The Kremer Collection Amsterdam, Netherlands
The Kremer Collection is owned and managed by the Aetas Aurea Holding SA (AAH), a non-profit organization. The collection comprises 17th century Dutch and Flemish Old Masters.
The goals of AAH are:
The Kremer Collection (the Collection) is a privately owned collection of some 70 works of Dutch and Flemish 17th century art (mainly paintings) and has been put together since 1995 by George and Ilone Kremer. New acquisitions are made regularly: the Collection is proof that even today it is possible to build a high quality and highly varied collection of important Dutch old masters. Many interesting schools and genres are represented such as Caravaggism/Utrecht, Leiden, Delft, Haarlem, Amsterdam, genre interiors, landscape painting, history paintings, Italianate art, marines and portraits.
The Collection contains masterpieces by, amongst others, Rembrandt (one painting and 3 etching plates), Abraham Bloemaert, Hendrick ter Brugghen, Gerrit Dou, Frans Hals, Meindert Hobbema, Gerrit van Honthorst (2 works), Pieter de Hooch, Jan Lievens (2 works), Paulus Moreelse, Michael Sweerts, Jan Baptist Weenix and Emanuel de Witte.
In the Collection many interesting influences and cross fertilizations of the various schools and cities in 17th century Holland can be shown, which means that the Collection can be used as an educational tool to teach students and the public.
The collection is owned by a non-profit corporation, Aetas Aurea Holding Ltd. (AAH)
During the last 17 years, the AAH has had an extensive loan program participating in many exhibitions and long term loans with international museums, including the National Gallery of Art, Washington, the Metropolitan in New York, the National Gallery, London and the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (see website for a full list).
to promote art in general and in particular Netherlandish art
to maintain and improve (knowledge of) the collection through acquisitions, participation in research and exhibitions, and its restoration program.
to make its collection known to a wider public through an active, international loan program
to produce comprehensive catalogues of its collection. A first milestone was the publication in English of Dutch and Flemish Old Masters from the Kremer Collection in 2002. In July 2008 new, updated catalogues were published with 48 works in German and Dutch. In October 2011 a new, updated catalogue was published with 57 works in French in cooperation with the Pinacotheque de Paris.
Old masters
The collection presently (as of May 2012) contains 61 paintings and copperplates by Dutch and Flemish masters, some of which have not (yet) been published. Many great figures are represented, including Hendrick ter Brugghen, Gerrit Dou, Frans Hals and Rembrandt (4 works). What makes the collection in part so special, is the large number of images with an intriguing story behind them.