DOI Heft:
No. 343 (October 1921)
DOI Artikel:Gos, François: Modern Dutch pictures in the collection of Mr. R. Cremers
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21393#0145
MODERN DUTCH PICTURES IN THE
COLLECTION OF MR. R. CREMERS.
EVERY Collection implies a tendency,
a milieu, a personality; denotes a
certain predilection, a certain mentality.
And it is from this point of view that it
seems to me to be of interest to jot down
a few remarks on a superb collection of
pictures—even yet unknown to many
Dutchmen—which I have had the privilege
of inspecting at the Hague. 0 0
While the value of a Collection depends
upon the price of the works it contains,
its charm, on the other hand, lies in the
atmosphere surrounding it. In the present
instance it is a little mansion in the Dutch
" Louis XV. " style which contains the
masterpieces collected with so much fine
taste by Mr. R. Cremers, son of a former
Minister of Foreign Affairs, and himself,
while by temperament an artist, once a
diplomatist by profession. He has shown a
pronounced instinct for the beautiful in
all the various works of art with which he
has surrounded himself, as witness these
magnificent violins, specimens of the old
masters —Antonio Stradivarius, Nicoli
Amati, Guadagnini and Gagliano; and then
this pottery, Delft and Persian ; this Dutch
furniture, of the " great period " ; these
Italian antiquities! 0 0 0 0
But most important of all is this assem-
blage of modern Dutch pictures,the work of
those " quatre-vingt " painters who were
to their own country what those of
Barbizon were to France. And on entering
this Music Room, the very style of which
compelled meditation, one could but admire
its arrangement. The ornamentation of
the ceiling, the great grey marble fireplace,
where the flame glows ruddy, the dark
oak woodwork, and the priceless Eastern
carpets—all contribute to form that atmos-
phere of which I spoke just now. In
such surroundings these pictures have a
different message for us, since there is
nothing here to diminish their loveliness.
It was a revelation to me—James Maris
showed himself the unrivalled Master
of the epopee of thirty-five years since ;
in everything I found him always great,
always intensely moving. His master-
piece, the famous Moonlight, is here, with
its transparent shadows—it is not merely
LXXXII. No. 343.—October 1921
a Dutch landscape ; it is the Night of all
times in perfect synthesis. Then there
is his Port of Dordrecht, a work which
penetrates into life to an astonishing
depth, and several other pieces, including
a marine painting, The North Sea. There
are also canvases by his brothers—William,
lands capist and animal painter; and
Matthew. By Matthew we have here a
charming little picture from the Collection
of Felix Moscheles, the eminent painter
and musician, his friend and Whistler's.
From William, on the other hand, comes
a whole series of canvases illustrating the
different periods of his career, and showing
how little by little he freed himself from
over-descriptiveness of form. 0 a
My attention is drawn by a woman's
head, quite modern in treatment, against
a background of vieux-rose; and this,
I find, is the first Head done by Mr.
Cremers, the result of the excellent lessons
he had from the Dutch painter, Melchers.
So my conversation was no longer with
the collector, but with a colleague as gifted
as he is modest. He told me of the passion
he had for antique sculpture when, a
young Doctor of Laws, he roamed about
Italy. Then how, during his diplomatic
career (he was attache first in Vienna and
then in Berlin), and subsequently his taste
gradually changed as he visited the great
galleries of Europe, until at length he gave
himself up entirely to painting and music.
And while we chatted I admired in other
rooms the works of Weissenbruch, of
Mauve and of Israels, also some fine
landscapes by W. de Zwart and Theo-
phile de Bock, who were students
of James and William Maris. Although
perhaps de Bock had no very strong
personality, and was always under the
influence of several masters, we are in-
debted to him, nevertheless, for sundry
interesting views of Holland, and also
for an admirable book on his teacher, W.
Maris. But here was a painting by Roelofs,
the predecessor of the brothers Maris; here
a charming bouquet by Madame Hetty
Broedelet, a highly sensitive Roermeester
—one of the water pieces in which he
excelled — and here again a magnifi-
cent series of water-colours and drawings
by Mauve and Bosboom.
