19 january 2025, Wouter van den Eijkel
Sammelsurium: a new perspective on passing down art
Amsterdam gallery Bradwolff & Partners is kicking off the new year with 'Sammelsurium'. Strictly speaking, it’s a group exhibition, but calling it that would be misleading. Sammelsurium — which translates to ‘hodgepodge’ — does something different: it flips the gallery model on its head by focusing on the collector rather than the artist. It raises a number of questions: How do you pass on a collection that embodies your soul and passion? Do you auction it off or ensure it finds a meaningful new home?
For the record, 'Sammelsurium' is primarily about collecting art—but not because the artists or their work or not worthy of attention, as the exhibition includes fantastic work from prominent names. Gallery owner Christine van den Bergh has curated the exhibition to offer glimpses of conversations about these pieces behind the doors of the collector’s home, emphasising the stories and experiences behind each work.
A unique work by François Morellet hangs in the backroom of the gallery. It features four squares, some of whose lines are formed by bent branches. This piece engages in dialogue with work by Sjoerd Buisman from the 1970s and 1990s, displayed in the same room. Like Morellet, Buisman interacts with nature. In one of his oldest works, a dozen leaves are shown. Buisman has replaced the missing parts of the leaves with leaf-green material, though the remaining parts have become copper-coloured.
On the back wall of the front room is a black-and-white photograph by John Baldessari of a man and his dog in a kayak, featuring two coloured shapes. One shape resembles a shark fin. Take a step or two back to view Baldessari’s work alongside the back wall of the main room and you will notice that the same shape reappears in Jan Maarten Voskuil’s wall sculpture.
Patrick Raynaud and Sonia Rijnhout
Another fascinating interplay occurs between an early edition by Raymond Pettibon and Peter Ronsholt’s stuffed toy trapped between two iron plates. Both works explore the notion of high and low culture. Pettibon juxtaposes pop music and comics with lofty artistic pursuits, while Ronsholt highlights the contrast between the softness of the toy and hardness of the metal. His work revolves around themes like vulnerability, protection and tension between playfulness and seriousness.
A life's work
Building an art collection is often the work of a lifetime, a decades-long process. Selling off parts of it is unimaginable for many, so it is either avoided or not given serious thought. As noted in the press release: “Releasing this collection is an emotional yet exciting process.” With 'Sammelsurium', Christine van den Bergh aims to spark a conversation about the passing down of art and collections. This aligns with her mission to create a platform for connection, dialogue and depth in which art is presented not merely as an object, but as a living entity.
Van den Bergh had long considered organising an exhibition around a private collection. In 2002, when working for another gallery, she curated a show featuring work from the collection of art historian Bert Janssen. Only a few works were for sale; her primary interest lay in understanding Janssen’s approach to collecting and the narrative within his collection.
In 2013, she developed the concept for Art in Transit, an exhibition about transferring art to the next collector. She observed that while sustainability was becoming a priority in many areas, it did not extend to art. Artworks often vanish into collections, never to be seen again. Although the Art in Transit project never materialised, over the years she frequently spoke with collectors who told her they had surplus work that they did not want to auction, but sought ways to pass them on to other collectors.
Overview Sammelsurium, Bradwolff & Partners
This led her to the core question: After a lifetime of collecting art, what is the best way to say goodbye to it? Or, put differently, “Do you take your collection to auction, or do you find it a meaningful second home?”
A shift in mentality
Van den Bergh is considering making 'Sammelsurium' an annual exhibition, given the overwhelming response to its opening. This edition runs until 1 March, with the presentation changing every two to three weeks, curated by a different guest. For this edition, Van den Bergh invited Katia Krupennikova, curator and lecturer of curatorial studies at HKU, and architect Femke Bijlsma. Each brings a fresh perspective to the collection, revealing the nearly endless combinations within it.
Together with art historian Yvonne Yzermans and other experts, Christine van den Berg also aims to inspire enthusiasm for art through lectures and events, while seeking to raise questions about what sustainable collecting truly entails. In Van den Bergh’s view, this requires more than just an annual exhibition. “It’s time to open up the idea of art collecting and passing it on, creating a new awareness.”
Sjoerd Buisman
