The Koenigs Collection >ORIGINAL DUTCH VERSION

Correspondence about the Koenigs Collection, 1933-1949 in the old archives of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, integrally scanned in 2010 and accessible here via the hyperlinked inventory numbers.

1. Property of F.W. Koenigs (at Florapark 8, Haarlem, until 1935)

1.1 Given to Museum Boymans on loan by F.W. Koenigs/Bank Lisser & Rosenkranz (1935-April 1940)

1.1.1 Carbon copy of the acknowledgement of receipt by the director of the museum of the long-term loan of the painting Les Deux Amies by Toulouse-Lautrec from Mr and Mrs F.W. Koenigs; 17 January 1933. 1 item. N.B. The receipt is not signed.

1.1.2 Letter from director Dirk Hannema to the Burgomaster and Aldermen of Rotterdam about F.W. Koenigs’s offer to give his collection of Old Master paintings and drawings on permanent loan on the occasion of the opening of the new museum. Hannema asks the Burgomaster and Aldermen to show their pleasure at this loan by means of an appreciative letter; 2 April 1935. 1 item.

1.1.3 Handwritten letters from Mrs Anna Koenigs, Countess Von Kalckreuth, to director Dirk Hannema about a visit to Rotterdam and further arrangements for the loan to the museum. “However difficult it will be to detach myself from them [the drawings and paintings], I am happy that they will be in your hands, because you will really appreciate them’; 28 April and 18 May 1935, 2 items.

1.1.4 List of drawings from the Koenigs Collection grouped by country and period. Drawn up by Dr H. Lütjens of Kunsthandel Cassirer & Co., probably in connection with the loan to Museum Boymans; 15 June 1935. 1 item

1.1.5 Letters from Mrs Anna Koenigs, Countess Von Kalckreuth, about the storage of empty crates and a request for copies of the catalogue of the Koenigs Collection; 22 June and 27 October 1935. 2 items.

1.1.6 Carbon copy of a letter to Mr and Mrs Koenigs informing them that many art historians are coming to the museum expressly to study the drawings in their collection, together with the information that H. Lütjens ‘is coming to Rotterdam at the beginning of next week to make the inventory of all the painting and drawings present’; 19 September 1935. 1 item.

1.1.7 Unsigned statement on N. Beets’s notepaper that he has taken delivery of 11 drawings for F.W. Koenigs; 28 October 1935. 1 item. N.B. The drawings are itemised.

1.1.8 Letter from director Dirk Hannema to F.W. Koenigs with an acknowledgement of receipt of the loan of his Old Master paintings and drawings from the 19th century and earlier as described in the catalogue drawn up by H. Lütjens; 20 November 1935. 2 items. N.B. Carbon copies, unsigned.

1.1.9 Documents relating to the receipt of the loan and the insurance of the drawings, paintings and books from the Koenigs Collection; 1935-1938. 7 items. - Invoice for transport insurance on behalf of F.W. Koenigs; 15 May 1935. - Letter from S. Otten, secretary to F.W. Koenigs, with an appendix containing a specification of the value of the Koenigs Collection, drawings and paintings, for the fire insurance; 17 December 1935.

The Koenigs Collection/Corresp. 1933-1949 Website Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam page 1/7 - Annotations on Museum Boymans notepaper of c. 1936 with valuations of the number of sheets of the German drawings from before and after 1800. Pencilled jottings on the back of the sheet. - Carbon copies of the itemised list of the Koenigs Collection, the acknowledgement of receipt for F.W. Koenigs of his collection accepted on loan by the museum with the valuation for the fire insurance, and the covering letter with which director Dirk Hannema sent these documents to H. Lütjens; 6 February 1936. - ‘List of the works of art belonging to the family of F. Koenigs and on loan to Museum Boymans’ drawn up for insurance purposes. 1936-1938.

