Pérignon. It cost 12,000 euros. I hesitated: should I do it or not? In the end I didn’t. A big mistake because recently one of those things sold at over 150,000 euros.
Ivo Weyel is a writer.
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TREASURES ON THE MAAS TEXT
Aya Langeveld
PHOTOGRAPHY
Peter Boer
FOTO: KIM ZWARTS
The zinc dome of the Bonnefantenmuseum is a landmark in the Maastricht skyline. But the underground storage facilities are invisible and off limits to the outside world. Vernis travelled to Maastricht and got a glimpse of the treasures concealed underground.
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Bonnefantenmuseum.
(left) Ien Lucas, 01.01.2014 series ‘What’s behind’ (detail), 2014, Bonnefantenmuseum collection; (right) Detail of
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middle panel of triptych with Christ and the woman caught in adultery, Bonnefantenmuseum collection.
he enormous basement of the Bonnefantenmuseum Maastricht is the building’s engine room, with thick pipes running everywhere, bundles of electrical wiring, neon lighting and the soft whirring of machinery. The basement floor is used as a multifunctional space and accommodates four depots. spring / summer 2015
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BONNEFANTENMUSEUM MAASTRICHT STORAGE FACILITIES
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Impression of depot.
Bishop’s staff, around 1380-1400, Neutelings collection.
Armreliquary, around 1170, collection Neutelings.
The Neutelings Collection The Neutelings Collection is a private collection of more than 120 medieval religious objects. Willem Neutelings (19161986) developed most of his private collection between 1970 and his death in 1986. After his death, the collection was given on permanent loan to the Bonnefantenmuseum. The objects date from the period 1200-1700. The collection, which features many rare objects, consists of several parts: family altars, fragments of retables and wooden sculptures – including some from the Southern Netherlands (Antwerp, Brussels and Mechelen) – sandstone, alabaster and marble sculptures and reliefs, as well as ivory and copper objects, especially from France, England, Germany and the area around the Maas River.
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There is a smell of sawn wood in the corridor. A few metres further up, the door to the carpentry workshop is open. Inside, beams and pallets are stacked up against the wall, part of them left over from the large renovation that took place last year. The museum is constantly evolving on all fronts, with many varied exhibitions and, more importantly, the arrival of two new directors in 2012.
Collection Management Ingrid Kentgens. “Third parties can only enter here under the supervision of the artistic director or a member of staff from the Department of Collection Management. This is not only to protect the collection, but also to protect the people themselves. This way, if something goes wrong, there will be no finger-pointing.”
Limburg connection The collection of ‘the Bonnefanten’ consists of both old and contemporary art, often with a connection to Limburg and varying from modern installations to an impressive collection of religious sculptures. The Bonnefanten has one of the largest and most important collections of medieval art in the Netherlands, which is not surprising in the predominantly Catholic south of the country. The storage facilities protect the collection that is not on display from draughts, humidity, dust and vermin. But other unwanted visitors are also kept out. “We have a clear access protocol,” says the head of
Creating space As ‘only’ 5% of the 12,000 objects in the collection are on display, the storage spaces are crowded. How do you store all this art? “It’s always a puzzle,” says Kentgens. “Space is limited and the collection is expanding. But that’s also part of collection management: the challenge of finding a solution. There are plans to refurbish the storage facilities. We want to do it this year, so that we can organize the space as efficiently as possible. The challenge is to store more within the same square metreage. It’s quite an operation.” Twenty years on the Maas For 20 years already, the Bonnefantenvernis#08 –
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BONNEFANTENMUSEUM MAASTRICHT STORAGE FACILITIES
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Impression of depot.
Packed artwork in the storage space.
Bonnefantenmuseum Maastricht The Bonnefantenmuseum collection includes an important collection of medieval religious objects, Maasland wood sculptures, early Italian painting from the period 1300-1600 and paintings from the Southern Netherlands from the period 1475-1625. The museum has a considerable number of objects on loan from the Limburgs Geschiedkundig en Oudheidkundig Genootschap (LGOG, Limburg Historical and Archaeological Society) and the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed (RCE, Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands). It also accommodates part of the collection of the Bisschoppelijk Museum Roermond
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(Museum of the Bishopric Roermond). In addition, the museum manages a large collection of modern art by internationally renowned artists. The modern art collection features important subcollections of conceptual art, Minimal Art and Arte Povera among others. The main Limburg collection includes pieces by artists working in the area around Maastricht such as Pierre Kemp, Werner Mantz, Jan Dibbets and Shinkichi Tajiri. It also features an important series of works by the medieval woodcarver Jan van Steffeswert.
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museum has been located on the Avenue Céramique. The imposing E-shaped building by Aldo Rossi was designed from scratch with 4,000 m2 of exhibition space. The 20th anniversary on the Maas is being celebrated with an exhibition dedicated to the Italian architect. Preparations are in full swing in the paper storeroom. On top of the pile of selected works, there are two of Rossi’s designs for the new Bonnefanten: these sketches from the 1990s were still made on paper and now have historic value. The building with its striking domed tower has made its mark on the Céramique neighbourhood and forms a characteristic landmark in the Maastricht skyline. Old and new When you walk into the painting depot you immediately see that the museum’s collection covers several centuries. To the right of the door, a colourful modern work stands beside a sober medieval triptych – a starker contrast would be hard to find. But in the context of the depot, it is nothing out of the ordinary. Stripped of their theoretical framework and presented out of the context of an exhibition, the canon of art or art history lessons, the works are simply themselves. Here, their inventory number is just as important as the artist’s signature. “The system registers the location and tells us where the object is. There are no fixed places.” vernis#08 –
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Toon Verhoef, untitled (detail), 1992, Bonnefantenmuseum collection.
Sidi El Karchi, Self-portrait after Beckmann (detail), 2006, Bonnefantenmuseum collection.
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Religious heritage The Neutelings collection takes up just one modest shelving unit in the main depot facility. But most of the estate of collector Willem Neutelings (see box on page 45) – around 120 objects of medieval religious art – will soon be moved upstairs where a permanent exhibition will be set up. Neutelings was the son of a manufacturer and the inventor of the popular Liga biscuit, which generations of Dutch children grew up on. This allowed Willem Neutelings to establish one of the richest private collections of late medieval sculpture and applied art in the Netherlands. In 1996, his heirs gave his collection to the museum on permanent loan. The woodcarvings of saints from the Neutelings collection are neatly arranged on the bottom shelf. In the faint light, it is a peaceful scene. Conservator of Pre-Modern Art Lars Hendrikman displays the most unique pieces on a table for Vernis to admire. “The collection also offers a glimpse into the collector’s mind. The theme of the collection was partly based on Neutelings’ personal motivation as a devout Catholic.” The diversity of the spiritual collection is striking: from 13th-century Limoges enamel to 16th-century wooden sculptures, and everything in between,
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including bronze and ivory diptychs. They radiate beauty and illustrate the high quality that characterizes the collection. Unknown collection “This collection is virtually unknown, because not much has been published about it,” says Hendrikman. Henk van Os’ 1996 book, Een engel in de koffer (The Angel in the Suitcase), which was published in a small print run, focuses more on Neutelings as a collector and on his motivation, and less on the individual pieces in the collection. “The collection includes many rare pieces and it is aesthetically attractive, making it a good match for our existing collection. That’s also the main reason that it ended up with us when the heirs decided to place it in a museum. In return we promised to produce a catalogue.” Thanks to a stipend from the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, Hendrikman was able to take six months in 2014 to do research and produce the long-awaited catalogue that makes the collection accessible to a larger audience. “Not all the puzzle pieces fit yet, but I’m getting closer. The book won’t include all objects – the collection is simply too large and time is limited.” In several respects, the book has forced Hendrikman to delve into areas he was not spring / summer 2015
E.H. ARIËNS KAPPERS master prints
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By appointment only P.O.Box 11319 1001 GH Amsterdam tel. 00 31(0)20 6235356 www.masterprints.nl info@masterprints.nl TEFAF 2015, Stand 710
Self-portrait Woodcut printed brownish green on thick Japanese paper. 1913 Signed in pencil “J. Mankes” 15.4 x 11 cm. 2-3.5 cm margin. Provenance: . J.R.Voûte ( Lugt 4450). Literature: Cat. De Groot, Rijksprentenkabinet, P16. D.
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Bas de Wit, Toontje Lager (detail), 2008, Bonnefantenmuseum collectie.
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familiar with. “My speciality is premodern painting. Of course there is an overlap because of the period, but I knew little about materials such as ivory. It was a voyage of discovery and it was fascinating. For instance, there was a fragment of a small diptych in Gothic ivory showing the Last Judgment. The right half of the diptych was missing. In the Middle Ages, such diptychs always showed two related scenes. So what was missing? As the hinge was on the right, this must have been the left panel, which was strange: if the left panel already shows the end of time, then what’s left to show on the right panel? Nothing happens after that, so what could it have been? Finally I found the answer in the Musée Cluny, the museum of medieval art in Paris. There I discovered a comparable, but complete diptych showing the Last Judgement and the end of the history of salvation on the left, and the coronation of Mary on the right. I had suspected this would be the scene on the right-hand panel, because this is a timeless metaphor, in which Mary is the symbol of the so-called Mother Church. But there was another mystery. Why was the diptych from the Neutelings collection sawn of at the bottom? Had it been part of a larger whole? Based on the iconography as I imagined it, I decided this must have
been the birth of Christ. So with this theory in mind, I started searching. I have been proven right. To my surprise I found the missing piece and the original bottom part in a Sotheby’s auction catalogue. It was auctioned on 5 June 1997. We don’t know where it is now, but we can reconstruct what the piece looked like before it was dismantled and sold in separate pieces. Maybe one day it will come onto the market again. It would be nice to reunite both fragments after years, or maybe even centuries.”
Aya Langeveld is freelance journalist.
spring / summer 2015
A N T I Q U A I R S Finest Dutch Delftware Nieuwe Spiegelstraat 39 | Amsterdam T.+31 20 6233103 www.aronson.com
‘ We wanted to stay true to our origins: a small, authentic museum with historic depth’ TEXT
Aya Langeveld
Director Emilie Gordenker of the Mauritshuis PHOTOGRAPHY
Het Mauritshuis
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Read the article
PHOTOGRAPHY: FRANK VAN DEN BURG 01
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REPORTAGE MAURITSHUIS
01 previous page Emilie Gordenker, director of the Mauritshuis, The Hague.
The reopening of the Mauritshuis in 2014 attracted crowds of visitors. Now the museum is once again drawing large audiences with ‘The Frick Collection – Art Treasures from New York’. The works on display in this exhibition have come to the Netherlands after the American museum exhibited pieces from the Mauritshuis during its renovation. According to director Emilie Gordenker it was “a stroke of genius to send our paintings on a little trip”.
