Eye-opener. Art Dealership M.L. de Boer

The exhibition Eye-opener Art Dealership M.L. de Boer features 27 paintings and 9 sculptures by, among others, Jan Sluijters, Jan Toorop, Fernand Léger and Marino Marini. The Rijksmuseum has already held exhibitions about the art dealerships of E.J. Wisselingh (1993) and J.H. de Bois (1999).

Jan Sluijters, Portrait of the singer Dina Diependaal, 1914. Museum de Fundatie (Province of Overijssel collection), Zwolle and Heino/WijheJust after the Second World War, Martien de Boer (1907-1991) established his Art Dealership M.L. de Boer on the Keizersgracht. Until 2006, the art dealership and gallery was renowned in artistic circles in Amsterdam. Visitors to De Boer could find a wide range of Dutch and French art from throughout the 20th century. In addition to the pioneers of modern art, such as Jan Sluijters, Leo Gestel, Jan Toorop and Peter Alma, De Boer added contemporary painters like Kees Verwey, Otto B. de Kat and Wim Oepts, as well as sculptors such as Theresia van der Pant, Charlotte van Pallandt
and Eric Claus.

At the end of the 1950s, De Boer also turned his attention to Paris and introduced the post-war ‘lyrical abstraction’ of the Nouvelle École de Paris. In the 1970s his art dealership became the main source of paintings by Serge Poliakoff, Roger Bissière, Nicolas de Staël, but also for Geer van Velde, who had emigrated to Paris. Once again, De Boer combined painting with sculpture and exhibited artists like Lorenzo Pepe and Eugène Dodeigne.

De Boer stands out due to his choices in modern and contemporary art which shift between the abstract and the figurative. He wanted to show his audience that there are no essential contradictions between the seemingly very different concepts of art. In an era in which the urge to innovate prevailed, De Boer opted for accessible works, which made him a haven of tranquility and good taste for many. He himself said: ‘Art is not about the spectacular, but about the essential, about quality. Fashion phenomena do not interest me.’

This exhibition is based on the book ‘Tussen figuratie en abstractie. De geschiedenis van Kunsthandel M.L. de Boer’ (Between the figurative and the abstract. The history of Art Dealership M.L. de Boer) by Caroline Roodenburg-Schadd, made possible in part by Stichting Otto B. de Kat.