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Corporate Collections in the Netherlands | Jenny Barendregt, Sabrina Kamstra, Mieke van der Star, Arnold Witte | 9789056627225

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Corporate Collections in the Netherlands

Author:Jenny Barendregt, Sabrina Kamstra, Mieke van der Star, Arnold Witte

Publisher:NAi Uitgevers

ISBN: 978-90-5662-722-5

  • Paperback
  • Dutch, English
  • 262 Pages
  • Nov 11, 2009

When companies lay off fifty percent of their work force, are their art collections protected from budget cuts or even from being sold?

Over the past hundred years Dutch companies have acquired collections of modern art that rival those of public institutions in both size and importance. Ownership, management, supervision, and access are however fundamentally different. In the current economic climate the phenomenon of corporate art collections has become the subject of a debate that has exposed the vulnerability of art collections owned by companies and organisations. Although all Dutch companies taken together own many works of art, until now little attention has been given to ‘corporate art collecting’ and the phenomenon has hardly been studied. Therefore, and because many corporate collections are not public, the debate about them in the Netherlands rarely deals with the facts but instead mostly concerns itself with opinions and, even more so, with expectations. Public interest is only aroused when collections are seized or auctioned, or when their fate becomes uncertain.

When companies lay off fifty percent of their work force, are their art collections protected from budget cuts or even from being sold?

Over the past hundred years Dutch companies have acquired collections of modern art that rival those of public institutions in both size and importance. Ownership, management, supervision, and access are however fundamentally different. In the current economic climate the phenomenon of corporate art collections has become the subject of a debate that has exposed the vulnerability of art collections owned by companies and organisations. Although all Dutch companies taken together own many works of art, until now little attention has been given to ‘corporate art collecting’ and the phenomenon has hardly been studied. Therefore, and because many corporate collections are not public, the debate about them in the Netherlands rarely deals with the facts but instead mostly concerns itself with opinions and, even more so, with expectations. Public interest is only aroused when collections are seized or auctioned, or when their fate becomes uncertain.

This publication addresses a number of perspectives and viewpoints in order to gain more insight into the dynamics of Dutch corporate collections and their impact on the art world. Besides offering a scientific analysis of the phenomenon of corporate art collections and a comparison with developments abroad, the book also gives the views and opinions of various people from the Dutch art world who are directly involved.

How the intrinsic value of art relates to the entrepreneurial goals that these collections also serve is a recurring question. What tasks do different parties in the cultural world envision for these collections and how do these tasks serve art? The result is a fascinating and stimulating book about an underexposed phenomenon in the Dutch art world.

Contributions by: Arnold Witte, Edo Dijksterhuis, Pietje Tegenbosch, Riemer Knoop, Hans den Hartog Jager, Lex ter Braak

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