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Already a quarter of an hour before the museum opens, small groups of visitors are huddled in front of the gates of the Mauritshuis. It is the first cold spell of the year, but they wait patiently until the doors open at 10 o’clock. The museum in The Hague with masterpieces from the Dutch Golden Age is considered a must. The underground entrance foyer that was added during the museum’s renovation is impressive, combining contemporary design with a classic touch. This was also the overall design concept for the expansion of the Mauritshuis. “The combination of the historic house and the collection makes us unique. We wanted to preserve that atmosphere,” says Gordenker. Historic house Since the reopening, Gordenker’s workspace is located on the third floor. It is spacious, light and quiet. The director talks nonchalantly about “her” museum that is so popular in the Netherlands and abroad. It is a success story. But, as is often the case, it was not easy; it took hard work. “I was appointed to the position of director in 2008, just as the crisis started. Most state subsidies and business sponsorships were cancelled. It was also unclear whether we would be able to renovate. With my background as a conservator, I was stepping into a new role where I had to learn a lot in a short time. Until then, terms like ‘mission’ and ‘vision’ had been just marketing slogans to me. A collection like this may be a goldmine, but how do you tap into it –
Seeing the exhibition The exhibition ‘The Frick Collection – Art Treasures from New York’ consists of 36 masterpieces dating from the 13th to the 19th century, including paintings, drawings, sculptures and applied The Frick art. The Collection exhibiArt Treasution res from gives an New York insight 5 February into the - 10 May collec2015, in the Mauritshuis, tion, backThe Hague ground and atmosphere of The Frick Collection and its legendary founder Henry Clay Frick.
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MAURITSHUIS REPORTAGE
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Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780-1867), portrait of the Comtesse d’Haussonville, 1845, painting, 131.8 x 92.1 cm.
especially during an economic crisis? There was only one answer: cut costs and look for sponsors. You have to be creative and make people feel connected to the museum. You have to make them want to be part of the success and also get something in return. It was, and still is, our belief that we can achieve that by staying true to our origins as a small, authentic museum with historic depth. This was also the starting point for the renovation, when it did finally go ahead: keep the good parts, and where necessary, modernize. This building wasn’t conceived as a museum and when we had to make choices about the interior, the atmosphere of the original house was the most important factor. We didn’t want to lose that sense of intimacy.”
PHOTOGRAPHY: THE FRICK COLLECTION, NEW YORK / MICHAEL BODYCOMB 02
‘This building wasn’t conceived as a museum and when we had to make choices about the interior, the atmosphere of the original house was the most important factor’ spring / summer 2015
Renovation “We made a point of not enlarging the rooms, and we made sure that the colours and materials matched the style of the first quarter of the 18th century. This is when the interior was renewed after a fire in 1704 destroyed most of the inside. For instance, for the walls we chose silk fabrics that were specially woven for us. The green colour is an ideal match for the tones of Dutch landscape paintings; this background shows them off perfectly. Some alterations were subtle, and added just a finishing touch. For example, we left the staircase red, but made it a shade darker, which makes it warmer. To me it is important that everything is worked out in detail. You want to make sure the audience enjoys the visit. Even the toilets had to be just right. At a certain point you start paying attention to everything, also when you visit other museums. How did they do it? Which taps are we going to use?” “I’m in The Hague” Gordenker certainly has a strategic vision: “It’s all very well to have one of the most beautiful collections, but people need to know about it. In the Rijksmuseum, the most frequent question from foreign tourists is, ‘Where is “The Girl with the vernis#08 –
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REPORTAGE MAURITSHUIS
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of Hungary and Jan Vos (+/- 14411443), panel, 47.3 x 61.3 cm.
Jan van Logteren (1709-1745), full-length portrait of Johan Maurits (1604-1679), Count of Nassau-Siegen, 1727.
PHOTOGRAPHY: THE FRICK COLLECTION, NEW YORK / MICHAEL BODYCOMB
Jan van Eyck and workshop (1390/1400-1441), Virgin and child, with Saint Barbara and Saint Elisabeth
Het Mauritshuis: a museum with history The Mauritshuis has a world-famous collection of Dutch paintings from the Golden Age. The 800 works offer a rich and varied image of 17th-century Dutch painting with interiors by Jan Steen, landscapes by Ruysdael, still lifes by Coorte and portraits by Rubens. PHOTOGRAPHY: MAURITSHUIS, DEN HAAG
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Pearl Earring” exhibited?’ It’s not for nothing that they started selling a postcard of the painting with a speech bubble above the girl’s head that reads ‘I’m in the Hague’. It is my aim to make that question redundant. People should immediately associate the Mauritshuis with Vermeer. “While we were renovating – and the collection had to be temporarily re-housed – I decided that sending the paintings on a little trip would make for great publicity. Thanks to the success of the exhibition in New York in 2013/14 and Japan in 2012 – which was the most visited exhibition in the world that year – more and more foreigners are familiar with the Mauritshuis. They can even pronounce the name and they know that it is in The Hague.”
Maurits van NassauSiegen, governor of Dutch Brazil. From 1685 onwards, the Mauritshuis was used as a ‘Hotel of State’ for guests of the States General of The Netherlands. The building has been in use as a museum since 1822. In 2014 the Mauritshuis reopened after a two-year renovation period. The surface area of the museum has doubled, with an underground extension into the building across the street: the former corner property of Society de Witte.
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The national monument in the historic centre of The Hague was originally built as a palace for Count Johan
The Frick Collection “It was clear to me that The Frick Collection in New York would be a perfect temporary home, but I never expected the exhibition ‘Vermeer, Rembrandt and Hals, Masterpieces of Dutch Painting from the Mauritshuis’ to be such a success. It was incredible. Publicizing our collection in this 056
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Hans Memling (ca. 1430-1494), portrait of a man (+/- 1470), panel, 33.5 x 23 cm.
PHOTOGRAPHY: THE FRICK COLLECTION, NEW YORK / MICHAEL BODYCOMB 05
‘It is the first time that The Frick Collection is lending so many of its masterpieces. It’s very special’ spring / summer 2015
way was a stroke of genius. The exhibition, which ran from 22 October 2013 until 19 January 2014, even became the most visited exhibition in the history of the renowned Frick Collection. When I went to see it myself, I received a film star reception; it was quite surreal. Originally we had planned to lend only nine works, but when the conservator of The Frick visited the exhibition ‘Masters of the Mauritshuis’ in Japan, he was so impressed that he rang me to ask if they could get more. In the end, we lent them 15 works, which were beautifully displayed in the East Gallery of the museum with, on its own in the oval room and as a jewel in the crown, ‘The Girl with the Pearl Earring’. This work has become is an icon, together with Fabritius’ ‘The Goldfinch’ – thanks to Donna Tartt’s eponymous book. At the time, we agreed with The Frick that after our reopening we would select works from their collection in exchange for the works we had loaned them. This is what is on show this spring. It is the first large art exhibition in the new wing, with 36 masterpieces by artists who have little or no recognition in Dutch museum collections, such as Cimabue, Van Eyck, Gainsborough, Constable and Ingres. It is the first time that The Frick Collection is lending so many of its masterpieces. It’s very special.” Masterpieces “I always say jokingly that it is my job to get people off the streets to come and look at dark old paintings. Luckily there are many people who still appreciate them. The old masters are still relevant. The paintings tell stories, which appeal to people. You never get tired of looking at them. The level of detail means there is always something new to discover. With a collection of 800 paintings we are a small museum, but we are an important player, because these are masterpieces.”
Aya Langeveld is freelance journalist.
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COLUMN
TEXT
Martin Roth
MEISSEN-FOUNTAIN ILLUSTRATION
Tekenteam.nl
Martin Roth, the director of the prestigious Victoria and Albert Museum in London, shows how modern techniques can be used to restore antique pieces. A little-known but spectacular Meissen centrepiece will take pride of place in the Victoria and Albert Museum’s new suite of galleries devoted European art and design between 1600 and 1815. It has recently been restored using cutting-edge 3D-digital modelling technologies in combination with traditional conservation and porcelainmaking techniques. This table-fountain in white por-
celain was acquired by the Museum in 1870 in a damaged and incomplete state. For over 140 years, only the main sculptural figures were exhibited, while the remaining parts and fragments languished in store. Recent research, carried out prior to restoration, has shed much light on the context of its creation and on its original appearance. The table-fountain was commissioned by Saxony’s first Minster at the court in Dresden, Count Heinrich von Brühl, in 1745 and modelled by Meissen’s chief modeller J.J. Kändler and his assistants. It was based on a stone fountain in the garden of von Brühl’s summer palace in Dresden Friedrichstadt, sculpted by Lorenzo Mattielli. On 11th January 1747, von Brühl hosted a splendid supper in his Dresden Palace to celebrate the royal marriage between the Dauphin and Princess Maria Josepha of Saxony. The arrangement of this important alliance between France and Saxony was one of von Brühl’s diplomatic masterstrokes. The porcelain fountain was the centrepiece for the main table during the dessert course, where – running with water – its novelty was much admired. 058
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Almost all the original moulds for the fountain have been lost, but by good fortune, a second version of it was made during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. This polychrome copy, preserved in the Porzellansammlung in Dresden, provided accurate models for the parts we were lacking. We scanned these to create 3D-casting models, and, together with the Royal College of Art in London, translated them into porcelain replacement parts. As porcelain shrinks during drying and firing, we had to increase the size of the 3D-models to 115% of the originals before manufacturing them by 3D-printing and machinetooling. From the resulting models, skilled mould-makers in Stoke-on-Trent made plaster, multi-part moulds. Dr Steve Brown at the Royal College of Art then used these moulds to create the missing parts in porcelain. The larger components had to dry for three months before they could be glazed and fired in a kiln at 1250˚C. With the newly created replacement parts in place, the fountain can once more be admired in its full glory.
Martin Roth is director of the Victoria and Albert Museum
in London.
spring / summer 2015
grote porseleinen berg, china, kangxi periode (1662-1722), H: 53 cm
’s-hertogenbosch telefoon +31 (0)73 614 62 51 info@vanderven.com
www.vanderven.com
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DUTCH DESIGN IN NEW YORK TEXT
Jorrit Niels
PHOTOGRAPHY
Paul Barbera (interior), Jesaja Hizkia (portrait)
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The former office building contains 58
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The name ‘Huys’ is derived from Stadt Huys and is named after New York’s first town hall that was built in 1642. 03
The lamps in the reception area and above dining tables in the apartments are made by French designers Erwan and Ronan Bourollec. 01
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Piet Boon has a studio in the village of Oostzaan in North-Holland, but he spends nearly as much time on location – not in Eindhoven or Rotterdam, but in Tokyo and Paris. And also in New York, where one of his latest prestigious projects is located: Huys, a reflection of Dutch design and craftsmanship. Vernis spoke to the renowned designer on one of his rare visits to the Netherlands. 060
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PORTRAIT PIET BOON
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Small office windows are replaced by large floor-to-ceiling frames to enhance the sense of space.
Oakwood floors designed by Piet Boon and made by Solidfloor.
Dutch innovation, quality and superior craftsmanship: it has existed since the 17 th century, but now a second Dutch renaissance is taking place. Modern Dutch Design continues to be popular in New York. Designer Piet Boon believes that “Dutch” does so well in the city because New Yorkers are not that different from the Dutch. “Like us, they are perseverant, have the will to work hard and the ability to think out of the box if they have to. I always
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‘ Like us, New Yorkers are perseverant, have the will to work hard and the ability to think out of the box’
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tell them that they got this attitude from ‘our’ forefathers.” Meanwhile the Delft blue scaffolding on 404 Park Avenue has been removed to reveal the full splendour of Huys. Built in 1914, the former office building now accommodates 58 new luxury apartments just a few blocks from the Rockefeller Center and the Museum of Modern Art. HuysisaprojectbytheDutchKroonenberg Groep. CEO Lesley Bamberger got Boon on board back in 2010, because “New York
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Every apartment has its own vestibule.
