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| National Gallery of Art (London) List of works with incomplete provenance from 1933-1945: Flowers in a Vase |
The art dealer, Edward Speelman (1910-1994) played an important role in forming many collections.
As a British soldier in World War II, Speelman arrested the notorious Austrian Nazi Artur Seyss-Inquart who had administered occupied Holland for the Reich and who would, for his many crimes in Austria, Poland and Holland, be sentenced to death at the Nuremberg Trials. Speelman was assigned to intelligence and worked on the postwar administration of The Netherlands before returning to civilian life.
Below are a few of the artworks that passed through Speelman's hands on their way to famous museums around the world. (Speelman part 1)
After we have gathered about a hundred examples of provenances that mention Speelman, we'll begin to look for patterns...
(see also: Edward Speelman and the Toledo Museum of Art)
1. National Gallery of Art in London:
List of works with incomplete provenance from 1933–1945
(Download PDF of NGA UK list)'Flowers in a Vase' Bequeathed to NG by Edward Speelman (D) in 1994.
NG6549
Provenance
Switzerland, possibly shortly after Second World war; *
acquired from a Canadian family near Genoa in the 1960's or from a private collection near Zollikon, Switzerland around 1970/1972 by Kurt Meissner (D), Zurich, *
Edward Speelman (D), London; bequeathed by Mr. Speelman to NG, 1994
Questions 1933-1945
Whereabouts and provenance until post WWII?
Source for information about Switzerland?
Provenance between post 1945 and 1960's?
Flowers in a Glass Vase Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder 1614
'The Virgin and Child in an Interior' 23 x 15cm. Bought by the NG from Edward Speelman (D), London, 1987
NG6514
Provenance
Melanie von Habsburg-Lothringen, Schloss Seisenegg, Austria;*
Edward Speelman (D), London;*
Questions 1933-1945
Provenance prior to von Habsburg-Lothringen
Acquisition/disposal by ditto
Provenance between von Habsburg-Lothringen/Speelman
Acquisition/disposal
The Virgin and Child in an Interior Workshop of Robert Campin (Jacques Daret?) before 1432
'The Preaching of St John the Baptist' Bought by NG from Edward Spelman (D), 1978
NG6443
Provenance
M.A. Mechen; *
Phillips, London, 14 March 1977*
Edward Speelman (D), London;
Purchased by NG, 1978
Questions 1933-1945
Provenance prior to Mechen
Details and date of acquisition by Mechen
Mechen sold through Phillips 1977?
The Preaching of Saint John the Baptist Cornelis van Haarlem 1602
2. Collectie is Speelman Ltd., Edward
(122 artworks are listed in the Speelman Ltd collection in the Rijksmuseum - to see them you can download a PDF or use this link. A separate post will examine in detail the provenances for all of these artworks. NOTE: If one searches a different way, for every mention of Speelman in provenance, RKD lists 184 results.)
Some examples:
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Interior with a schoolteacher learning a child to read, with a woman spinning in the background
- Stilleven van vijf schelpen op een stenen tafelblad
Still life with two peaches
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Jacob Hoefnagel Vase with flowers, surrounded by fruit and insects |
Adriaen Coorte
Stilleven van vier schelpen op een stenen tafelblad, 1697 gedateerd
- Private collection
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Interieur met een stilleven van een borstbeeld, boeken, een luit en een hoed met veren gerangschikt op een met een oosters kleed bedekte tafel
Landschap met jachttaferelen
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https://rkd.nl/explore/images/53920 Portrait of a man
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3. National Gallery of Art in Washington DC - NEPIP
Bouquet of Flowers in a Glass Vase http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/Collection/art-object-page.94743.html 1996.35.1 Bosschaert, Ambrosius "ProvenanceProbably painted 1621 for Frederick van Schurman (or Schuermans) [1564-1623], The Hague.[1] (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 7 April 1922, no. 54); private collection, England; (John Mitchell & Sons, London); private collection, England; (Edward Speelman, Ltd., London); purchased 27 June 1996 by NGA.[1] This painting is probably the one that Bosschaert took with him in 1621, when he traveled from Breda to The Hague to deliver a blompot (flower still-life painting) to Frederick van Schurman (or Schuermans), the bottelier of Prince Maurits. For this work Bosschaert received the extraordinary sum of 1,000 guilders. Maria Bosschaert, Ambrosius’ daughter, wrote the following: “Mijn vader Ambrosius Bosschaert is gesturven in Schravenhage in ‘t jaer als den 12 jarigen Trebes uut was, doch was woonachtig binnen Breda maer near den Hage getrocken om een blompot te leveren die hij hadde gemaeckt voor de bottelier van Sijn Hoochheyt daervoor hij dusent gulden hadde bedongen ende is aldaer sieck geworden ten huyse van joncker Schuermans, vader van Anna Maria Schuermans ende aldaer gesturven ende in Schravenhage begraven, tot droefheyt van veel liefhebbers.” See Abraham Bredius, “De bloemschilders Bosschaert,” Oud-Holland 31 (1913):138. Frederick van Schurman had been ennobled by the Holy Roman Emperor, and the phrase Maria Bosschaert used to refer to Van Schurman, a joncker (from the German Junker), is an honorary title that corresponds to the old inscription “Jonckheere …” on the verso of the painting."---
Still Life with Figs and Bread http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/Collection/art-object-page.111627.ht 2000.6.1 Meléndez, Luis
"ProvenanceMlle Anna Petit, by c. 1895; by descent in her family. Private collection, France. (Edward Speelman, Ltd., London). (Derek Johns, London); purchased 15 February 2000 by NGA."
