Seascape Collection
In 2015, collector Theo Appeldoorn from Amsterdam donated his important collection of photographic seascapes - depicting, among others, the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the Irish Sea, the Mediterranean, the Pacific, the Tasman Sea, and the Sea of Japan - to the Rijksmuseum. In 2017, a selection from his strongly internationally oriented collection was exhibited under the title Seascapes in the Baker McKenzie Photogallery of the Rijksmuseum.
The collection consists of photographic impressions from the 20th and 21st centuries by both international and Dutch photographers, including Chip Hooper, Ray Metzker, Dodo Jin Ming, Thomas Joshua Cooper, Vincent Mentzel, Philippe Dannic, Viviane Sassen, Franco Fontana, Jo Ractliffe, and others. The underlying concept behind the collection is the emotional resonance found in images of the sea. These photographs evoke a wide range of emotions in the viewer: happiness and gratitude, solitude, silence, pride, sometimes anger, and also humility. Occasionally, a river in a mountainous landscape is used to evoke a sea of inner calm and acceptance, or an image of dramatic human intervention in nature is perceived as a sea wrestling with itself. In short, the photographic seascape expresses a wide spectrum of emotions - not to mention a sense of awe.
The seascape has a long tradition in the Netherlands: from the monumental pen drawings of 17th-century naval battles by Willem van de Velde, to the 19th-century public favourite Children of the Sea by Jacob Israëls. From the very beginning, photographers too have devoted themselves to this genre. One could argue that photography has added a unique perspective to the theme, in which atmosphere, mood, and impression are central. Photography has thereby introduced a spiritual dimension to the seascape and has established it – convincingly - as a fully-fledged artistic genre.
The core of the collection is formed by a seascape from 1856 by Gustave Le Gray - the Rembrandt of 19th-century photography. His seascapes were the first of their kind. A photograph of this nature was still missing from the series of Le Gray prints already held by the museum. With the support of Appeldoorn, the acquisition of this photograph fulfilled a long-held wish of the museum.
When acquiring photo collections, the museum also received the photographic cabinet used by the collector. In this case, it concerns a cabinet [link or photo of the cabinet] designed in 2014 by architects Marc Prosman and Matthijs de Wit. A photograph of the cabinet, along with a filmic impression of the collection made by Jochem van Laarhoven in 2016, has been added to the website.
