Law Firm Dentons sells the Boekel Collection


Law Firm Dentons sells the Boekel Collection

Following up on our successful Post-War & Contemporary Auction from October, we are offering in our online only auction ‘Modern & Contemporary Art, from 21 to 31 January 2021, the second part of the art collection of law firm Boekel De Nerée.


Large- scale paintings from Elizabeth de Vaal, Rob Verf, Jan van der Pol, and John Loker together with  small- scale works by Jan Smejkal, Dave Meijer, Gabriëlle van de Laak and Maarten Ploeg to name just a few, indicate the spectrum of this collection. Also included are prints by amongst others Carel Visser, Bas Meerman and Armando as well as 3-dimensional objects van Viktor IV and Jan van der Veer.


During the mid-70’s, a few interns at the law firm Boekel took the initiative to take out a subscription with Stichting Beeldende Kunst (Foundation Visual Arts) as compensation for the antique prints that decorated the walls at the Denton law office.  This was a modest start to what has now grown into an exceptional collection of contemporary art.


This has not been without a few setbacks. One of the first hurdles was an artwork depicting a naked breast of a woman, signed by an associate on a Monday morning after a weekend where predominately abstract paintings on loan had arrived. A meeting was convened, and the painting was allowed to stay.  This was the first step in the acceptance of contemporary art.


After a few years, the art committee received an annual budget to purchase art works.  Although the acquisitions, naturally, were criticised, the collection grew. The daily presence of the art inside the office had an enormous and positive influence on the work climate.


A gradual collective feeling of pride formed with the selection of the art works.  The collection of Boekel was also shown at the exhibition Kunstzaken in de Beurs van Berlage and opened by Her  Majesty Queen Beatrix in 1988. Other works from the Boekel collection were temporarily loaned for exhibitions at Rotterdam and Singapore. In 1998 the Vishal in Haarlem (an accessible hall for contemporary and visual arts) held a retrospective exhibition of this collection. Many catalogues including the book Onderneming and Kunst (Enterprise and Art) (25 art collections, 2001) have been represented by this office collection.


Due to the merger of Boekel together with the worldwide law firm Dentons, plus the recent renovations in Amsterdam Zuid A, the decision was made to take leave of the collection and offer the art works at auction.

 

Click here to browse through the online catalogue and discover the collection for yourself.

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