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Workmen before an Inn
http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/Collection/art-object-page.72324.html1991.64.1 Ostade, Isack van "ProvenanceVan Tol collection; (sale, Souterwoude [near Leiden], 15 June 1779, no. 13);[1] Wubbels. Jean Etienne Fiseau (variously spelled Fiseau, Fezeau, or Fiziau), Amsterdam; his widow, Mme Jean Etienne Fiseau [née Marie Anne Massé, d. 1790]; (her estate sale, by Philippe van der Schley et al., Amsterdam, 30-31 August 1797, no. 165); (Jan de Bosch, Jeronimusz, Amsterdam). Guillaume-Joseph, baron de Brienen van de Grootelindt [d. 1839], Amsterdam, by 1842; by inheritance to his son, Arnold-Willem, baron de Brienen van de Grootelindt [d. 1854]; by inheritance to his son, Guillaume-Thierry-Arnaud [or Arnold or Armand]-Marie, baron de Brienen van de Grootelindt [d. 1863], Amsterdam;[2] (his estate sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 8-9 May 1865, no. 23); (Nieuwenhuys).[3] Marquis H. de V., Paris;[4] (his sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 5-6 June 1871, 2nd day, no. 218); Comte Henri Greffulhe [1848-1932], Paris; (his estate sale, Sotheby & Co., London, 22 July 1937, no. 74); (Roland & Delbanco, London); sold 1939 to Adolf Mayer, The Hague. (Edward Speelman, London). private collection, England. (Duits Gallery, London); sold 1968 to (Christian Humann, Paris and New York); sold 1973 to Dr. Claus Virch, Paris; sold July 1977 to (Brod Gallery, London);[5] purchased by Richard A. and Lee G. Kirstein, Washington, D.C.; gift 1991 to NGA.[1] In 1779, Hendrick Meyer (1744-1793) made a drawn copy of the painting (Amsterdam Historisch Museum, inv. no. A 10716), either when it was in Van Tol’s collection or at the time of the painting’s sale. See Ingrid Oud and Leonoor van Oosterzee, Nederlandse Tekenaars geboren tussen 1660 en 1745, Amsterdam and Zwolle, 1999: 120.[2] The lacquer seal on the rear of the panel carries the heraldic crest of the De Brienen van de Grootelindt family. Genealogical information on the family was provided by the Centraal Bureau voor Genealogie, The Hague. [3] According to an annotated copy of the sale catalogue in the NGA Library. This could have been either C.J. Nieuwenhuys, who was based in Brussels (and later London), or his brother, François Nieuwenhuys, who was in Paris. [4] This was possibly Antoine-Marie-Albert Héron de Villefosse (1845-1919).[5] Dr. Virch, in his letter to Arthur Wheelock of 4 June 1991 (in NGA curatorial files), provided the provenance of the painting from the Duits Gallery to the Brod Gallery. However, his information is at odds with the Duits Gallery Records, according to which Duits sold the picture on 30 July 1970 to “Mertens” (Box 38, no. 1946, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles)."
