The Nivaagaard Collection and the RKD have started to collaborate on the research project Dutch and Flemish paintings at The Nivaagaard Collection. Attributions, the acquisition history, and their artistic significance in an international context. The latest expertise in art history and technical research will be used in the study of the Dutch and Flemish paintings in The Nivaagaard Collection.
The Nivaagaard Collection
Located in the residential town of Nivå in the northern outskirts of Copenhagen, The Nivaagaard Collection was originally a private collection created by landowner and politician Johannes Hage (1842-1923). Johannes Hage collected mainly Dutch and Flemish paintings from the early modern period. His acquisitions contrast the purchases of ‘modern’ paintings from the successful Danish and French schools done by Danish collectors. In order to build his collection, he received valuable help from friends and art connoisseurs, including the Dutch art historian Cornelis Hofstede de Groot (1863-1930), whose bequest formed the foundation of the RKD collection today.
Collection catalogue
The collection of Dutch and Flemish Art at Nivaagaard includes works by Rembrandt, Pieter Claesz., Salomon Ruysdael, Jan Steen, and Cornelis de Vos, Pieter Brueghel II, and David Teniers II. The result of the research project will be a catalogue of these until now little-known works, reflecting the latest expertise in art history and the technical study of paintings. Because the collection of Dutch and Flemish paintings reflects the acquisitions by Hage, another aim of this project is to understand Hage’s preference: what exactly did Hage buy, how and where did he acquire these works, and what determined him to focus his collecting activities so strongly on these old masters? The historical attributions will be critically evaluated, and the works will be positioned in a new art historical context.
Collaboration
The research will be done in 2022-2023 by Jørgen Wadum, Specialty Consultant on Dutch and Flemish Art at The Nivaagaard Collection and Angela Jager, Curator Dutch and Flemish Old Master Paintings at the RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History. The research project is made possible thanks to the Research Fund of the Danish Ministry of Culture to The Nivaagaard Collection. News about the research project will be published regularly on https://www.nivaagaard.dk/en/dansk-forskningsprojekt/
