Collecting Mentality
The Collecting and Exhibiting of South and Southeast Asian Art by the KVVAK from 1918 to 1949
The KVVAK (Royal Asian Art Society in the Netherlands) was established in 1918 to increase Dutch appreciation of Asian art and promote the preservation and acquisition of Asian art objects.
About the project
To achieve its goals, the KVVAK published articles and organised exhibitions, lectures and excursions. Over the years, the Society also collected a large number of art objects from South, Southeast and East Asia. The collection was exhibited at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam from 1932 to 1952, when it was transferred to the Rijksmuseum.
This project will provide insight into the collecting mentality of the KVVAK in the early years of its existence. How did the Society define ‘Asian art’? Why did it collect these art objects? What narratives did the KVVAK present about its collection in exhibitions, lectures and publications?
Aims of the project
Through archival and literary research, this project will explore the ideas behind the collecting and exhibiting of Asian art by the KVVAK. Specifically, it will focus on the South and Southeast Asian objects acquired by the Society in the first half of the 20th century. The narratives that the KVVAK has presented about these objects represent just one of many possible interpretations. It is therefore important to identify alternative interpretations of Asian cultural expressions and to examine how the KVVAK engaged with these other perspectives.
Related publications
Roorda, T.B., ‘De beteekenis van de Aziatische kunst: Voordracht ter opening van een cursus aan de Rijksacademie voor beeldende kunsten te Amsterdam’, Vereeniging van Vrienden der Aziatische Kunst: 1922. https://library.rijksmuseum.nl/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=17117.
Catalogus der tentoonstelling van Indische beeldhouwkunst in het Gemeente-Museum te ’s-Gravenhage, van 17 sept. tot half oct. 1922, Vereeniging van Vrienden der Aziatische Kunst: [’s Gravenhage], [1922]. https://library.rijksmuseum.nl/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=25066.
Keur van Indische beeldhouwkunst: Eerste serie, Uitgaven van de Vereeniging van Vrienden der Aziatische Kunst, Martinus Nijhoff: ’s-Gravenhage, 1923. https://library.rijksmuseum.nl/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=79106.
Visser, H.F.E., ‘Het Museum van Aziatische Kunst in het Stedelijk Museum te Amsterdam I: Eenige aanteekeningen over de inrichting en het Indische gedeelte der verzameling’, Maandblad voor beeldende kunsten 9, nr. 5 (1932), p. 131-139. https://library.rijksmuseum.nl/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=156776.
Lunsingh Scheurleer, Pauline (red.), Asiatic Art in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Meulenhoff/Landshoff: Amsterdam, 1985. https://library.rijksmuseum.nl/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=12489).
Boon, Karel Gerard, ‘Herman Visser en het tot stand komen van het Museum van Aziatische Kunst’, Mededelingenblad van de Vereniging van Vrienden der Aziatische Kunst 15, nr. 4 (1985), p. 16-21. https://library.rijksmuseum.nl/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=258829.
Campen, Jan van, et al., Aziatische kunst, Rijksmuseum: Amsterdam, [2014]. https://library.rijksmuseum.nl/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=244084).
Wijk, Frederieke van, ‘Erfgoed of kunst?: De esthetische bril van de KVVAK’, Aziatische kunst 53, nr. 1 (2023), p. 3-17. https://library.rijksmuseum.nl/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=323931).
Staff
Marit Feld
Marit.Feld@rijksmuseum.nl
KVVAK Fellow
Jan van Campen
J.van.Campen@rijksmuseum.nl
Curator of Asian Art Rijksmuseum
Partners and Sponsors
Royal Asian Art Society in the Netherlands
Flora Fund