NOTE: TO SEE RKD LIST OF ALL ARTWORKS THAT MENTION SPEELMAN USE QUERY https://rkd.nl/nl/explore/images#query=Speelman&v=list
4. Boston Museum of Fine Arts
View of Beverwijk 1646 Salomon van Ruysdael
Provenance: Private collection, Hungary [see note 1]. Private collection, Switzerland. 1982, Edward Speelman, Ltd., London; 1982, sold by Speelman to the MFA. (Accession Date: September 15, 1982)
Still Life with Fruit, Wan-Li Porcelain, and Squirrel 1616 Frans Snyders
Provenance
Schaumburg-Lippe collection, Germany [see note 1]. December 16, 1929, Régine Chasles and others sale, Galerie Fievez, Brussels, lot 90. 1934, Kunsthaus A.G., Lucerne, Switzerland. By 1956, Edmond Meert, Saint-Nicholas-Waas, Belgium [see note 2]. Deschandau collection, Belgium [see note 3]. 1970, with Edward Speelman, Ltd., London; 1970, sold by Speelman to Robert H. Smith, Arlington, VA [see note 4]; 1993, sold by Smith to the MFA. (Accession Date: September 22, 1993)NOTES:
[1] The provenance given here (to 1956) is taken from Hella Robels, "Frans Snyders, Stilleben- und Tiermaler, 1579-1657" (Munich, 1989), p. 261, cat. no. 125.[2] Edith Greindl, "Les peintres flamandes de nature morte au XVIIe siècle" (Brussels, 1956), p. 181, published the painting as in the collection of Edmond Meert, though when he acquired it and when it left his possession have not been established.[3] According to information provided by Anthony Speelman of Edward Speelman, Ltd. (May 17, 2004). The dates of ownership are not known, nor has it been established whether Speelman acquired the painting directly from this collection.[4] That the painting was purchased from Speelman in 1970 is information provided by Robert Smith in a letter to Peter C. Sutton of the MFA (July 14, 1993; in MFA curatorial file).
5. The Norton Simon Foundation
Landscape with Ruins and Animals, 1624 Roelandt Savery The Norton Simon FoundationF.1972.36.1.P© The Norton Simon Foundation Prince of Wallenstein, since the beginning of the eighteenth century;[Edward Speelman Ltd., London, sold 1972 to];The Norton Simon Foundation.
6. Galerie Neuse, Bremen
Stilleven met druiven en bekerschroef, 1629 gedateerdBremen (Germany), Galerie Neuse
Private collectiongekocht van E. Speelman. Londen; Genève1980 - 1999-07 ca. 1980, 1999 geveildprivate collection vicomte de Chanson de la Lombardière, Parisart dealer Leonard Koetser, Londonin cat.tent 1962/10/23 - 1962/12/011962 -art dealer Edward Speelman Ltd., Londonaldaar gestolenKunsthandel P. de Boer, Amsterdamgetoond op stillevententoonstellingen, 2000-10 en 2003-11 (beide geen catalogus); getoond op TEFAF, Maastricht, 2004-032000-10 - 2004 gesignaleerdart dealer Rafael Valls Limited, Londonmet afb. in kleurart dealer David Koetser, Zurich/New Yorkgetoond op TEFAF, Maastricht, 2001-03 , 2002-03, 2003-03 en 2005-032001 - 2002 gesignaleerdart dealer Rafael Valls Limited, Londongetoond op TEFAF, Maastricht, 2006-032006 - gesignaleerdGalerie Neuse, Bremen (Germany)getoond op TEFAF, Maastricht 2009-032009 -
7.Edward Speelman and Harold Samuel
"Harold Samuel... was a man of discretion. He acquired his paintings between the mid-1950s and the early 1980s from one London dealer, Edward Speelman, also a man of discretion who handled some of the finest seventeenth-century Dutch paintings to come on the market during his long career."- BOOK REVIEWS The Harold Samuel Collection: A Guide to the Dutch and Flemish Pictures at the Mansion House By Michael Hall with Clare Gifford London: Paul Holberton Publishing, 2012. 200 pp, 95 color illus. ISBN 978-1-907372-41-4 Review published November 2013
8. The E. G. Buehrle Collection
... Pregny/Geneva (6) ▫ Rosenberg & Stiebel, New York (7) ▫ Edward Speelman, ... (3) Letter as above; Bundesarchiv Koblenz, MCCP Restitution File, Central ...1672 • 30 June 1945 MCCP Restitution File as above, n. ... 8Edward Speelman London Acquired from the above, information given by Mr. Anthony Speelman, ...
to be continued in part two
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