1.1.10 Declaration initialled by director Dirk Hannema relating to the 1937 increase in the insured sum for all the works of art in the museum, including the Koenigs Collection. With a statement of the sum insured, increase and premium. 1 item.

1.1.11 Letters from director Dirk Hannema and F.W. Koenigs’s secretary, S. Otten, about F.W. Koenigs’s request for three photographs of his Toulouse-Lautrec, and about his permission to use reproductions of drawings from his collection for a gift calendar for the Van Leer company; late November-early December 1938. 4 items.

1.1.12 Letters from Mrs Anna Koenigs, Countess Von Kalckreuth, to director Hannema concerning her request for assistance in expediting the family’s naturalisation. ‘If it takes too long our son Frans could be called up for his military service in Germany, and that could create great difficulties’. ‘My husband and I shall not forget this token of your trust and your friendship’; 9 November 1937 and 8 February 1939. 2 items.

1.1.13 Letter from director Dirk Hannema to F.W. Koenigs about the protective measures taken in view of the ‘international situation’ for the art treasures in the museum, both in the museum’s own collection and on loan; 12 September 1939. 1 item.

1.1.14 Letters from director Dirk Hannema to W. van der Vorm and D.G. van Beuningen offering his valuation of the Koenigs Collection as present in the museum on 20 February 1940 and informing them of the threatened loss of the collection for the museum; 13 and 21 March 1940. 14 items. N.B. There are several duplicates of the appended valuations.

1.1.15 Letter from F.W. Koenigs to the directors of Museum Boymans informing them that he has given the collection of drawings that are on loan to the museum as payment to Bank Lisser & Rosenkranz and that the loan to the museum is thus terminated; 2 April 1940. 1 item

1.1.16 Letters from Bank Lisser & Rosenkranz to the directors of Museum Boymans stating that it has received payment of F.W. Koenigs’s drawings and paintings that he had loaned to the museum, which it will send a shipping agent to collect; 2 and 8 April (twice) 1940. 3 items.

1.1.17 Personal letter from director Dirk Hannema to D.G. van Beuningen about his offer for the Koenigs Collection, in which he remarks that some of the paintings could be sold from the collection without doing any harm to it as a whole, but that that is not the case with the drawings. ‘I cannot sufficiently stress the importance of the drawings. It is the largest and most important collection that there is in private hands in this sphere. I consider it impossible that such a collection could be put together ever again, since the material is no longer available’; 8 April 1940. 1 item.

1.1.18 Letters from director Dirk Hannema to Bank Lisser & Rosenkranz (in liquidation) about the preparations for transporting the Koenigs Collection from the museum and its sale to Van Beuningen. ‘The undertaking given to us by D.G. van Beuningen, namely that the present name of the collection of drawings and paintings will be retained, also meets the wishes of Mr Koenigs’; 9 April 1940. Forwarded to D.G. van Beuningen on 11 April 1940, with copies of the letters. 7 items.

The Koenigs Collection/Corresp. 1933-1949 Website Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam page 2/7

1.1.19 Letter from director Dirk Hannema to F.W. Koenigs about his collection, which has been transferred to ‘Rotterdam ownership’, 12 April 1940, and a handwritten reply by Mrs Anna Koenigs, Countess von Kalckreuth, dated 14 April 1940. ‘It is a consolation that those works of art will remain together in the Netherlands, in Museum Boymans, and last but not least in your custody. Perhaps the collection will then give our children and grandchildren a sense of tradition after all, and keep the love of art alive.’ 2 items.

1.1.20 Carbon copy of a letter and list of paintings from director Dirk Hannema to the directors of N.V. Bankierskantoor Lisser & Rosenkranz (in liquidation) informing them that 35 paintings from the Koenigs Collection had been collected for Goudstikker that morning for shipment to Amsterdam, with thanks for their cooperation in preserving the collection for the museum; 19 April 1940. Also a handwritten statement dated 19 April 1940 on Museum Boymans notepaper signed by the shipper J.C. Veen for receipt of 35 paintings and confirmation of receipt of the works by Bankierskantoor Lisser & Rosenkranz, dated 23 April 1940. 5 items.