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likes its rules and regulations”, as Boon puts it. “Bamberger rang me and said: ‘I have a great building in New York and I want to apply Dutch Design to it.’ Well, I have some experience in New York and it’s not easy to transform an office building into a luxury apartment block. There are so many rules.” Boon points to the tall door in his office: “In the Netherlands, a door can be fitted to this size, in New York, you ensure that it is wide enough to allow for wheelchair access. In 80 % of cases this will be irrelevant, but the rules say that the door has to be adapted for the eventuality. I can give 20 more examples like that. It’s unbelievable, but they are unyielding.” Boon says restrictions encourage creativity. In the run-up to the project, he visited a number of other high-end projects in New York with Bamberger. That’s when he saw why the Kroonenberg Groep had opted for Dutch Design: “Bamberger is a builder, I’m a builder, we understand each other. We looked at each other and said: ‘We can do this in our sleep.’ The projects had hardly focused on developing a solid concept. You would come in and walk straight into the meter box, or the layout was totally illogical. And impersonal. Often it felt like you were stepping out of the lift into a hotel room. Not what you would expect of a $ 10 million apartment.” In Huys, Boon applied his own distinctive style, blending personal atmosphere with luxurious comfort and equipping each entrance with its own vestibule. “It takes up 1.5 m (at 25.000 euros per m2), but it adds so much quality. This was the attitude and level of attention to detail that was to make this project a success.” It may be because he has 30 years of experience, but Boon was right. Nearly all the apartments have been sold, with a few penthouses left to go. Those apparently small extras give the building something special, which makes Huys more complete than most luxury condos in Manhattan. Boon describes it as “homely”, a style that would suit his own place. There are also luxury extras such a bike storage space, a gym and a media lounge. Here too, the Dutch influence is visible. The roof terrace features a garden by Piet Oudolf – with the same plants that he used for The High Line park – and in the lobby
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“The luxurious functionality is my interpretation of Dutch Design.”
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PIET BOON PORTRAIT
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It was a conscious move to keep the design simple, with a pallet of neutral tones.
The design is dominated by clear lines and symmetry.
residents are welcomed by a hand-painted vase by Roderik Vos and an enormous bronze chandelier by Dutch artist Frederick Molenschot. Outside, the whole façade has been replaced. The small office windows have made way for large windows with dark steel frames, creating bright interior spaces. Boon took advantage of the fact that Huys is not wedged in between other buildings, as is often the case in New York. “I wanted to let the windows stick out to broaden the view. Unfortunately the city didn’t allow everything to ‘pop out’ but that has given the building its unusual structure. It just goes to show that restrictions make it different, but not really worse.” The interiors are harmonious, with a sober pallet of neutral tones. Fireplaces, deep sofas and comfortable furniture create warmth on the backdrop of the white walls. “The luxurious functionality is my interpretation of Dutch Design, with clear lines and a lot of symmetry. It’s like our style: simple but very sophisticated.
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Some apartments have a roof terrace or balcony.
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‘ It just goes to show that restrictions make it different, but not really worse’
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The building isn’t simple but feels very logical. The axes are well positioned with a lot of light and a lot of Dutch products and designs. From the large, high wooden doors to the wooden floors and the natural stone in the lobby. Often a building loses its beauty after a few years. I have tried to prevent that by working with durable materials. That way the building can ‘age gracefully’. It has to look good, but to me it is more important that it still looks good in 10 years.” spring / summer 2015
SPE
C IA LI
SI ST EUROPEAN
R LVE
An early pair of Dutch Silver Candlesticks, made by Willem de Bor in Maastricht between 1700-1703 656 grams; 18,7 cm high
Jacob J. Roosjen, European Silver SRI® Eendrachtlaan 33 | 3621 DD Breukelen | The Netherlands T: +31(0)6 -53 26 82 80 | E: jacob.roosjen@gmail.com KvK: 30097529 | V.A.T: NL.114.234.917.B01 www.jacobroosjen.com
PORTRAIT PIET BOON
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This is not Boon’s first project in New York and he is currently working on a building on Wall Street and a project in Brooklyn. Still, every week he gets a kick out of it. “During the renovation of Huys, the Delft-blue façade had a sign on it: Piet Boon - Amsterdam, Tokyo, New York. When you see that you can’t help but walk down Park Avenue with a big smile.” But Boon is already moving on. The
‘ A house in the West Village in New York would be great, but it’s unaffordable. I’m happy in Het Twiske’
presentation he will give in two days is already prepared on this desk, full of notes and sketches. Tomorrow, Boon flies to Tokyo, where, with his team of 40 staff, he is going to start work on the famous Park Hyatt Hotel, which featured in the film Lost in Translation. But to live in these metropolises? Boon does not see it happening any time soon. “A house in the West Village in New York would be great, but it’s unaffordable. I’m happy in Het Twiske [in North-Holland, ed.]. I have such a busy life that when I get home I’m ready for some peace and quiet. I see sheep, cows and geese. And my favourite city is just a quarter of an hour’s drive away.”
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The kitchens are equipped with highquality materials.
Jorrit Niels is a freelance journalist. His articles
have been published by Madpac.nl, Volkskrant Magazine and JFK and other publications.
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INTERVIEW WILLEM VAN ROIJEN
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WILLEM VAN ROIJEN INTERVIEW
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TEFAF chairman Willem van Roijen with his Cairn Terrier Abbie.
irst a short history lesson for the uninitiated: TEFAF is the result of the merging of two fairs. In 1975 the Pictura Fine Art Fair was launched, an art fair initiated by the Maastricht-based art dealer Robert Noortman. In 1978 the antique fair Antiqua was established, with antique dealers and antiquarian booksellers. In 1985 the two fairs decided to merge under the name Antiquairs International & Pictura Fine Art Fair – a name that was changed to The European Fine Art Fair in 1988, or, as we know it now, TEFAF. Willem van Roijen, 69, an ex-banker and the son of an ambassador, has headed the fair since 2014. Van Roijen started in 1972 at Pierson, Heldring & Pierson – today ABN AMRO MeesPierson where he held several positions and was branch director in Haarlem before launching a new division within the company in 1989. “When the Haarlem branch was integrated into the Amsterdam branch, I went to the board of directors with a proposal for a new division: the financing of art. That’s how I got into this world. Soon I saw that the artistic aspect of art was even more interesting than the monetary aspect.” Was there a need for special financing? “A surprisingly large need. Companies in the art world often needed loans to bridge the period after they had sold a piece and before they received the payment. We would advance that sum. I also dealt with private individuals – often outside the Netherlands – with large collections.”
TEXT
Jorrit Niels and Mischa van de Woestijne
DIPLOMATIC BANKER SETS NEW COURSE FOR TEFAF PHOTOGRAPHY
Friso Keuris
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INTERVIEW WILLEM VAN ROIJEN
Did you already know much about art then? “Absolutely not, and I still don’t call myself an art connoisseur. I was brought up with some art around me, but an expert? No.” Is that like people who say they are ‘okay’ skiers and who then race down the black piste? “Well, as a child I was dragged from museum to museum. And though it bored me at the time, some of it did stick. My father was the Dutch ambassador to Washington, D.C. when I was growing up, which meant we spent a lot time on Museum Mile. Still, it’s all relative. My understanding of art is nothing compared to the specialist knowledge of TEFAF participants.” What is your first art memory? “The Last Supper by Dalí at The National Gallery of Art. But I preferred the planes hanging from the ceiling in The Smithsonian in Washington, D.C..” It’s quite something to launch yourself into the world of art as a self-declared art amateur and banker. “My strength lay in finding the right people who did know about the world of art. During my time at the bank I hired a stand at TEFAF for two years and that was how I got to know all the art dealers. After three years, TEFAF came to me and because I ‘knew a bit about figures and by now also thought I knew something about art’ they asked me to become their treasurer in 1992. I think it helped that I never pretended to be an art expert. Then, when I left the bank in 1992, I started buying paintings as an investment.”
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You were the treasurer for 11 years and then you were asked to be the chairman. How did that go? “The fact that I am not an art dealer gives me some perspective and a large degree of independence. Apparently I have a reputation for my diplomatic approach. I guess it’s still in my blood. We have more than 270 participants and we find it important that everyone’s interests are respected, but it’s an illusion to think that everyone always agrees on everything.” Did it take time before you decided to accept the position?
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“There was no time for long consideration. But thankfully careful consideration doesn’t need to take much time. The chairmanship of the board of TEFAF is an extraordinarily interesting and challenging position. But I also realized that it would take a lot of time and energy, which is why I wanted to involve my wife in my considerations and my final decision. I still believe that. I came to the conclusion that this new position could be combined with the other priorities in our life at the moment. So I may take the morning to go skiing with my children and grandchildren before spending the afternoon discussing TEFAFrelated matters by phone and email with board members in different parts of the world and the management in the Dutch town of Helvoirt. It suits me fine this way.” As the chairman, you determine the course. Which course have you set out? “My aim is to ensure TEFAF remains the most important art fair in the world. Evespring / summer 2015
781 Fifth Avenue • New York • NY • 10022 • +1.212.752.1727 • ALVR.com
Where the Unusual is Usual SM
ANTIQUE JEWELRY WORKS OF ART FABERGÉ
Exhibiting TEFAF 2015 Stand 110 tefaf@alvr.com +31 6 46 30 89 07
Silver monkey table lighter. By Fabergé, workmaster J. Rappoport. St. Petersburg, ca. 1900. Height: 12.7 cm. (Exhibited: Fabergé in America, 1996-97, no. 218.)
Established 1851
INTERVIEW WILLEM VAN ROIJEN
rything should be geared towards that. TEFAF has been a reference for 28 years now, but that also makes it like the metaphorical oil tanker: it isn’t easy to change its course. And if you make an attempt, you have to proceed extremely carefully and with great patience. At the same time, I also strongly believe in the American phrase ‘If it ain’t broke don’t fix it’. I’m not suggesting we should simply carry on doing the same thing every year, certainly not. Every year is different. Sometimes there are very visible innovations such as Night Fishing in TEFAF Modern, a space curated by Sydney Picasso with nine leading gallery owners who represent just one artist. But there are also changes that are invisible to the visitor, such as a new mobile research lab, equipped with the latest high-tech equipment, which we use as part of our vetting process. That’s really groundbreaking and yet it is invisible to everyone except for the 175 experts who take part in the vetting process. I find it fascinating. These kinds of innovations, that touch upon our core, are really what allows us to assert ourselves as a leading fair.”
Take our vetting system for instance, but also our ability to guarantee that information about our participants’ clients remains confidential.”
How about TEFAF in Shanghai or New York? We have always made it clear that TEFAF aims to respond to global trends in the art world and that we keep our eyes open for opportunities to expand internationally. But for a fair like TEFAF, that entails much more than just hiring a hall, renting out square metres and organizing entertainment. Our extremely high-quality requirements make us very critical and cautious – some might call it demanding.
