Tradition and Innovation at the Netherlands’ Art and Antiques Fair: PAN Amsterdam

AMSTERDAM.- Over the course of nine days in November, PAN Amsterdam, the Netherlands’ art and antiques fair, presents more than 10,000 objets d’art. The common denominator is that all the objects are vetted for authenticity, artistic quality and condition and are on sale at prices from € 500 to € 500,000. The 130 or so exhibitors represent the elite of the Dutch and Flemish art trade. The works of art at PAN Amsterdam span more than 5,000 years of history. They include an antique faience New Year’s flask and an 18th-century secretaire attributed to Abraham Roentgen, one of the most famous furniture makers of his age. From more recent times there is a rare tubular steel chair, Gerrit Rietveld’s Beugelstoel from around 1927, in its original natural wood finish, a 1930 necklace by the renowned Parisian workshop Fossin & Fils and a large display of works by Zero artists. Never before has so much emphasis been placed on twentieth-century fine and applied art. The 24th PAN Amsterdam runs from 21 to 28 November in the Parkhal of the Amsterdam RAI.

New exhibitors
PAN Amsterdam 2010 has sixteen new or returning exhibitors. A number of them are specialists in twentieth-century arts and crafts, including Art Affairs (Amsterdam), which focuses on paintings, sculptures and photography, Kunstconsult (Zuidoostbeemster), which specializes in art nouveau and art deco objects, and Victor Werner (Antwerp), who deals in Neo-classical art. De Vierde Dimensie (Plasmolen) specializes in concrete art and architecture. Galerie De Zaal (Delft) concentrates on fine art and recent photography. WonderWood (Amsterdam) enhances the twentieth-century design on offer at PAN Amsterdam with laminated wooden furniture made between 1930 and 1950.

Some of the eye-catching works of art at PAN Amsterdam 2010
Mieke Zilverberg has an Egyptian green faience New Year’s flask. At the beginning of the new year people gave one another little gifts like this flask for storing perfumed oil. This one was made between 300 and 600 BC. Asking price € 10,000.

Portrait of a Woman in a Kimono, a painting by the Walloon artist Marcel Delmotte (1901-1984) that measures 182 x 129 cm is being offered by art and antiques dealer Victor Werner (Antwerp). Delmotte was a painter and designer and is known primarily for his huge canvases with Surrealist or Expressionist influences. Later in his career he made his name with nudes and portraits, of which this painting of 1959 is an example.

Salomon Lilian (Amsterdam) has a fine example of a domestic interior in the best Dutch tradition by Pieter Janssens Elinga (1632-1682). He concentrated on this genre in Amsterdam from 1657 onwards, taking his inspiration from Pieter de Hoogh.

Galerie de Rijk (The Hague) and Art Affairs (Amsterdam) are both presenting a selection of works by the Zero movement of minimal art and geometric abstraction. Among them are pieces by Herbert Zangs, Bernard Aubertin, François Morellet, Ad Dekkers, Jan Schoonhoven and Herman de Vries. Art Affairs is showing a polyester relief measuring 180 x 360 cm by Ad Dekkers, entitled Double Square with Diagonals dated 1968. Asking price € 120,000.

Five Bowls designed for drinking sake feature an unusual combination of brownish black calligraphy on cream-coloured ceramic. They were made around 1910 by the well-known Japanese artist Nantembô (1839-1925) to celebrate something special or to give as a gift. The highly personal set in its original box is signed and is offered by Oranda Jin (Den Bosch) for € 5,000.

Inez Stodel (Amsterdam) is showing an 18 carat gold necklace, decorated with flowers and vines, and set with fourteen large oval en chute cut chrysoprases. The necklace dates from around 1930 and was made in the famous workshop of Fossin & Fils in Paris, who made jewellery for Napoleon and Josephine.

One of the most magnificent pieces of antique furniture at the fair is the 18th-century secretaire from Kollenburg Antiquairs (Oirschot), attributed to Abraham Roentgen, one of the best-known furniture makers of the time. It is not only practical; the design, the use of expensive types of wood and the compact size of 187 x 100 cm give it an unusual elegance. It was owned by Dutch nobility. Asking price € 135,000.

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