Research & expertise

Action Plan Collection

When the Centraal Museum became independent, as of 1 January 2013, it turned out that there was large-scale overdue maintenance of the collection. The museum immediately started addressing the worst needs and making plans for the whole thing. In 2015, the Centraal Museum subsequently received a subsidy for the Collection Action Plan, aimed at tackling overdue maintenance.

Key issues that are being addressed:

Barcoding Collection

One of the findings of the baseline measurement was that the location registration of certain parts of the collection could be improved. Barcoding the collection means a significant improvement in terms of management.

Mode: inventory, photography, bar coding

The Fashion and Costumes collection had the biggest backlogs in registration. This collection, which consists of more than 10,000 objects, was fully inventoried, described, checked, photographed and made accessible online in 2013-2014. It was also identified which documents needed treatment most urgently. The restoration of these pieces was largely carried out between 2015 and 2018.

Mode: inventory, photography, bar coding

The Fashion and Costumes collection had the biggest backlogs in registration. This collection, which consists of more than 10,000 objects, was fully inventoried, described, checked, photographed and made accessible online in 2013-2014. It was also identified which documents needed treatment most urgently. The restoration of these pieces was largely carried out between 2015 and 2018.

Metallic

Around 2010, an emergency caused damage to the subcollection of precious and base metals. Many pieces were affected by climate instability. First, research was carried out into the cause to rule out that the harmful conditions could continue. In 2015-2016, the entire collection of metals (more than 3,000 objects) was subsequently checked, photographed and barcoded and hundreds of pieces were cleaned. At the end of 2016, the pieces were placed in the new metal cabin.

Paintings

Based on a large sample of the condition of the paintings, as part of the baseline measurement, we knew that a great deal of money would be needed to bring all paintings in top condition. An investment that, especially in the current climate, is not appropriate for the use of the collection. However, we do want to carry out the restorations that are necessary to prevent the condition of works from deteriorating and restorations of important objects that need to be made presentable in order to be displayed in the museum.

As a first step, the sample was expanded in 2016 to a complete inventory of the condition of all more than 2000 paintings. A frame restorer and a picture restorer have described what is needed and how many hours should be counted for each painting.

Among the paintings included in the Urban History Collection, the priorities were determined in 2017 and the most urgent treatments were carried out.

For the paintings that belong to the Ancient Art, the priorities have been identified and that a start has been made to treat the urgent pieces. The paintings that are included in the Modern Art collection were in the worst shape. Here, too, it has been identified what should be done and the most urgent restorations have begun.

Furniture

There are a few dozen pieces of furniture that are very valuable and could be exhibited but need restoration. In addition, a complete check-up of the collection of old furniture is appropriate. The plans for a “quick scan” have been made.

Prints and drawings

An extensive project began in 2017, in which all prints and drawings are checked, repackaged, photographed and barcoded. In addition, the lists of framed prints and drawings are viewed and inventoried with the aim of gaining insight into the condition and the desirability of preserving them.

Parts of the fragile paper collection need restoration. The current project will provide an inventory of necessary restoration work that can be carried out in a second phase. This project is expected to be completed in the second half of 2018.

This collection is the only one that is not housed in the external depot. The storage conditions are not ideal, but there is no space in the current depot. This collection is included in the future scenarios for the depot that are being investigated.

Research project rejection & implementation of rejection

In 2006, the Centraal Museum sold part of the Modern Art collection and pieces from the Old Painting collection. Experience back then shows that this is a labour-intensive process. Nevertheless, the museum wants to use the Action Plan to also carefully review the other sub-collections. The museum has been around for over 175 years and has not always been collected critically over the course of history. There have been times when all items offered were added to the collection. In addition, over the years, hundreds of objects have ended up in the depot whose status is unclear. Now that we have become more aware of the costs of management and preservation and the awareness that focus contributes to the quality of the collection, we can go through the collection carefully and give pieces that do not fit into the whole thing a new destination (the museum naturally follows the LAMO — guide to discard museum objects).

A first step towards selection is a 100% location check. The collection has experienced wars and many different moves. Objects have been lost on a few occasions over the years. Even more often, items that are not a collection have ended up in the depot. In order to have an exact overview of all the pieces that are entrusted to our care, we now check what is or is hanging cabinet by cabinet and shelf by shelf. Objects that are not found will be mapped and unknown objects will still be added to the collection or discarded (after being documented).

Improving discovery/photography

In recent years, a lot of effort has been put into making the collections (online) accessible. The collection can now be viewed 100% online. The percentage of objects with images online grew from 74% in 2014 to 80% in 2016 and 85% in 2017.

Within the Action Plan, we aim to bring this percentage to at least 95%. In addition, we want to improve the quality of the masterpieces — because the standards of digital image quality have improved rapidly in recent years, it is necessary to make new recordings (after the restorations).