What does the average TEFAF visitor look like? Is it the nouveaux riches from Russia and the Emirates who fly in on their private jets? “They are there too, but it is impossible to define an average visitor. That is precisely what distinguishes TEFAF: an international diversity that you won’t find at any other event in the Netherlands.”
What is a realistic expectation for the coming years? “We expect to remain focused on maintaining TEFAF’s position in Maastricht, as a platform where the elite of the art world can find the highest quality. At the same time, we are still looking at how to expand without compromising our high standards. If the opportunity presents itself or can be created, we will not hesitate to act upon it.” That seems like a Catch-22 situation. On the one hand, there is the problem of timing, on the other, change is inevitable otherwise things will go wrong. “I have great confidence in my fellow board members and the management in Helvoirt and I am convinced that we will be able to make the right decisions. It is very important that we are aware of what participants want and of the developments in the global art market in a more general sense.”
Does a large percentage of your visitors come from abroad?
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“Nearly half. Titia Vellenga, previous Head of PR at TEFAF, spends several months per year travelling to different countries to speak to collectors. It’s one of the ways in which we try to convince people around the world to travel to Maastricht in March. We often find that once people have made their first visit, they come back. The number of foreign visitors and their country of origin is gradually shifting. TEFAF has had international ambitions from the start and it has always focused on foreign dealers and visitors. But the number of different nationalities has risen massively since the first fairs.” Which groups are missing in your view? “There are many Dutch, Americans, Belgians, Germans and French. Despite the many British dealers, we believe that in terms of visitors we could reach a larger group of British collectors. And part of our activities is specifically targeted at Asia and Latin America.” Is the Dutch consumer relevant to TEFAF? “Yes, of course the Dutch are important to us. They make up the largest group of visitors and they regularly make purchases. Dutch museums are also extremely important to us.” What do you hope that your chairmanship will have achieved by the time you step down? “My aim is for TEFAF to still be on top when I leave the fair: with the same quality of participants, the same high quality of pieces on offer, and who knows, a foreign edition!”
Mischa van de Woestijne is freelance
journalist and Communication Consultant.
Jorrit Niels is a freelance journalist. His articles
have been published by Madpac.nl, Volkskrant Magazine and JFK and other publications.
spring / summer 2015
Jean-Gabriel Domergue, Les Folies Bergères, Le Promenoir (detail), Peter Pappot Kunsthandel
5 -12 april 2015 | CHASSEVELD BREDA
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DO AN APPRENTICESHIP WITH AN OLD MASTER
KONINKLIJKE VHOK COURSE PROGRAMME You can follow various courses and attend lectures at the Koninklijke Vereeniging van Handelaren in Oude Kunst. With the Koninklijke Vereeniging van Handelaren in Oude Kunst (Royal Association of Fine Art Dealers in the Netherlands) course programme you will acquire practical knowledge that is not taught anywhere else. Renowned art dealers, often known from the television programme ‘Tussen Kunst & Kitsch’ (Dutch version of ‘The Antiques Roadshow’), share their unique knowledge and experience with you. During the course Art & Antiques in
Practice we open doors for you, with antique dealers receiving you in their homes and galleries. You will have the chance to study and hold rare pieces, while experts explain all the ins and outs to you. In this course, we share not only our knowledge, but also our love of art. The autumn course Art & Antiques in Practice runs from early September to early December. The course fee amounts to €725 (incl. VAT) for 11 lessons.
‘The practical knowledge we acquire here cannot be found in a book. In particular, the contacts with antique dealers of the Koninklijke VHOK are immensely inspiring and valuable’
FOR INFORMATION ABOUT HOW TO REGISTER FOR OUR COURSE PROGRAMME, VISIT OUR WEBSITE WWW.KVHOK.NL OR SEND AN EMAIL TO INFO@KVHOK.NL.
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BECOME A FRIEND OF THE KONINKLIJKE VHOK
You can become a friend of the Koninklijke VHOK for just €125 per year (1 address, 2 people). As a Friend of the Koninklijke VHOK you receive advantages worth €230: • The spring and autumn editions of our magazine Vernis • Two tickets for the art and antiques fair ART Breda • Two tickets for the art and antiques fair PAN Amsterdam • A specially tailored afternoon workshop in May (2 people)
• €50 per person discount on our course Art & Antiques in Practice (2 people) • Publications and information from our members This offer is valid for 1 address, 1 person at a rate of €85 per year.
FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE ADVANTAGES AT WWW.KVHOK.NL. DO YOU WANT TO BECOME A FRIEND OF THE KONINKLIJKE VHOK? SEND AN EMAIL TO INFO@KVHOK.NL.
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FROM LEFT TO RIGHT DIRK EN DIRK-JAN LIMBURG PORCELAIN VASE, CHINA, PAINTING AFTER A DESIGN BY CORNELIS PRONK, AROUND 1740, PORCELAIN, H 28 CM, €9,500 ARONSON ANTIQUAIRS BLUE-AND-WHITE EARTHENWARE FIGURE OF A ROOSTER, DELFT, AROUND 1700, MARKED LVE IN BLUE FOR LAMBERTUS VAN EENHOORN, OWNER OF DE METAALE POT FROM 1691 TO 1721, EARTHENWARE, H 21.5 CM, PRICE
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Collectors all have their own reasons for wanting to add certain pieces to their collection. Some collect works from a specific period, others select on colour or theme. Vernis photographed a selection of the objects on offer at antique dealers associated to the Koninklijke VHOK in a special... PHOTOGRAPHY
Marie Cécile Thijs
PRODUCTION
Jettie Rozemond
UPON REQUEST KUNSTZALEN A. VECHT COCKATOO, JOHAN COENRAAD ALTORF (1876-1955) AND CHRIS LANOOY (1881-1948), AROUND 1911, FRIDES LAMÉRIS KUNST- EN ANTIEKHANDEL V.O.F. COFFEEPOT WITH CONTEMPORARY FITTING PORCELAIN, H 34 CM, PRICE UPON REQUEST AND PAINTING OF A PARROT WITH OTHER BIRDS, MARKED MOL, LOOSDRECHT, AROUND 1780, PORCELAIN, H 24.8 CM, PRICE UPON REQUEST
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Flying Winged celestials and feathered animals move between heaven and earth. A mystical encounter with a golden touch.
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT BRUIL & BRANDSMA WORKS OF ART TWO ANGELS, SOUTHERN GERMANY, FIRST HALF OF THE 15TH CENTURY, GUDE & MEIS ANTIQUE CLOCKS A FRENCH SOFTWOOD WITH ORIGINAL POLYCHROMY, L 35 X H 30 X D 8 CM, PRICE UPON REQUEST MATHIEU HART ANTIQUES SINCE EMPIRE SCULPTURAL MANTEL CLOCK, UNSIGNED, AROUND 1800, ORMOLU BRONZE, H 34 CM, €7,500 VAN NIE ANTIQUAIRS SCULPTURE 1878 EMPIRE PERFUME BURNER, FRANCE, EARLY 19TH CENTURY, ORMOLU BRONZE, H 22 CM, €3,800 OF AN EAGLE, CENTRAL EUROPE, LATE 18TH CENTURY, PATINATED LIME WOOD, H 19.7 X W 42.9 X D 28.7 CM, PRICE UPON REQUEST
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POLAK WORKS OF ART A WOODEN SIMHA LION ON ITS HIND LEGS, FOR USE AS CORK ON A PALM WINE CONTAINER, BALI, 19TH/20TH ROBERT SCHREUDER ANTIQUAIR TWO EAGLES, FRANCE, AROUND 1800, GILT LIME WOOD, H 35 X L 37 X W 25 CM, CENTURY, €3,600 THEO DAATSELAAR ANTIQUAIRS EMPIRE MANTEL CLOCK WITH PUTTO IN CART PULLED BY BUTTERFLIES, FIRST QUARTER OF €3,950 KUNSTZALEN A. VECHT SWAN TAKING OFF, HETTY HEYSTER (1943), THE THE 19TH CENTURY, GILT BRONZE, PRICE UPON REQUEST NETHERLANDS, BRONZE, H 40 CM, PRICE UPON REQUEST
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East meets west Thanks to the sailors from the Golden Age a wealth of exotic inspiration travelled from East to West. Vernis shows a small but fine selection.
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT FRIDES LAMÉRIS KUNST- EN ANTIEKHANDEL V.O.F. SPHERICAL BOTTLE WITH JAPONAISERY, SO-CALLED VANDERVEN ‘AMSTERDAM BONT’, JAPAN AND DELFT, MID-18TH CENTURY, PORCELAIN, H 23.5 CM, NECK 4 CM, PRICE UPON REQUEST ORIENTAL ART IMARI PITCHER WITH LID, CHINA, QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795), PORCELAIN, H 20 CM, PRICE UPON REQUEST KUNSTHANDEL JACQUES FIJNAUT ARITA PITCHER WITH SILVER LID, JAPAN, SILVER LID, MIDDELBURG, PORCELAIN PITCHER, AROUND 1670, SILVER LID 1674, H 19 CM, PRICE UPON REQUEST ROBERT SCHREUDER ANTIQUAIR STATIONERY CABINET, CEYLON, MID-19TH CENTURY, COROMANDEL KUNSTHANDEL INEZ STODEL JEAN DUNAND BOX, SIGNED JEAN DUNAND 1925, FRANCE, METAL WOOD, H 42 X W 47 X D 21 CM, €2,850 RUBEN AARDEWERK ANTIQUES VANITY CASE, FIRM L. JANESICH, SIGNED AND MARKED JANESICH WITH ENAMEL, PRICE UPON REQUEST NR. 11039, FRANCE, AROUND 1920-1925, GILT SILVER, RED LACQUER WORK, 18-CARAT GOLD AND JAPANESE GOLD LACQUER WORK, 8 X 4.6 X
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1.5 CM, €4,800 VANDERVEN ORIENTAL ART LACQUER BUNKO DOCUMENT CASE, JAPAN, AROUND 1970, LACQUER WORK INLAID WITH BRUIL & BRANDSMA WORKS OF ART CHEST, WILLEM KICK, AMSTERDAM, AROUND SILVER, H 15.5 X W 25.5 CM, PRICE UPON REQUEST 1620-1625, PEAR WOOD AND OAK WOOD PAINTED AND VARNISHED, GILT DECORATIONS, 25 X 17.5 X 21 CM, PRICE UPON REQUEST KUNSTCONSULT - 20TH CENTURY ART | OBJECTS NIEUWE KUNST MIRROR WITH BATIK DECORATION, THEO MOLKENBOER, THE NETHERLANDS, A. AARDEWERK ANTIQUAIR JUWELIER A THREE1899, BATIK PARCHMENT, WALNUT WOOD AND MIRROR GLASS, H 82 X B 65 CM, €17,500 PIECE ANTIQUE SILVER MELON-SHAPED TEA SET, AMSTERDAM, 1763, BY GERRIT BRANDT, KETTLE H 37.5 CM, MILK JUG H 16.8 CM, TEAPOT H 13.3 CM, TOTAL WEIGHT 2,447 G, PRICE UPON REQUEST ARONSON ANTIQUAIRS POLYCHROME AND GILT POT WITH LID, MARKED PAK FOR PIETER ADRIAENSZ. KOCX, THE NETHERLANDS, 1701-1720, EARTHENWARE, H 35 CM, PRICE UPON REQUEST
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Finery Even everyday objects can be true treasures, provided they are shown in the right ensemble.
