'Library has no respect for artists!' Sale of works from Art Loan against sore leg Amersfoort art world.

This weekend, gallery owner Henk Logman discovered to his horror that artworks from the Amersfoort Art Loan were being offered for sale on a Belgian auction site. On his facebook page, he reports: 'The extraordinary thing about the whole thing is that the artists who are still alive today were not informed about this. I would at least have expected that to have happened. I think it shows little respect for the artists.'

The tip came from Bob Kovel, who is not only an artist himself, but who, as chairman of the Kunstuitleen's purchasing committee in the 1990s, also selected a large number of works for Amersfoort himself. He recognised his own work on the auction site, as well as work by at least four other Amersfoort artists: 'I have also checked with them, and they never heard from the Kunstuitleen that their work would be sold either'.

Not destroyed

According to Logman, the Amersfoort Library, which manages the collection, is said to have made it even more bonkers: 'It turned out that a work of art was even sold that, according to the artist concerned, should have been destroyed because the work was damaged and he was compensated.' In this case, the work in question appears to be that of well-known Amersfoort artist Ron Jagers. Who appears to have been informed: 'I had two works on loan at the art loan. So not bought by any committee. Both works were damaged in the library by incorrect storage to such an extent that they could be considered total losses. I received compensation for that.'

'I assumed the works would be destroyed. Evidently they took a different approach. Indeed unbeknownst to me, the works were put on the site and brought to the man/woman/man in a damaged condition.'

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