09 january 2020, Oscar van Gelderen & Manuela Klerkx
Albertine's pick...
In this section we let a selection of art lovers – from occasional buyers to art professionals – talk about their perception of art and preferences: where do they want to see art? Where do they purchase art, and above all: from which artists do they buy? Below, an interview with Albertine Zoetmulder-Sanders (Chair of VVD Bloemendaal and board member of Museum Haarlem, 50)
What does art mean to you?
Art is very important to me. I don't know any better than art was in my life. Artists are always ahead of the rest with their view of reality.
The Witness, 2012, Sylvie Zijlmans/Hewald Jongenelis, andriesse eyck galerie.
I grew up with it, both my grandparents and my parents were well-known art collectors. They took us to museums and galleries a lot. The other day, I was at the opening of 'The Factory' the Carlos Amorales exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum with my three sons. That was inspiring. All those butterflies that wanted to fly away like that, and they were also allowed to hit the cymbals as hard as they could!
Where do you get your information about the ups and downs in the art world from?
I look at art very intuitively, I don't need that much information at all. Of course, I read about it in newspapers and magazines, but I tend to follow galleries in their choices.
Circus Street, 2019, Rik Smits, MPV Gallery.
Where do you prefer to see art?
I like to go to galleries, museums and to the important fairs: in the Netherlands and sometimes abroad. I look at art the least online, I use the internet primarily to look things up.
How often a year do you buy art?
We buy art several times a year, both editioned and unique work.
And where do you buy: in the gallery, at an art fair, at an auction or online?
We buy both in galleries -many different ones- and at art fairs. Actually, never online or at an auction.
Matthew Marks Gallery, NYC II, 2018, Jan Wattjes, Livingstone gallery.
Is it important that you and your partner agree on a purchase?
In principle, my husband and I always buy together. A work has to do something for both of us. If we disagree, we don't buy it.
Is there a gallery you have a special connection with?
We have bought a lot at Livingstone for a while: Raquel Maulwurf, Jan Wattjes, Klaas Gubbels, Yuri Matsumoto and Hugo Tieleman. The last couple of years we also bought a lot of work at gallery Stigter Van Doesburg: a photo by Elspeth Diederix and a beautiful work by Maaike Schoorel.
Pastel Cloud, 2013, Elspeth Diederix, Galerie Stigter Van Doesburg.
We visited Tel Aviv last year with the arts club. We were welcomed in a gallery that had an exhibition of Guy Yanai. The whole gallery was full of new work and we were all very impressed. When my husband and I walked into the booth of the Flatland gallery at the PAN fair, we saw a work of his. I was immediately sold. The work was just much more expensive than we usually want to spend on a work of art, so we didn't buy it. In the end I got it as a surprise, for my 50th birthday.
Who are your favourite artists?
At Art Rotterdam we bought a beautiful work by Jan Wattjes at the Livingstone Gallery, called 'Mary Boone, NYC II'. It attracted us because of its simplicity, but also depth and power, the work is all white and yet you recognize what it is: the front of the gallery in New York.
We own a model of an imaginary city by Rik Smits. The sky is the limit! We keep on building!
Last but not least, I’d like to mention Laurence Aëgerter. We bought a picture of a church from her at Galerie Caroline O'Breen, which can only be seen with sunlight.
Cathédrale 1h55', 2014, Laurence Aëgerter, Caroline O'Breen.
Have a look on the Instagram of Albertine Zoetmulder-Sanders