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT PETER KORF DE GIDTS - ANTIQUAIRS RARE MILK-GLASS JUG, FLÜHLI, FIRST HALF OF THE 18TH CENTURY, MILK GLASS, €2,750 VANDERVEN ORIENTAL ART SMALL JUG, CHINA, TRANSITION PERIOD, PORCELAIN WITH SILVER FITTING, H 19.5 CM, PRICE PETER KORF DE GIDTS - ANTIQUAIRS BLUE DIAMOND-ENGRAVED FAÇON DE VENISE GLASS, THE NETHERLANDS, FIRST UPON REQUEST KUNSTHANDEL JACQUES FIJNAUT BREADBASKET, QUARTER OF THE 17TH CENTURY, GLASS, H 16.5 CM, PRICE UPON REQUEST ROBERT SCHREUDER ANTIQUAIR SALT CELLAR, ANTHONIE VAN LUTTERVELT, UTRECHT, 1782, SILVER, W 42 CM, PRICE UPON REQUEST KUNSTHANDEL INEZ RUSSIA, MID-19TH CENTURY, LAPIS LAZULI RESTING ON TWO GILT BRONZE DOLPHINS, H 10.5 X W 15 CM, €4,250 STODEL 18-CARAT GOLDEN SAUTOIR, JEWELLERY HOUSE FRED, PARIS, SIGNED, AROUND 1970, DIAMOND AND 18-CARAT GOLD, PRICE UPON A. AARDEWERK ANTIQUAIR JUWELIER A DIAMOND-ENCRUSTED ART DECO DOUBLE-CLIP BRACELET, FRANCE, AROUND 1940, REQUEST YELLOW GOLD, PLATINUM AND STUDDED WITH BRILLIANT- AND BAGUETTE-CUT DIAMONDS, WEIGHT OF DIAMOND AROUND 14 CARATS, ANTIQUAIR JUWELIER MARJAN STERK THREE COLLIERS, SIGNED MARCHAK PARIS, PARIS, YELLOW GOLD, PRICE UPON REQUEST ANTIQUAIR JUWELIER MARJAN STERK BROOCH IN THE FACETED AMETHYSTS AND FACETED CITRINES, L 117 CM, PRICE UPON REQUEST SHAPE OF A BOUQUET, SIGNED RENÉ BOIVIN, PARIS, AROUND 1980, ALSO TO BE WORN AS A PENDANT, YELLOW GOLD WITH FLOWER
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PETALS OF SAPPHIRE AND AMETHYST IN A RUBY HEART, SURROUNDED BY PAVÉ SET LEAVES WITH FACETED TSAVORITE, 65.4 G, H 6.5 CM, THEO DAATSELAAR ANTIQUAIRS GILT SILVER TAZZA, J.H. CARSTENS, AMSTERDAM, 1845, GILT SILVER, PRICE PRICE UPON REQUEST GUDE & MEIS ANTIQUE CLOCKS A FRENCH EMPIRE MANTEL CLOCK WITH BUTTERFLIES, UNKNOWN ARTIST, FRANCE, UPON REQUEST PARIS, AROUND 1800, ORMOLU BRONZE, H 34.5 CM, €10,250 KUNSTHANDEL INEZ STODEL CORAL NECKLACE, AMSTERDAM HALLMARKED WITH MAKER’S NAME HERBERT DE QUIEN (1688-1738), FIRST QUARTER OF THE 18TH CENTURY, CORAL WITH GOLD FILIGREE FASTENING, PETER KORF DE GIDTS - ANTIQUAIRS JUGENDSTIL DRINKING GLASS, BUCHENAU, BOHEMIA, AROUND 1900, PRICE UPON REQUEST PETER KORF DE GIDTS - ANTIQUAIRS ZWISCHENGOLD BEAKER, BOHEMIA, 1730, GLASS, H 10.5 CM, PRICE UPON REQUEST €1,500 BRUIL & BRANDSMA WORKS OF ART SMALL CHEST, FRANCE, AROUND 1500, STAMPED LEATHER DECORATED WITH PAINTINGS AND KUNSTCONSULT - 20TH CENTURY ART | OBJECTS BRONZE FITTINGS ON A WOODEN BASE, 19.5 X 9.5 X 11 CM, PRICE UPON REQUEST EIGHT-ARMED SILVER CANDLEHOLDER FOR THE WIENER WERKSTÄTTE, JOSEF HOFFMANN, AUSTRIA, 1926, HAMMERED STERLING SILVER, FRIDES LAMÉRIS KUNST- EN ANTIEKHANDEL V.O.F. SERPENT GLASS, GERMANY OR THE NETHERLANDS, H 21 CM, Ø 28 CM, €45,000 SECOND HALF OF THE 17TH CENTURY, CRYSTALLINE, H 28.3 CM Ø STEM 10.3 CM, Ø FOOT 10.3 CM, PRICE UPON REQUEST
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M Y FAVOR I T E PI ECE
PURE FORCE TEXT
Jorrit Niels PHOTOGRAPHY
Friso Keuris
HIDDEN FORCE “After the nude, the horse is the most NAME
COLE MORGA N PROFESSION
A RTIST OBJECT
TER R ACOT TA HORSE FROM THE H A N DY NA ST Y OWNED SINCE
1994 SPECIAL
A powerfull and still vulnerable sculpture.
depicted subject in the history of art. The power of a horse appeals to me. Pure, even when it is not moving. It exudes a strong masculine power in any form. My wife and I always wanted to add a horse to our collection. And finally I found a very special piece at the Blue Elephant Gallery in Maastricht. They had bought it from an Italian professor. We bought the piece before the introduction of the euro. As you can imagine it was a considerable acquisition. Luckily the Blue Elephant Gallery agreed to lower the price in exchange for a painting from my collection.” DYNASTY “The piece is a funerary sculpture from the Han dynasty (200 BC-200 AD, ed.). At the time dignitaries were buried with terracotta soldiers or horses beside them, so that they would be able to use them when they ‘returned’. This type of horse consists of a head and torso made from a single piece, a tail and four legs; all held together with round wooden pins with a diameter of about 3cm. To me this horse really has the perfect shape, everything about this sculpture is right.” SPONGE “Our horse is very different from horses from other
dynasties. For example, many Chinese horses are glazed. This horse has no glazing, which means the colours on the head are very faint. If you were to take a wet sponge you could wipe everything off! It’s very fragile. This distinctive feature appealed to me.”
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FEATURE MY FAVORITE PIECE
MARINO MARINI “I’m also a great fan of the Italian sculptor Marino Marini. All his work involves horses, from figurative to abstract. But I’m not a horse fanatic.
I appreciate them, but as I’m allergic to hay I have to make do with a beautiful sculpture; I could never have a real horse.” COLLECTION “We have many different
pieces at home. Sculptures, classical paintings, modern, figurative, abstract, glass, you name it. Over the years it has almost become a museum. But the horse has a special place in our collection. It would take a lot for me to sell it, because it’s almost impossible to find another one of these.” 088
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‘I appreciate horses, but as I’m allergic to hay I have to make do with a beautiful sculpture’
RECOGNIZABLE “When the average layman comes our place, he or she will see a lot abstract sculptures and paintings. But the horse is always recognizable. “It must be old,” they say. You don’t have to explain anything; it’s clear; it has a certain allure. It’s nice to finally be able to exhibit it in the open. When I bought it, we had two small children and I was always worried that one of them would kick a ball into it or that one of their friends would knock it over. So I had a Plexiglas casing made for it. I don’t think it would have survived otherwise...”
spring / summer 2015
GALERIE TINY ESVELD // BRASSCHAAT // BELGIUM // FRANSE ART NOUVEAU ART DECO
EmilE Gallé 1900 | Muziekkabinet | 152 x 100 x 55 cm Rond 1900 was Gallé op het hoogtepunt van zijn carrière. Zijn meubelatelier had meer dan tien jaar ervaring en was volgroeid. Zijn arbeiders gebruikten motor- aangedreven gereedschappen om basisvormen te maken, de finishing touch werd met de hand gedaan. Het houtsnijwerk van deze kast kan je vergelijken met een beeldhouwwerk. De marqueterie met een schilderij. Deze bestaat uit meer dan 25 verschillende houtsoorten. De narcis op de deur beloofd dat de lente in aantocht is en de natuur weer ontwaakt.
www.tinyesveld.com
FEATURE BOOKS
Vernis reviews a selection of recently published books about art, art history and antiques for collectors, art lovers and professionals.
BOOKS WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO
Jettie Rozemond
01
02
Enamel on Biscuit Porcelains This catalogue provides an overview of a collection of Chinese emaille sur biscuit porcelain, predominantly from the Kangxi period (1662-1722). During this Golden Age for biscuit porcelain, a range of new techniques and enamel colourings were developed. The emaille sur biscuit technique is an enamelling technique in which coloured glazing is applied to porcelain after it has been fired, after which it is re-fired at a lower temperature. Especially small, finely decorated objects were made in this way. What is striking is that these objects were mainly intended for use in the studios of Chinese scientists or for religious purposes. Biscuit porcelain objects were sold in China and also exported to the West, yet until now relatively little was known about them. This catalogue 090
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Dutch Delftware; William and Mary
Unique Bouquetières
brings together the different sources in one publication, providing a good overview of this specific type of porcelain.
BY BY VANDERVEN ORIENTAL ART, INTRODUCTORY ESSAY BY ROSE KERR PUBL.. UITGAVE VANDERVEN ORIENTAL ART, MARCH 2015 € 30
The book Dutch Delftware tells the story of the recent reunification of two Delftware bouquetières belonging to King William III and Queen Mary II, who ruled over the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland from 1689 to 1694 (and William III until his death in 1702). In 2014, staff at Aronson Antiquairs in Amsterdam made a unique discovery when they bought a large, unusual bouquetière from an elegant lady. Everything suggested that this figure was meant to represent Queen Mary II. The figure was ascribed to the ‘Grieksche A Fabriek’ in Delft, where the royal couple bought many Delftware objects. After extensive research, Aronson Antiquairs discovered the matching male figure in a private collection in Paris. The striking similarities left no
doubt that these two figures were originally designed as a pair and that they can be dated between 1686 and 1690. It is unclear how long the royal couple have been separated. The male bouquetière belongs to a French collection and the piece was passed to the family after the collector died in 1978. The female counterpart became part of a private collection in Antwerp in 1979. This book is a tribute to these exceptional pieces of Delftware and their unique reunification, so many years after they were separated.
