Information from the museum, 9 October 2012
When in 1879 the museum club was founded by leading members of the city, nobody knew the further development of Osnabrück’s museum policy. At least some persons with foresight participated in this process. One of these was the district president of Osnabrück Gustav Stüve (1833-1911). As the president of the museum club (1899-1909) he did not only decide about the fate of the museum, but also dedicated his wide collection of paintings to the museum, thus establishing Osnabrück’s central museum’s rank as an art museum.
A hundred years ago, in 1912, Stüve’s collection was first presented to the public. The collection particularly contains Dutch and Flemish masters, but also German and Italian painters. These were part of the eldest private art collection in Osnabrück, whose development reaches back into the 18th century. Founder of this collection was the former attendant personal physician of the prince-bishop of Osnabrück, Johann Christoph Wöbeking (1680-1770).
The Museum of Cultural History appreciates the seminal donation of Gustav Stüve with the exhibition „Old Masterpieces in Osnabrück“ (November 25th 2012 to May 26th 2013). The entire collection will be presented. The comparatively few additional loans from the family clarify, that Gustav Stüve’s donation assured the preservation of the family collection – many paintings were sold or lost to the influences of war.
Additionally, several pictures and graphics of eminent Dutch and Flemish painters from the museum’s own stock are shown, for example works of Rembrandt (Leyden 1606 – 1669 Amsterdam), Sebastian Vrancx (Antwerp 1573 – 1647 Antwerp), Adriaen van Ostade (Haarlem 1610 – 1685 Haarlem), David Teniers (Antwerp 1610 – 1690 Brussels), Ludolf de Jongh (Overschie 1616 – 1679 Hillegersberg), Gerard Ter Borch (Zwolle 1617 – 1681 Deventer) Jan Both (Utrecht about 1618 – 1652 Utrecht), Albert Cuyp (Dordrecht 1620 – 1691 Dordrecht), Isaac van Ostade (Haarlem 1621 – 1643 Haarlem), Michiel Sweerts (Brussels 1624 – 1664 Goa/India), Jacob van Ruisdael (Harlem 1628 – 1682 Harlem), Ludolf Bakhuizen (Emden 1631 – 1708 Amsterdam) and many more.