The Biography of an Artwork
Last April, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen returned a tenth-century ivory representing Maria with child to the heirs of Kunsthaus Drey. This Jewish art dealer from Munich was forced to sell it along with the rest of his trade stock in June 1936 under the Nazi regime. At first glance, the restitution request was a clear call. The forced sale was well documented, resulting in a restitution under the Dutch policy. However, provenance research revealed that the ivory was part of the famous Stroganov collection before. Count Stroganov died in 1910, but his heirs were murdered in 1920 by Bolsheviks. Only one adult with two minor children survived, escaped to Rome and began to sell the collection soon after, including the ivory. How voluntary was this sale? This case is a reminder of the importance of ‘deep’ provenance research beyond WW II and serves as starting point for an exhibition at Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen in the Fall of 2025, aiming to heighten the public awareness of the full biographies of artworks. 

Ruben Suykerbuyk

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam
Ruben Suykerbuyk is curator of old master paintings and sculptures at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam. His field of expertise is fifteenth- to seventeenth-century Netherlandish art history, with a focus on religious art and material culture. He is the author of several contributions on Netherlandish painters and draftsmen such as Michiel Coxcie and Frans Floris, tomb monuments and memorial culture in the sixteenth-century Low Countries, and published a monograph on the art, patronage, and religious life in Zoutleeuw’s exceptional church of Saint Leonard.