The Rijksmuseum has purchased for its collection a drawing by the Flemish artist Pieter Coecke van Aelst (1502-1550). The artist drew this Old Testament scene titled The Marriage of Tobias and Sarah around 1540–1545. It is very rare compositional sketch by the artist, and the only known design for a tapestry from the final phase of his career. This work was part of the Rijksmuseum collection from 1964 until recently, when, at the recommendation of the Restitution Committee, it was restituted to the heirs of the Jewish private collector Dr Arthur Feldmann. The Rijksmuseum attaches great importance to the serving of justice to the heirs of Dr Arthur Feldmann in this way. The heirs have sold the drawing to the Rijksmuseum.
The Rijksmuseum has purchased for its collection a drawing by the Flemish artist Pieter Coecke van Aelst (1502-1550). The artist drew this Old Testament scene titled The Marriage of Tobias and Sarah around 1540–1545. It is very rare compositional sketch by the artist, and the only known design for a tapestry from the final phase of his career. This work was part of the Rijksmuseum collection from 1964 until recently, when, at the recommendation of the Restitution Committee, it was restituted to the heirs of the Jewish private collector Dr Arthur Feldmann. The Rijksmuseum attaches great importance to the serving of justice to the heirs of Dr Arthur Feldmann in this way. The heirs have sold the drawing to the Rijksmuseum.
This drawing belonged to the private art collector Arthur Feldmann (1877–1941) from Brno, in former Czechoslovakia. On 15 March 1939, the first day of Nazi Germany’s occupation of Czechoslovakia, the Gestapo confiscated Feldmann’s home and all its contents, including the art collection. The Rijksmuseum purchased the drawing at an auction in 1964. In 2018 the heirs to Arthur Feldmann’s estate submitted a restitution claim for the work. In accordance with the recommendation of the Restitution Committee, on 3 April 2023 the State of the Netherlands restituted the drawing to the heirs; the Rijksmuseum then purchased the work for the Dutch National Collection.
Pieter Coecke van Aelst (1502–1550) was one of the foremost Flemish artists of the first half of the 16th century. He ran a large and successful studio in Antwerp, and was court painter to Mary of Hungary and Emperor Charles V. In addition to paintings, he produced designs for windows, prints, and silverwork, but he was most admired as a designer of tapestries. Some 40 of his drawings have survived, six of which are to be found in the Netherlands: three at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, and three at the Rijksmuseum.
Image : The Marriage of Tobias and Sara, Pieter Coecke van Aelst (I), 1540 - 1545
Anna Melnykova, "Palace of Labor (palats praci), architector I. Pretro, 1916", shot with analog Canon camera, 35 mm Fuji film in March 2022.
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