Men and beasts in the Van Baaren Collection
Jan Sluijters, detail Negerkop, around 1920
The Van Baaren collection is a typical Dutch private collection, which reflects the taste of the wealthy middle class of the period. The display of the Van Baaren collection until 27 May 2012 is devoted to people and animals. The Van Baarens had a preference for figurative art that was suitable for the interior: the pictures and sculptures could not be too large and the subject matter had to be 'proper', i.e. not too titillating. For this reason the people and animals in the paintings and sculptures are recognisably local and contemporary. This is congenial art, intended to evoke warm sentiments. Look, for example, at the lapdog by Rosa Bonheur, the goat by Mankes, the Dutch cows by Voerman or the monkey from the zoo by Altorf.