BY ROBERT D. ARONSON PUBL. ARONSON PUBLISHERS, AMSTERDAM, 2015 ISBN 978-94-90782-10-8 € 24,95
spring / summer 2015
GALERIE TINY ESVELD // BRASSCHAAT // BELGIUM // FRANSE ART NOUVEAU ART DECO
Daum-NaNcy 1910 | 62 cm Tot op heden is dit de enige Daum vaas die gekend is met dit abstracte decor en in dit model. Deze vaas is uit de overgangsperiode tussen de art nouveau en de art deco gemaakt rond 1910 in Frankrijk. Het figuratieve is achterwege gelaten, men heeft zich gefocust op kleur en vorm en techniek. De vaas is versierd met verschillende opgesmolten glasplaquettes in heftige kleuren gemengd met bladgoud. Gesigneerd Daum Nancy op de zijkant van de vaas.
www.tinyesveld.com
FEATURE BOOKS
03
The Frick Collection Art Treasures from New York Situated at a choice location in the heart of New York with views of Central Park The Frick Collection is a renowned museum that is much loved for the exceptional quality of the works on display. This spring, The Frick Collection has for the first time loaned a large part of its world-famous collection: 36 masterpieces have been on display at the Mauritshuis in The Hague since 5th February. The exhibition features work by artists who have little or no recognition in Dutch museum collections, such as Cimabue, Van Eyck, Gainsborough, Constable and Ingres. This publication gives an insight into the background of this special collection. An introductory essay describes how the art-loving steel magnate Henry Clay Frick (18491919) made his 092
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fortune, how his collection was created and how the museum has managed and expanded his estate. A second essay gives an insight into the collecting mania that gripped America’s superrich – including Frick – during the
so-called ‘Gilded Age’. In addition, the 36 masterpieces in the exhibition are beautifully depicted and described in lively texts, which shed light on the versatility and high quality of these 13- to 19th-century masterpieces.
04
Buy a copy
The essential travel guide for 19th-century travelers
PUBL. UITGEVERIJ WAANDERS & DE KUNST, 2015 ISBN 978 94 6262 028 5 ALSO AVAILABLE IN ENGLISH EDITION: ISBN 978 94 6262 029 2 € 22,50
Mariana Starke is the author of the most popular travel guide from the early 19th century. There were many editions of this guide, which was filled with tips for journeys to Italy and France. Mariana was ahead of her time and set the tone for the later Michelin guides as she already had a system using one to four exclamation marks to indicate the importance of a monument or work of art. Antique dealer Robert Schreuder discovered 17 original letters written by Mariana Starke and decided to bring them together in a book. Writer Gerlof Janzen made an exciting discovery while working on the letters: Starke writes about how a portrait of the poet Shelley was transported.
That portrait is now on display at the National Portrait Gallery in London and it is thanks to these letters that we know how it got from Rome to London. Janzen wrote a detailed introduction about Mariana, life in Rome and about the addressees of the letters, Edgell Wyat Edgell and his house Milton Place in Surrey.
BY GERLOF JANZEN PUBL. ROBERT SCHREUDER GRAND TOUR PUBLISHERS ORDER AT INFO@ROBERTSCHREUDER.NL € 27,50
spring / summer 2015
GALERIE TINY ESVELD // BRASSCHAAT // BELGIUM // FRANSE ART NOUVEAU ART DECO
charlEs schNEiDEr 1928 | 100 x 60 cm Charles Schneider was een van de belangrijkste glasblazers in zijn tijd. Aan het einde van de twintiger jaren was zijn fabriek groter dan die van Daum, GallĂŠ of Lalique. De fabriek was gespecialiseerd in verlichting en kunstzinnige vazen. Het mond geblazen glas met de verschillende kleuren wordt over de hele wereld gewaardeerd. De Schneider lamp met het montuur in brons gemaakt door Charles Ranc is zeer gezocht. Gemaakt in Frankrijk rond 1928 en gesigneerd.
www.tinyesveld.com
FEAUTURE IN FOCUS CITY ARMS
38.4ºC
The coat of arms of Maastricht consists of a red shield with star and a crown on top and held by an angel. The Maastricht coat of arms was first mentioned in 1283.
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Maastricht attracts more than 3,000,000 visitors per year. There has been a strong growth in the number of overnight stays since the 1990s.
On 27 June 1947, the second-warmest maximum temperature ever registered in the Netherlands was recorded in Maastricht: 38.4°C.
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ART
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MUSEUM AAN HET VRIJTHOF
NATUURHISTORISCH MUSEUM
GALERIES
“One of Maastricht’s most interesting museums is the Museum aan het Vrijthof, where I was chairman of the board for a long time. They have a permanent exhibition that gives a wonderful overview of Maastricht since the Middle Ages. But there are also great temporary exhibitions. The current exhibition ‘Lust for Light’, which is on until 31 May, is the first large
“The Natuurhistorisch Museum is unique. Instead of art, you’ll find a broad range of natural history treasures from the region here. The museum manages about half a million objects in three collections: Botany, Geology / Palaeontology and Entomology. My favourite? The Mosasaurus with its enormous jaws, the Prognathodon saturator. In
“Maastricht has many interesting galleries that are a good indicator of the cultural life here. I like walking through town to discover the constantly changing range of galleries. One of my favourites is Galerie Stevens, which always has interesting pieces, often by avant-garde artists, that can momentarily mislead and confuse you. The gallery is located in a beautiful, central
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retrospective of photographer Marie Cécile Thijs. What’s also interesting about Museum aan het Vrijthof is that it is a private museum and they get by fine without government support.’
Maastricht, he is known as ‘Bèr’, after the person who discovered him. The fossil was so large that it didn’t fit in the museum and they had to build a glass house especially for Bèr in the museum gardens.”
part of the city and has been wonderfully renovated by the former Government architect Jo Coenen. Another place I like to go is Guus Röell, a more traditional art dealer where you find great pieces from our former colonies. It’s fascinating to get so close to history.”
spring / summer 2015
IN FOCUS FEATURE The European Fine Art Fair, abbreviated TEFAF, is an annually art and antiques fair in Maastricht. The fair started in 1975 and today attracts around 70,000 visitors.
AMSTEL GOLD RACE The Amstel Gold Race is a Dutch cycling classic. Jan Raas won the race five times – a record. At the time people started referring to it as the Amstel Gold Raas.
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The Treaty of Maastricht was signed on 7 February 1992, marking the establishment of the European Union.
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EATING
EATING
SLEEPING
MARRES KITCHEN
FRITUUR REITZ
KRUISHERENHOTEL
“Another favourite is Marres Kitchen in the Centre for Contemporary Culture, Marres, where they have made the perfect combination of art, culture and food. I go there for Marres Kitchen, where Syrian chef Maher Al Sabbagh makes the most phenomenal Mediterranean dishes. Maher makes simple, healthy and always delicious dishes. I like to eat in the centre’s garden,
“Reitz is the oldest chippy in the Netherlands and a household name in Maastricht and surrounding. Since establishment in 1909, has been located on the Markt and I regularly join the long queue to get a portion of chips with homemade zuurvlees and sauce. Reitz essentially has the same philosophy
“Of course I’m proud of our own hotels and restaurants. Every time again, it is a challenge to develop a historical location into a hotel or restaurant that meets the highest standards. We have developed the former 15th-century Gothic Kruisheren Convent to the
which has rapidly made Marres one of the most popular spots in Maastricht. It is also the perfect place to have a coffee and escape the bustle of the city and, if you want, catch one of the great exhibitions.”
about cooking and ingredients as we do: they buy their potatoes from local farmers, they always work with fresh ingredients and are obsessive about the way in which chips should be fried.”
Kruisherenhotel Maastricht in the very centre of town. We have blended the original environment with modern design. This is probably most visible on the mezzanine where we have combined the original stained-glass windows with modern light objects.”
