A Dutch husband and wife who have lived in the US for many years Elijk and Rose-Marie de Mol van Otterloo became collectors of Dutch Golden Age art in 1993. In a short space of time, they managed to acquire high quality masterpieces by Rembrandt, Jan Steen, Gerrit Dou, Frans Hals, Hendrick Avercamp (see christmas card post) and others.
Their collection is undoubtedly worth a motza. The Rembrandt on it’s own is serious bling. The record price for a work by the master is around $US30 million in 2009. However the van Otterloos seem to have a genuine love and affection for each piece they have purchased and their ultimate intention is to donate the collection to a museum at some point.
At present they have loaned 44 works from their collection to the Mauritshuis in The Hague including still-lifes, portraits, landscapes and genre paintings. Made in Holland is the name of the exhibition in the Mauritshuis. My favourites include the tiny painting by the Rembrandt pupil Gerrit Dou, “A Resting Dog” (1650). This painting was also love at first sight for the van Otterloos and features a little puppy half asleep curled up next to a terracotta pot. Another favourite was by Gerrit Dou’s pupil Gabriël Metsu. “An Old Woman Eating Porridge” (c.1657) by Metsu features a old Dutch women bent over her porridge with her cat at her feet. It’s a lovely everyday Dutch life scene. How kind of the van Otterloos to loan their wonderful collection.
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