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Kunsthandel van Lier

Kunstzaal Van Lier, Carel van Lier, Leendert van Lier

Description

Carel van Lier (1897-1945) started a gallery in Laren in 1924 and moved to Amsterdam three years later. In the early years, Kunstzaal Van Lier was primarily concerned with modern European art. However, Van Lier also became fascinated with the aesthetics of African sculpture styles. The exhibition of his private collection of African art at the Gemeentemuseum Amsterdam in 1927 had an influence on modernist painters at the time. Soon Van Lier was dealing in Asian art, African sculptureand ethnographic objects from around the world, including Native North America). These objects were acquired from private collectors in the Netherlands, during trips to London, Paris, Brussels and Antwerp, and through his network of relations in the international ethnographic art trade, like art dealer Charles Ratton in Paris. The Jewish Carel van Lier died in a German concentration camp in 1945.

The widow of Carel van Lier, Elisabeth van de Velde, continued the business for several years after the war. In 1949, she sold the business to Leendert van Lier (1910-1995, not a relative). Leendert van Lier also sold tribal art, Chinese ceramicsand modern European art. In 1954 he moved to Utrecht and the sales were carried out from his home. A similar arrangement continued from 1961 in the small town of Veere in the province of Zeeland, where lovers of tribal art, such as professor and collector Theo Van Baaren, knew where to find Leendert van Lier. The art dealer made regular trips to London and Paris to acquire objects for his trade. After his death, his collection of ethnographics was auctioned at Christie's Amsterdam in 1997.

Provenance Research

Carel van Lier (1897-1945) started a gallery in Laren in 1924 and moved to Amsterdam three years later. In the early years, Kunstzaal Van Lier was primarily concerned with modern European art. However, Van Lier also became fascinated with the aesthetics of African sculpture styles. The exhibition of his private collection of African art at the Gemeentemuseum Amsterdam in 1927 had an influence on modernist painters at the time. Soon Van Lier was dealing in Asian art, African sculptureand ethnographic objects from around the world, including Native North America). These objects were acquired from private collectors in the Netherlands, during trips to London, Paris, Brussels and Antwerp, and through his network of relations in the international ethnographic art trade, like art dealer Charles Ratton in Paris. The Jewish Carel van Lier died in a German concentration camp in 1945.

The widow of Carel van Lier, Elisabeth van de Velde, continued the business for several years after the war. In 1949, she sold the business to Leendert van Lier (1910-1995, not a relative). Leendert van Lier also sold tribal art, Chinese ceramicsand modern European art. In 1954 he moved to Utrecht and the sales were carried out from his home. A similar arrangement continued from 1961 in the small town of Veere in the province of Zeeland, where lovers of tribal art, such as professor and collector Theo Van Baaren, knew where to find Leendert van Lier. The art dealer made regular trips to London and Paris to acquire objects for his trade. After his death, his collection of ethnographics was auctioned at Christie's Amsterdam in 1997.

Example objects

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Resources

Primary sources

Archive
RKD – Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis / Carel van Lier NL-HaRKD.0108
Letters and postcards, mainly from artists, and other papers covering the period 1927-1948 — https://rkd.nl/nl/explore/collections/108
Archive
RKD – Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis / Leendert van Lier NL-HaRKD.0065
Number of invitations Kunstzaal van Lier, 1951-1953; number of catalogs including Mostra internazionale del Surrealismo, 1961; scrapbook with photos of work by Bob Hanf; 2 photos of artworks, photocopies of letters from Eugène Brands and others, 1954-1955. — https://rkd.nl/explore/collections/65

Secondary source

Book
Lier, Bas van. Carel van Lier: kunsthandelaar, wegbereider, 1897-1945. Bussum: Thoth, 2003.
Biography of Carel van Lier. — ISBN: 9789068683431

Related items

Keywords

Activity

Art market

Type of objects

Etnografics
Ceramics
Sculptures

Geografical

Africa
Asia
Indonesia
China
Congo
Papua New Guinea
North America
South America
Oceania

Period of activity

1924 - 1996