Maastricht is one of the oldest and most diverse cities in the Netherlands. With a wide range of restaurants and cafés, the city has a clear Burgundian character. But art and culture lovers will also love this southern city. Vernis asked the Limburg hotelier Camille Oostwegel, the owner of Château Neercanne, WinselerHof, Château St. Gerlach and the Kruisherenhotel Maastricht and other exclusive hotels, for his tips for a visit to Maastricht. TEXT
Mischa van de Woestijne
spring / summer 2015
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LIST OF MEMBERS
LIST OF MEMBER S All contact details of members of the Royal Association of Dealers in Ancient Art in the Netherlands, plus information on their specialty. NOORD-HOLLAND AMSTERDAM ALGEMEENE ETHNOGRAFICAEN KUNSTHANDEL AALDERINK SPIEGELGRACHT 15 1017 JP AMSTERDAM +31 (0)20-6230211 INFO@AALDERINKORIENTALART.NL WWW.AALDERINKORIENTALART.NL ASIAN ART, ETHNOGRAPHY, PRE-COLUMBIAN ART
ARCHEA ANCIENT ART NIEUWE SPIEGELSTRAAT 37 1017 DC AMSTERDAM +31 (0)20-6250552 INFO@ARCHEA.NL WWW.ARCHEA.NL ARCHEOLOGY
E.H. ARIËNS KAPPERS PRINSENGRACHT 677 1017 JT AMSTERDAM +31 (0)20-6235356 INFO@MASTERPRINTS.NL WWW.MASTERPRINTS.NL OLD (JAPANESE) PRINTS, MAPS AND CHARTS
ARONSON ANTIQUAIRS NIEUWE SPIEGELSTRAAT 39 POSTBUS 15556 1001 NB AMSTERDAM +31 (0)20-6233103 MAIL@ARONSON.COM WWW.ARONSON.COM DELFTWARE
VOF JAN BEEKHUIZEN KUNST EN ANTIEKHANDEL NIEUWE SPIEGELSTRAAT 49 1017 DD AMSTERDAM +31 (0)20 6263912 INFO@JANBEEKHUIZEN.NL WWW.JANBEEKHUIZEN.NL EUROPEAN PEWTER, SCULPTURES, FOLK ART
J.P. BEELING VAN EEGHENSTRAAT 20 1071 GG AMSTERDAM +31 (0)6-24905541 JP@BEELING.NL ASIAN PORCELAIN
KUNSTHANDEL P. DE BOER HERENGRACHT 512 1017 CC AMSTERDAM +31 (0)20-6236849 +31 (0)6-21520044 INFO@KUNSTHANDELPDEBOER.COM WWW.KUNSTHANDELPDEBOER.COM OLD MASTERS
BORZO MODERN & CONTEMPORARY ART KEIZERSGRACHT 516 1017 EJ AMSTERDAM +31 (0)20-6263303 +31 (0)6-53163808 PAUL@BORZO.COM WWW.BORZO.COM MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART
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BRUIL & BRANDSMA WORKS OF ART NIEUWE SPIEGELSTRAAT 68 1017 DH AMSTERDAM +31 (0)20-4207359 BBC@CHELLO.NL WWW.BB-ART.COM MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE ART, FOLK ART
GALLERY DELAIVE MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART SPIEGELGRACHT 23 1017 JP AMSTERDAM +31 (0)20-6259087 GALLERY.DELAIVE@WXS.NL WWW.DELAIVE.COM MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART
DOUWES FINE ART (ANNO 1805) STADHOUDERSKADE 40 1071 ZD AMSTERDAM +31 (0)20-6646362 INFO@DOUWESFINEART.COM WWW.DOUWESFINEART.COM OLD MASTERS, 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY PAINTINGS
KUNSTHANDEL JACQUES FIJNAUT NIEUWE SPIEGELSTRAAT 31 1017 DC AMSTERDAM +31 (0)20-6256374 OFFICE@KUNSTHANDELFIJNAUT.NL WWW.KUNSTHANDELFIJNAUT.NL GENERAL ANTIQUARIAN
FOUMANI PERSIAN GALLERY BEETHOVENSTRAAT 107A 1077 HX AMSTERDAM +31 (0)20-6797430 INFO@FOUMANI.COM WWW.FOUMANI.COM CARPETS, KILIMS
GUDE & MEIS ANTIQUE CLOCKS NIEUWE SPIEGELSTRAAT 60 1017 DH AMSTERDAM +31 (0)20-6129742 +31 (0)6-53162962 INFO@GUDEMEIS.COM WWW.GUDEANTIQUECLOCKS.COM CLOCKS, BAROMETERS, INSTRUMENTATION
MATHIEU HART ANTIQUITEITEN SINDS 1878 ROKIN 122 1012 LC AMSTERDAM +31 (0)20-6231658 MHART@XS4ALL.NL WWW.HARTANTIQUES.COM GENERAL ANTIQUARIAN
KUNSTHANDEL FRANS JACOBS THE TERRAZE BUILDING EMMY ANDRIESSESTRAAT 582 1087 NE AMSTERDAM +31 (0)20-6381729 INFO@JACOBSFINEART.COM WWW.JACOBSFINEART.COM 20TH AND 21TH CENTURY PAINTINGS
PETER KORF DE GIDTS ANTIQUAIRS BROUWERSGRACHT 869 1015 GK AMSTERDAM +31 (0)20-6252625 KORFDEGIDTS@XS4ALL.NL GLASS, POTTERY, PORCELAIN
FRIDES LAMÉRIS KUNST EN ANTIEKHANDEL NIEUWE SPIEGELSTRAAT 55 1017 DD AMSTERDAM +31 (0)20-6264066 INFO@FRIDESLAMERIS.NL WWW.FRIDESLAMERIS.NL GLASS, POTTERY, (ASIAN) PORCELAIN
KUNSTHANDEL FRANS LEIDELMEIJER LIJNBAANSGRACHT 369H 1017 XB AMSTERDAM +31 (0)20-6254627 FRANS@LEIDELMEIJER.NL WWW.LEIDELMEIJER.NL ART NOUVEAU, ART DECO, 20TH-CENTURY DESIGN
INTER-ANTIQUARIAAT MEFFERDT & DE JONGE BERNARD ZWEERSKADE 18 1077 TZ AMSTERDAM +31 (0)20-6640841 INTERANTIQUARIAAT@CHELLO.NL WWW.INTER-ANTIQUARIAAT.NL ANTIQUARIAN BOOKS, DRAWINGS, PRINTS, MAPS AND CHARTS
JOSEPH M. MORPURGO HERENGRACHT 119 (RECHTER DEUR) 1015 BG AMSTERDAM +31 (0)20-6235883 J.M.MORPURGO@WAFELMAN.NL WWW.ANTIQUEARTMORPURGO.COM GENERAL ANTIQUARIAN, ASIAN ART
JAN MORSINK IKONEN KEIZERSGRACHT 454 1016 GE AMSTERDAM +31 (0)20-6200411 INFO@MORSINK.COM WWW.MORSINK.COM ICONS
VAN NIE ANTIQUAIRS KEIZERSGRACHT 600 1017 EP AMSTERDAM +31 (0)20-6261594 INFO@VANNIEANTIQUAIRS.COM WWW.VANNIEANTIQUAIRS.COM GENERAL ANTIQUARIAN
KUNSTHANDEL PETER PAPPOT NIEUWE SPIEGELSTRAAT 30-34 1017 DG AMSTERDAM +31 (0)20-6242637 INFO@PAPPOT.COM WWW.PETERPAPPOT.COM 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY PAINTINGS
POLAK WORKS OF ART SPIEGELGRACHT 3 1017 JP AMSTERDAM +31 (0)20-6279009 WWW.FINEARTDEALERS.INFO/ JAAPPOLAK AZIATISCHE KUNST, ETNOGRAFICA
PREMSELA & HAMBURGER
KUNSTZALEN A. VECHT
ROKIN 98 1012 KZ AMSTERDAM +31 (0)20-6275454 WIET@PREMSELA.COM WWW.PREMSELA.COM JEWELRY, GOLD, SILVER
NIEUWE SPIEGELSTRAAT 40 1017 DG AMSTERDAM +31 (0)20-6234748 A.VECHT@PLANET.NL WWW.VECHT-WORKSOFART.NL GENERAL ANTIQUARIAN
VERBEEK-SCHUTTELAAR ANTIQUAIR VAN ROSSUM & CO. AMSTERDAM +31 (0)20-6221010 ANTIQUAIR@VANROSSUMCO.NL GENERAL ANTIQUARIAN
PAUL RUTTEN ASIATIC & TRIBAL ART BEETHOVENSTRAAT 91-II 1077 HS AMSTERDAM +31 (0)20-6277057 SURYARUTTEN@HOTMAIL.COM ASIAN ART, ETHNOGRAPHIC
ROBERT SCHREUDER ANTIQUAIR NIEUWE SPIEGELSTRAAT 48 1017 DG AMSTERDAM +31 (0)20-6754867 +31 (0)6-24289550 INFO@ROBERTSCHREUDER.NL WWW.ROBERTSCHREUDER.NL GRAND TOUR SOUVENIRS, 18TH- AND 19TH-CENTURY FURNITURE
LESLIE SMITH GALLERY MINERVAPLEIN 10H 1077 TP AMSTERDAM +31 (0)20-6265945 INFO@LESLIESMITH.NL WWW.LESLIESMITH.NL 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY PAINTINGS, CONTEMPORARY ABORIGINAL ART
MARJAN STERK ANTIQUAIR-JUWELIER NIEUWE SPIEGELSTRAAT 63 1017 DD AMSTERDAM +31 (0)20-6248703 INFO@MARJANSTERK.NL WWW.MARJANSTERK.NL JEWELERY, SILVER
KUNSTHANDEL INEZ STODEL NIEUWE SPIEGELSTRAAT 65 1017 DD AMSTERDAM +31 (0)20-6232942 INEZ@INEZSTODEL.COM WWW.INEZSTODEL.COM JEWELERY
SALOMON STODEL ANTIQUITÉS SPIEGELGRACHT 11 1017 JP AMSTERDAM +31 (0)20-6231692 STODEL@WXS.NL WWW.SALOMONSTODEL.COM GENERAL ANTIQUARIAN
KEIZERSGRACHT 642 1017 ES AMSTERDAM +31 (0)20-3304343 AM@VERBEEKSCHUTTELAAR.NL WWW.VERBEEKSCHUTTELAAR.NL JEWELERY, SILVER
DR. A. WIEG FINE ART MINERVALAAN 77-1 1077 NT AMSTERDAM +31 (0)20 6762094 WIEGFINEART@GMAIL.COM OLD MASTERS, 19TH AND 20TH-CENTURY PAINTINGS
KUNSTHANDEL M. ZILVERBERG ROKIN 60 1012 KV AMSTERDAM +31 (0)20-6259518 INFO@MIEKEZILVERBERG.COM WWW.MIEKEZILVERBERG.COM ARCHEOLOGY, ANCIENT NUMISMATICS
NOORD-HOLLAND OVERIGE BIJL-VAN URK KENNEMERSTRAATWEG 174 1815 LE ALKMAAR +31 (0)72-5120080 +31 (0)6-53425432 SANDER@BIJLVANURK.COM WWW.BIJLVANURK.COM OLD MASTERS
JOHN ENDLICH ANTIQUAIRS SPEKSTRAAT 10 2011 HM HAARLEM +31 (0)23-5320274 INFO@JOHNENDLICH.NL WWW.JOHNENDLICH.NL SILVER
FONTIJN ANTIEK STELLINGMOLEN 51 1444 GV PURMEREND +31 (0)299-436493 MFONTIJN@CHELLO.NL WWW.FONTIJNANTIEK.COM BAROMETERS
PIETER HOOGENDIJK AMSTERDAMSESTRAATWEG 31 1411 AW NAARDEN +31 (0)35-5420459 INFO@PHOOGENDIJK.NL WWW.PHOOGENDIJK.COM GENERAL ANTIQUARIAN
GALLERY ROB KATTENBURG EEUWIGELAAN 6 1861 CM BERGEN +31 (0)72-5895051 INFO@ROBKATTENBURG.NL WWW.ROBKATTENBURG.NL MARINE PAINTINGS, DRAWINGS AND PRINTS
spring / summer 2015
LIST OF MEMBERS
KUNSTCONSULT 20TH CENTURY ART | OBJECTS FORT A/D MIDDENWEG ZUIDDIJK 13-FORT 1461 EB ZUIDOOSTBEEMSTER (BEEMSTER) +31 (0)299-690858 INFO@KUNSTCONSULT.NL WWW.KUNSTCONSULT.NL ART NOUVEAU, ART DECO, 20TH-CENTURY DESIGN
TÓTH IKONEN BOTTERWIJNSEWEG 1 1272 EG HUIZEN +31 (0)6-53468236 INFO@TOTHIKONEN.COM WWW.TOTHIKONEN.COM ICONS
KUNSTHANDEL E.J. VAN WISSELINGH & CO BAAN 41 2012 DC HAARLEM +31 (0)23-5310505 WDEWINTER@WISSELINGH.COM WWW.WISSELINGH.COM 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS
ZUID-HOLLAND ’S-GRAVENHAGE A. AARDEWERK ANTIQUAIR JUWELIER JAN VAN NASSAUSTRAAT 76 2596 BV ‘S-GRAVENHAGE +31 (0)70-3240987 SILVER@AARDEWERK.COM WWW.AARDEWERK.COM SILVER, JEWELRY
KUNSTHANDEL IVO BOUWMAN JAN VAN NASSAUSTRAAT 80 2596 BW ’S-GRAVENHAGE +31 (0)70-3283660 INFO@IVOBOUWMAN.NL WWW.IVOBOUWMAN.NL 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY PAINTINGS
HOOGSTEDER & HOOGSTEDER LANGE VIJVERBERG 15 2513 AC ‘S-GRAVENHAGE +31 (0)70-3615575 INFO@HOOGSTEDER.COM WWW.HOOGSTEDER.COM OLD MASTERS