Francois Gos.
129
COLLECTION OF MR. R. CREMERS.
EVERY Collection implies a tendency,
a milieu, a personality; denotes a
certain predilection, a certain mentality.
And it is from this point of view that it
seems to me to be of interest to jot down
a few remarks on a superb collection of
pictures—even yet unknown to many
Dutchmen—which I have had the privilege
of inspecting at the Hague. 0 0
While the value of a Collection depends
upon the price of the works it contains,
its charm, on the other hand, lies in the
atmosphere surrounding it. In the present
instance it is a little mansion in the Dutch
" Louis XV. " style which contains the
masterpieces collected with so much fine
taste by Mr. R. Cremers, son of a former
Minister of Foreign Affairs, and himself,
while by temperament an artist, once a
diplomatist by profession. He has shown a
pronounced instinct for the beautiful in
all the various works of art with which he
has surrounded himself, as witness these
magnificent violins, specimens of the old
masters —Antonio Stradivarius, Nicoli
Amati, Guadagnini and Gagliano; and then
this pottery, Delft and Persian ; this Dutch
furniture, of the " great period " ; these
Italian antiquities! 0 0 0 0
But most important of all is this assem-
blage of modern Dutch pictures,the work of
those " quatre-vingt " painters who were
to their own country what those of
Barbizon were to France. And on entering
this Music Room, the very style of which
compelled meditation, one could but admire
its arrangement. The ornamentation of
the ceiling, the great grey marble fireplace,
where the flame glows ruddy, the dark
oak woodwork, and the priceless Eastern
carpets—all contribute to form that atmos-
phere of which I spoke just now. In
such surroundings these pictures have a
different message for us, since there is
nothing here to diminish their loveliness.
It was a revelation to me—James Maris
showed himself the unrivalled Master
of the epopee of thirty-five years since ;
in everything I found him always great,
always intensely moving. His master-
piece, the famous Moonlight, is here, with
its transparent shadows—it is not merely
LXXXII. No. 343.—October 1921
a Dutch landscape ; it is the Night of all
times in perfect synthesis. Then there
is his Port of Dordrecht, a work which
penetrates into life to an astonishing
depth, and several other pieces, including
a marine painting, The North Sea. There
are also canvases by his brothers—William,
lands capist and animal painter; and
Matthew. By Matthew we have here a
charming little picture from the Collection
of Felix Moscheles, the eminent painter
and musician, his friend and Whistler's.
From William, on the other hand, comes
a whole series of canvases illustrating the
different periods of his career, and showing
how little by little he freed himself from
over-descriptiveness of form. 0 a
My attention is drawn by a woman's
head, quite modern in treatment, against
a background of vieux-rose; and this,
I find, is the first Head done by Mr.
Cremers, the result of the excellent lessons
he had from the Dutch painter, Melchers.
So my conversation was no longer with
the collector, but with a colleague as gifted
as he is modest. He told me of the passion
he had for antique sculpture when, a
young Doctor of Laws, he roamed about
Italy. Then how, during his diplomatic
career (he was attache first in Vienna and
then in Berlin), and subsequently his taste
gradually changed as he visited the great
galleries of Europe, until at length he gave
himself up entirely to painting and music.
And while we chatted I admired in other
rooms the works of Weissenbruch, of
Mauve and of Israels, also some fine
landscapes by W. de Zwart and Theo-
phile de Bock, who were students
of James and William Maris. Although
perhaps de Bock had no very strong
personality, and was always under the
influence of several masters, we are in-
debted to him, nevertheless, for sundry
interesting views of Holland, and also
for an admirable book on his teacher, W.
Maris. But here was a painting by Roelofs,
the predecessor of the brothers Maris; here
a charming bouquet by Madame Hetty
Broedelet, a highly sensitive Roermeester
—one of the water pieces in which he
excelled — and here again a magnifi-
cent series of water-colours and drawings
by Mauve and Bosboom.
Francois Gos.
129