The painting is by Charles Leickert
Translated by Thomas Ansell
Thanks to a number of donations, the Veenkoloniaal Museum in Veendam (Groningen) has been able to make its largest ever purchase for inclusion in its collection. The museum has paid 65,000 Euros for a painting by Charles Leickert (1816-1907), a romantic artist, of the river IJ in 1870. As reported by the Dagblad van het Norden.
“It’s our largest purchase ever”, said curator Elise van Ditmars. The painting shows a young William Albert Scholten (1819-1892). Scholten is known for being the forefather of the multinational potato and starch manufacturer Avebe. In the region of Veendam, he is also known as the person who prepared the ground for the current Northern Dutch expertise in agriculture and agro-food.
Leickert, who painted the piece, was given the commission by Scholten himself as part of a 15-strong commissioning spree. Six of the paintings are known to have survived, whilst all of them are quite large: the one that’s going to Veendam is 1.5 metres by 1 metre in size.
William Albert Scholten built up his potato-starch empire in the Groninger ‘Veenkolonien’ (or peat colonies). In 1842 he opened up the first large factory on Foxhol (Groningen), and it is now part of a chain of 24 starch factories in the Netherlands, Germany, Austria; and Russia.
More than half of the purchase money came from individual doners, with the Vereniging Rembrandt, and the JB Scholtenfonds making up more. On Tuesday a small unveiling ceremony will be held with Groningen Provincial Executive member with responsibility for Culture, Mirjam Wulfse (VVD).
The Veenkoloniaal Museum shows the history of the peat district in Groningen. It is located on the Museumplein in Veendam in the province of Groningen. For more information, just check out their website.
Image via the Veenkoloniaal Museum