FIRMA S. VAN LEEUWEN NOORDEINDE 164-164A 2514 GR ‘S-GRAVENHAGE +31 (0)70-3653907 ALEXANDER@VANLEEUWENANTIQUAIRS.NL WWW.VANLEEUWENANTIQUAIRS.NL 17TH- AND 18TH-CENTURY ANTIQUES, (ASIAN) PORCELAIN
DIRK EN DIRK-JAN LIMBURG DENNEWEG 45 2514 CD ‘S-GRAVENHAGE +31 (0)70-3455103 LIMBURGANTIQUAIRS@CASEMA.NL WWW.LIMBURGANTIQUAIRS.COM GENERAL ANTIQUARIAN
spring / summer 2015
ZUID-HOLLAND (OVERIGE) RUBEN AARDEWERK ANTIQUAIR ZWALUWLAAN 9A 2261 BP LEIDSCHENDAM +31 (0)70-4190575 RUBEN@AARDEWERKANTIQUES.COM WWW.AARDEWERKANTIQUES.COM ART AND COLLECTIBLES FROM THE 17TH, 18TH AND 19TH CENTURY
ADRIAAN GROENEWOUD ANTIQUITEITEN & OUDE KUNST AELBRECHTSKOLK 3B 3025 HA ROTTERDAM +31 (0)10-4258011 INFO@ADRIAANGROENEWOUD.NL WWW.ADRIAANGROENEWOUD.NL FURNITURE FROM THE 17TH, 18TH AND 19TH CENTURY
KUNSTHANDEL F.A. ENNEKING MAREVISTA 22 2202 BX NOORDWIJK +31 (0)71-3647645 OLD MASTERS
HOTEI JAPANESE PRINTS RAPENBURG 19 2311 GE LEIDEN +31 (0)71-5143552 UKIYOE@XS4ALL.NL WWW.HOTEI-JAPANESE-PRINTS.COM JAPANESE PRINTS, PAINTINGS AND BOOKS
KUNSTHANDEL PIETER OVERDUIN DORPSSTRAAT 28 3381 AG GIESSENBURG +31 (0)184-652652 INFO@KUNSTHANDELPIETEROVERDUIN.NL WWW.KUNSTHANDELPIETEROVERDUIN.NL 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY PAINTINGS
UTRECHT ANTIQUARIAAT FORUM “WESTRENEN” TUURDIJK 16 3997 MS ’T GOY HOUTEN +31 (0)30-6011955 INFO@FORUMRAREBOOKS.COM WWW.FORUMRAREBOOKS.COM ANTIQUARISCHE BOEKEN, MAPS AND CHARTS
JACOB J. ROOSJEN, SRI® EENDRACHTLAAN 33 3621 DD BREUKELEN +31 (0)6-53268280 JACOB.ROOSJEN@GMAIL.COM WWW.JACOBROOSJEN.COM WWW.SILVERRESEARCHINSTITUTE.COM SILVER
GRONINGEN BERNARD C.M. GRIJPMA KUNST EN ANTIEK GEDEMPTE ZUIDERDIEP 121-123 9711 HE GRONINGEN +31 (0)50-3137703 INFO@GRIJPMAANTIEK.NL WWW.GRIJPMAANTIEK.NL ANTIQUE WEAPONS, NAUTICA, SILVER
DRENTHE
SIMONIS & BUUNK KUNSTHANDEL
LIMBURG
WIJERMARS FINE ART
NOTARIS FISCHERSTRAAT 30 6711 BD EDE +31 (0)318-652888 INFO@SIMONIS-BUUNK.NL WWW.SIMONIS-BUUNK.NL 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY PAINTINGS
JAN ROELOFS ANTIQUAIRS & CONTEMPORARY ARTS
DORPSSTRAAT 10 7957 AV DE WIJK +31 (0)522-440170 INFO@WIJERMARS.COM WWW.WIJERMARS.COM SCULPTURES
OVERIJSSEL HEUTINK IKONEN AHNEMSTRAAT 21 8043 RE ZWOLLE +31 (0)38-4659524 HEUTINKIKONEN@GMAIL.COM WWW.HEUTINKIKONEN.NL ICONS
GELDERLAND KUNSTGALERIJ ALBRICHT UTRECHTSEWEG 107 6862 AE OOSTERBEEK +31 (0)26-3611876 INFO@ALBRICHT.NL WWW.ALBRICHT.NL 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY PAINTINGS
DOORNHOF ANTIQUAIRS SCHAPENHOEK 12/14 3841 BM HARDERWIJK +31 (0)341-421015 PDOORN12@CAIWAY.NL WWW.DOORNHOFANTIEK.NL FURNITURE, ASIAN PORCELAIN, CLOCKS, PAINTINGS
THEO DAATSELAAR ANTIQUAIRS OENSELSESTRAAT 50 5301 EP ZALTBOMMEL +31 (0)418-712300 INFO@DAATSELAAR.COM WWW.DAATSELAAR.COM GENERAL ANTIQUARIAN
DE EENHOORN WATERSTRAAT 33 5301 AH ZALTBOMMEL +31 (0)418-515233 AADPENDERS@HOTMAIL.NL MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE ART, FURNITURE
MENTINK & ROEST MOLENSTRAAT 22 4031 JS INGEN +31 (0)344-603606 INFO@MENTINKENROEST.COM WWW.MENTINKENROEST.COM CLOCKS, WATCHES, BAROMETERS
NOORD-BRABANT BASTINGS & VAN TUIJL MOLENSTRAAT 60 5341 GE OSS +31 (0)412-623843 BASTINGS@BASTINGSANTIQUAIRS.COM WWW.BASTINGSANTIQUAIRS.COM POTTERY, ASIAN PORCELAIN
BATTERIJSTRAAT 21C 6211 SE MAASTRICHT +32(0)12-394534 INFO@JANROELOFSANTIQUAIRS.COM WWW.JANROELOFSANTIQUAIRS.COM GENERAL ANTIQUARIAN
FOREIGN MEMBERS BLUE ELEPHANT ORIENTAL ART (PART OF BLUE ART) OUDE JEKERWEG 10 B-3770 KANNE (RIEMST), BELGIË +41(0)78-8839887 BLUE.ART.3@HOTMAIL.COM ASIAN ART, ARCHEOLOGY
KUNSTHANDEL A.H. BIES
GALERIE TINY ESVELD
BOSCHDIJK 221A 5612 HC EINDHOVEN +31 (0)40-2431377 INFO@KUNSTHANDELBIES.NL WWW.KUNSTHANDELBIES.NL 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY PAINTINGS
FRILINGLEI 9 B-2930 BRASSCHAAT, BELGIË +32(0)3-3125190 INFO@TINYESVELD.COM WWW.TINYESVELD.COM ART NOUVEAU, ART DECO, GLASS FURNITURE
CRIJNS & STENDER LANDGOED “OOSTERHEIDE” TILBURGSEBAAN 1 4904 SP OOSTERHOUT +31 (0)76-5875700 M.CRIJNS@PLANET.NL WWW.CRIJNS.INFO CLOCKS, WATCHES, BAROMETERS, INSTRUMENTATION
KOLLENBURG ANTIQUAIRS POSTBUS 171 5688 ZK OIRSCHOT +31 (0)499-578037 INFO@KOLLENBURGANTIQUAIRS.COM WWW.KOLLENBURGANTIQUAIRS.COM GENERAL ANTIQUARIAN
VAN KRANENDONK DUFFELS LONDEN +44 7595 245819 MILAAN +39 335 6262252 VANKRANENDONKDUFFELS@GMAIL.COM WWW.VKDJEWELS.CO.UK JUWELERY
LIMBURG GLEN PROSEN LODGE KIRRIEMUIR DD8 4SD GLEN PROSEN, SCHOTLAND +44(0)1575-540207 ANTIQUES@KOOS-LIMBURG-JNR.COM GENERAL ANTIQUARIAN
HONORARY MEMBERS: MRS A. WAFELMAN-MORPURGO MR A.C. BEELING
VANDERVEN ORIENTAL ART NACHTEGAALSLAANTJE 1 5211 LE ’S-HERTOGENBOSCH +31 (0)73-6146251 INFO@VANDERVEN.COM WWW.VANDERVEN.COM ASIAN ART
FLORIS VAN WANROIJ FINE ART BERGSTRAAT 52 5551 AX DOMMELEN +31 (0)40-2040596 INFO@FLORIS-ART.COM WWW.FLORIS-ART.COM OLD MASTERS, MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE ART
PETER VAN OS ANTIQUES & FINE ART
ZEELAND
KASTANJELAAN 38 6828 GM ARNHEM +31 (0)6-53106541 ANTIQUES@PETERVANOS.COM WWW.PETERVANOS.COM GENERAL ANTIQUARIAN
FABERY DE JONGE RONDWEG 14 4524 KC SLUIS +31 (0)6-53923227 FABERYDEJONGE@HETNET.NL JUWELERY
SEE MORE AT WWW.KVHOK.NL/LEDEN
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FEATURE ANTIQUE OF THE FUTURE
GRANDFATHER CLOCK BY MAARTEN BAAS TEXT
Aya Langeveld
The Grandfather Clock that Maarten Baas designed in 2009 will easily stand the test of time, says Frans Leidelmeijer. “This is really an antique of the future: intrinsically good, innovative, new and modern. It is based on an antique long-case clock with state-of-the-art clockwork. The time is shown by a little man who records the minutes with a marker and then erases them; no one has ever thought of, or made, anything like this before.
he Grandfather Clock in Maarten Baas’ Real Time series is a beautiful example of Dutch Design – very conceptual. The combination of the concept and the design make the clock very unusual. Even though it was designed only six years ago, the piece has already proved its worth; it’s not for nothing that it already has a place in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam. The fact that that museum bought it confirms Baas’ status. It is a future antique in the most literal sense of the word, as Baas combined an antique clock with modern clockwork. He creates the illusion that there is a man standing in the clock, controlling the hands of the two-metre-high clock. I went to the Rijksmuseum – especially to see the clock. It was fascinating. You can’t miss it. If you keep watching long enough, you notice other things going on in the clockwork: when the guy has a break, he has a bite to eat or something to drink. If you plan to invest in modern art, make sure the object of your choice includes innovative elements in the way this clock does. Art should move you. That doesn’t mean it needs to be beautiful. It’s more about the thought behind it. If you look at 098
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other designs by Maarten Baas, like his clay furniture or smoke furniture series, the designs aren’t beautiful but they are innovative. And that’s why these designs are the antiques of the future. And unlike the clock in the Rijksmuseum, they’re for sale. And they’re already making money. In my view, Baas is representative of the current generation of the Dutch Design movement, which is incredibly successful in the Netherlands and abroad with various designs, such as chairs. I selected the most iconic chairs of the past 100 years for the exhibition ‘Van stoelen bezeten’ (Possessed by chairs) until the end of March at the Gorcums Museum; and of course Baas’ prototype is part of that selection. I can’t predict the future, but mark my words, the name Baas will still be around in 100 years. As will his clock. It will be an antique, but it won’t be old fashioned. That’s the difference.”
Aya Langeveld is freelance journalist.
spring / summer 2015
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EEN ZELDZAME FRANSE LOUIS XIV MESSING LANTAARNWEKKER GESIGNEERD ROUSSEAU A LYON, CIRCA 1665. HOOGTE 27 CM.
Gude & Meis antieke klokken is al sinds 1980 toonaangevend op het gebied van antieke klokken en barometers. De collectie bestaat uit Europese klokken en barometers van de 17e t/m begin 20e eeuw en wordt gekenmerkt door hoogwaardige kwaliteit en originaliteit. Al onze klokken en barometers zijn vakkundig gerestaureerd en worden gegarandeerd op functioneren, authenticiteit en leeftijd. GUDE & MEIS ANTIEKE KLOKKEN NIEUWE SPIEGELSTRAAT 60 1017 DH AMSTERDAM NEDERLAND TEL. +31 (0)20 612 97 42 MOB. +31 (0)6 53 16 29 62 INFO@GUDEMEIS.COM WWW.GUDEANTIQUECLOCKS.COM