In the end, homo calculus - and who isn't, a "calculating man" - turns out to be primarily concerned with the monetary value of art objects, and only then - sometimes a long time later - with their beauty, artistic value or rarity. Every episode of the television programme Between Art and Kitsch demonstrates this. It also applies to the exhibition 30 years of Tussen Kunst en Kitsch in 101 discoveries, at the Amersfoort museum Flehite, where 101 art objects are on display. Reason: the popular programme is celebrating its 30th anniversary.
The programme's 14 art experts selected the objects. Pleasant in this case is that pricey usually goes hand in hand with the concept of beautiful, or - tastes differ - at least with 'special'. For instance, the stone urn containing another glass urn with bone remains of a Roman is definitely not beautiful, but it is special and very rare. That explains the appraisal value of 50,000 euros.
A topper is the round painting by Pieter Brueghel the Younger, early seventeenth century. The owner bought it in 1950 for a hundred guilders. Its value now: somewhere between eighty- and one hundred thousand euros.The scene: a man and a woman, resting outside by a tree, in the background a small castle.
Nice are sometimes the accompanying stories such as the rare pen candlestick that served as a toilet roll holder with its owner. The thing is worth ten thousand euros. Or the blue carafe with inscription plus silver cap, made by Willem Jacobszoon van Heemskerck, cloth merchant in Leiden in the seventeenth century. At the owner's house, the carafe stood in a niche on the mantelpiece where both her cats 'regularly rushed past'. The fragile object was valued at 70,000 euros.
The most fun, of course, are the stories about items that were bought for very little at a flea market, or that had been gathering dust in the attic for decades, and which, on closer inspection, turned out to be worth a lot after all. There are several examples of this.
Another masterpiece, at least financially, is a painting by Joseph Raphael (1869 - 1950 ). It is a depiction of a domestic scene, with a girl, standing in a tub, and a mother breastfeeding a child. It was painted in a very simple style, so it cannot be down to that that it was valued at €150,000. But the American Raphael had a great influence on the development of the Californian Impressionists. That makes him an important link.
Truly remarkable is a Nkondi, a nineteenth-century wooden fetish statue from the Congo. The absolutely unsightly ancestor statue is full of nails. In the catalogue, it carries a price tag of €150,000.
Besides usual artefacts such as drawings, paintings and sculptures, the exhibition includes clocks, measuring instruments, pottery, utensils, jewellery and archaeological finds.
The exhibition is also attractive for its wide variety. There is also plenty to enjoy in the beauty of the artefacts and the sometimes amazingly clever technique of craftsmen.
The richly illustrated catalogue describing all objects with photos, backgrounds and any accompanying anecdotes costs €19.95.
Opening hours:
Tuesday to Friday: 11am-5pm, Saturday and Sunday: 12pm-5pm. Closed on Mondays. Also closed on King's Day. Museum year card valid, with a €2 surcharge. The exhibition lasts until 12 July.
Text and photos: Kees Quaadgrass
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