A Landmark Publication on the Museum's Dutch and Flemish Collection
A Landmark Publication on the Museum's Dutch and Flemish Collection
The book Dutch and Flemish Painting at The Nivaagaard Collection was published on 28 November 2024 and represents the first major catalogue of the Nivaagaard Collection of Paintings' Dutch and Flemish works. This richly illustrated catalogue draws renewed attention to the significant Danish collection of 57 Dutch and Flemish paintings. For the first time in more than a century, the collection has undergone a comprehensive review, which, together with recent advances in art historical and technical research, has led to new insights and discoveries.
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Highlights from three years of research
The publication is the result of a collaborative project carried out between the Nivaagaard Collection and RKD (Netherlands Institute for Art History) from 2022 to 2024, led by the museum's special consultant, Prof. Em. Dr. Jørgen Wadum together with Dutch art historian Dr. Angela Jager from RKD. They applied the latest expertise and technical methods in their examination of the Dutch and Flemish paintings.
In 2023, the research led to the remarkable reunion of a family portrait by Cornelis de Vos. The researchers identified the missing mother in the portrait, which now hangs alongside the large Double Portrait of a Father with His Son from 1626. This fortunate discovery allowed the Nivaagaard Collection to acquire the portrait of the woman.
The researchers' in-depth study of Rembrandt's Portrait of a 39-Year-Old Woman and its presumed counterpart from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which culminated in an international research seminar, produced several new insights. These findings were recently showcased in the museum's focus exhibition, REMBRANDT Reunited (3 September – 10 November 2024).
Furthermore, the research has resulted in numerous new attributions, more precise dating, comprehensive provenance information and improved identification of subjects.
Contents of the catalogue
The collection catalogue (384 pages) features two essays and 57 entries. In the first essay, Angela Jager and researcher Jesper Svenningsen (SMK) delve into the history of the collection, which started life as part of Johannes Hage's private collection. Accompanied by his friend, the knowledgeable art enthusiast Frederik Grünwaldt, Hage travelled across Europe acquiring artworks, guided by the expertise of prominent figures such as the Dutch art historian Cornelis Hofstede de Groot. In the second essay, Jørgen Wadum examines the history of the paintings' restoration, highlighting Hage's collaboration with renowned German conservator Alois Hauser, who played a pivotal role in preserving the collection.
The entries, mainly written by Angela Jager and supplemented with technical descriptions by Jørgen Wadum, feature images of the paintings. Among the contributions are two by RKD curator Sabine van Beek, who offers a new identification of Landscape with Falcon Hunters on Horseback. RKD curator Rudy Jos Beerens discusses David Teniers' The Emptied Mug, while Jørgen Wadum examines one of the recent additions to the collection, Pieter Claesz's Still Life with Ham. Together, Angela Jager and Nils Büttner co-authored a critical reassessment of Portrait of a Man, which has previously been attributed to both Rubens and Van Dyck.
The entire catalogue information for the paintings will be updated and made digitally accessible in both RKD's extensive picture archive and the Nivaagaard Painting Collection's digital platform.
