Written by dr. Ingrid Vermeulen 

Collecting Dutch and Flemish Art in Germany 1600-1900

From the 17th century on, Germany was a major market for Dutch and Flemish paintings, drawings and prints of the Golden Age. Although this market remains important until the present day, its peak was during the 18th century: Netherlandish art was passionately collected at the numerous courts and in the towns which were centres of commercial activity. As a result, there is more Netherlandish art to be found in Germany today than in any other country.

On October 18-19 The Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD, Netherlands Institute for Art History in The Hague) will host the symposium ‘Collecting Dutch and Flemish Art in Germany 1600-1900’ on the occasion of the 10^th anniversary of the Arbeitskreis Niederländische Kunst- und Kulturgeschichte (ANKK, German organisation for the Study of Netherlandish Art and Culture).

In this conference several case studies will be presented on key figures of the collection history of Germany, Austria and Bohemia. There will be a focus on networks and the negotiations of collectors, art dealers and agents. With the growth of the collections of Netherlandish art in Germany, connoisseurship and academic discourse developed accordingly: Germany is the cradle of the art history of Dutch and Flemish painting. Last but not least, the focus on Netherlandish art had a significant impact on German artists of the 18th and 19th centuries, who competed with artists from the Netherlands, who had been working in times gone by. For the full programme click here.

The symposium will take place at the RKD in The Hague and is jointly organised by the RKD and the ANKK. The symposium marks the 10th anniversary of the ANKK as well as the conclusion of the RKD project on ‘Nachwirkung’ of Dutch and Flemish art in Germany, Austria, Bohemia and Silesia. The basis of this project is the pioneering publication by Horst Gerson (1907–1978), Ausbreitung und Nachwirkung der holländischen Malerei des 17. Jahrhunderts (Amsterdam 1983, ed. princ. Haarlem 1942), in which the circulation and imitation of Dutch paintings in Europe are processed by country.

My presentation will take place on Friday October 19 during session 4 (13.45–15.15) and is titled ‘A Paper Picture Galley in the Dresden Print Room (c. 1728–1750); Transnational German School Concepts and the Western-European Rivalry of Art’. I will present the preliminary findings of my NWO research project ‘The Artistic Taste of Nations: Contesting Geographies of European Art, 1500 – 1815’. Based on one of the earliest known presentations of prints according to (national) schools – the Dresden paper picture gallery – I will present several transnational discussions that have led to the independent notion of German art, which separated itself from Northern and Southern Netherlandish art.

I would love to see you at the symposium, please find the full programme here and don’t forget to register. Registration is free for ANKK members and only €20 for students!

Ingrid