Improving storage, researching a new depot

The Action Plan also includes improving storage conditions. The Centraal Museum depots are full and will no longer be sufficient in the long run. Initially, a quick scan was made in 2013, and it was soon decided to only implement the 'quick-wins', because a more structural solution (improved/new depot) will have to be sought for the (medium) long term.

In 2016, as a follow-up to the quick scan, a study was carried out into various future scenarios for the depot. The results were fed back to the municipality in 2017. As a result, a project group was set up, with representatives from the Centraal Museum, Cultural Affairs, Heritage and UVO, which is now planning a new repository for Utrecht's collections.

Plastics

The Centraal Museum is one of the participants in the National Research Project Plastics Contemporary Art Collections, an initiative of the Foundation for the Preservation of Modern Art (SBMK)

Each collection of contemporary art and design includes numerous objects made entirely or partially of plastic. In order to identify the composition of the objects, specialist knowledge is needed, which is often not available in museums without a laboratory. The Plastics Project focuses on applied research for this large group of objects and brings together natural scientists and no less than ten major museums and collection managers in the Netherlands. Because the project develops a do-it-yourself method, managers and restorers will be able to identify, monitor and, where necessary, take conservation measures themselves in the future. The National Office for Cultural Heritage (RCE) also trains two young professionals who specialize in this field. The project starts on 3 April 2017 and runs until April 2019 and is financially supported by the Gieskes-Strijbis Fund and the Mondriaan Fund.

See also www.sbmk.nl/plastics-project.

Research Origin Wanted

From 1998 to 1999, the research Museum Acquisitions 1940-1948 was carried out under the responsibility of the Dutch Museum Association. There, the acquisitions made by museums in the years 1940-1948 were investigated to determine whether they were lawful. After completion of this research, it was decided to continue the research for the following reason: “Jews have been persecuted and oppressed in Germany since 1933 and in Austria since 1938. Their looted property may have been acquired by Dutch museums in many detours years after the war.” (Source: www.musealeverwervingen.nl/en/38/about-the-research/why-the-research/)

In 2009, all Dutch museums were asked to thoroughly investigate acquisitions between 1933-1940 and 1948-1954 and to also check all acquisitions after 1954 for possible suspicious provenance.

In recent years, the Centraal Museum has spent a lot of time and energy carefully carrying out provenance research, believing that this is part of the museum's responsibility. In doing so, the museum has not only wanted to comply with the committee's request, but also with the international agreements on the obligation of museums to investigate the origin of the collection. In addition, in order to be able to sustainably safeguard the research in the organization, we have created a manual and research form. This also makes origin research part of new acquisitions. The manual and accompanying form have been shared with fellow museums and institutions.

Due to its retrospective nature, provenance research is difficult; previous owners have died, archives have disappeared, or have never been built. The investigation that is being opened here has therefore not yet been completed. Perhaps the help of the public can ensure that gaps can be closed and files closed in time.

Conclusion: Report: Origin: Wanted

As a result of the investigation, there are two objects where the direct acquisition is unsuspected but whose origin history is not conclusive. In these works, after internal research, follow-up research by the Museum Acquisitions Project Team and assessment by committee chairman Rudi Ekkart, we must conclude that a possible suspicious or problematic reference in the origin history cannot be ruled out.

The entire research report can be read at www.musealeverwervingen.nl.

More information

Provenance research remains up to date. For each acquisition of an object that was manufactured before the war, provenance research is carried out. For information or information, please contact the Collection Management Department, Chantal Perlee, at +31 (0) 30-2362308 or cperlee@centraalmuseum.nl.

Collect & Connect

Collect & Connent is a contemporary research project about 20th and 21st century design.

Museums are “collectors in the public interest”. What we preserve is cultural heritage, valuable to preserve for the future. Generations after us should be able to enjoy our collections, draw knowledge and inspiration from them. Storing the items properly is a prerequisite, but collecting and recording knowledge is just as important. And then the public also needs to know that this rich asset is at their disposal. Publishing and presenting, making the collections accessible in many ways, is also an essential task of the museum. These three activities come together in Collect & Connect, the research into the Centraal Museum's collection of 20th and 21st century design. This research, which took place in 2012 and 2013, would normally take place behind the museum's scenes. As part of the research method, this project was precisely chosen to allow people to actively participate and to bring them into contact with the collection in various ways, digitally or in person.

The collection consists of around 3,000 objects, ranging from earthenware pots from the early 20th century to ultra-modern design that was recently presented at the international furniture fair in Milan. These thousands of objects are divided by themes, such as Elisabeth Houtzager's collection, Utrecht pottery, the household school on the Laan van Puntenburg, Droog Design, Rietveld's work.

In order to gather more knowledge and data about the collection, there have been research internships, depot days and Wikipedia edit-a-thon meetings and exhibitions in and outside the museum: a musical chair dance through the 20th century, Manfred Kausen's Modern Style Room, Gulliver's collections.

Partners

This project was made possible in part with a financial contribution from The Utrecht Treasury of the province of Utrecht and the Fentener van Vlissingen Fund.

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