1.1.21 Letter from H.E.R. Rhodius, business partner of F.W. Koenigs, to director Dirk Hannema asking for articles from art journals with obituaries of the deceased Franz Koenigs for inclusion in an album for Mrs Koenigs and her children; 22 July 1941. With Hannema’s reply, listing the obituaries that have appeared in art journals; 20 August 1941. 2 items.

1.1.22 Card from Mrs Anna Koenigs, Countess von Kalckreuth, to director Dirk Hannema about two storage crates being held for her in the museum which she would like to have returned; 4 May 1942, with Hannema’s letter of reply dated 5 May 1942. 2 items

1.1.23 Letter from Mrs Anna Koenigs, Countess von Kalckreuth, with her thanks for the return of the crates and for the annual report, with the request for 10 extra copies of the annual report. ‘I am happy about everything that has remained in Museum Boymans and the Netherlands, because my husband always wanted his collection to remain in our country’; 8 May 1942. Also a carbon copy of the covering letter from director Dirk Hannema enclosed with the 10 extra copies of the annual report, 12 May 1942, and the letter of thanks of 19 May 1942 from Mrs Anna Koenigs, Countess von Kalckreuth. 3 items.

1.2 F.W. Koenigs’s loan of the painting Les Deux Amies by Toulouse-Lautrec (1939- 1940)

- Director Dirk Hannema’s acknowledgement of receipt of the painting Les Deux Amies by Toulouse-Lautrec from Mr and Mrs F.W. Koenigs; 17 January 1933. 1 item. See inventory no. 1.1.1 .

- Letters from director Dirk Hannema and F.W. Koenigs’s secretary, S. Otten, about F.W. Koenigs’s request for three photographs of his Toulouse-Lautrec, and about his permission for reproductions of drawings from his collection for a gift calendar for the Van Leer company; late November-early December 1938. 4 items. See inventory no. 1.1.11 .

1.2.1 Handwritten letter from Mrs Anna Koenigs, Countess von Kalckreuth, requesting that Toulouse-Lautrec’s painting Les Deux Amies be transferred to the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, where it would fit in better with the French paintings hung there by director David Röell, with director Dirk Hannema’s reply that he would be sorry to see the painting move to another museum but would be guided entirely by the owner’s wishes; 27 and 29 March 1939. 2 items.

1.2.2 Handwritten letter from Mrs Anna Koenigs, Countess von Kalckreuth, requesting that Toulouse-Lautrec’s painting Les Deux Amies be transferred to her house, since her husband is very attached to it and would enjoy hanging it there again for a while. With Dirk Hannema’s letter in reply, saying that the painting will be returned; 22 and 24 September 1940. 2 items.

The Koenigs Collection/Corresp. 1933-1949 Website Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam page 3/7

1.3 F.W. Koenigs’s donations to Museum Boymans

1.3.1 Letter of 17 April 1940 from F.W. Koenigs giving the museum two drawings by Carpaccio from the Oppenheimer Collection. ‘They may perhaps help fill the gap I have always felt in the sequence of the Venetian drawings.’ Koenigs also expresses his happiness that his collection is remaining in the Netherlands: ‘We are also delighted that the collection has remained in Holland, and of course we prefer to see it in Museum Boymans.’ He is responding to a letter from director Dirk Hannema of 12 April 1940. Also Hannema’s letter of thanks for the donation dated 19 April 1940. 2 items.

1.4 Loans and exhibitions outside Museum Boymans

1.4.1 List of drawings on temporary loan to an exhibition by Frits Lugt in the Petit Palais in Paris, as well as a list of paintings for the World’s Fair in Brussels loaned through the Rijksmuseum; 1 and 8 May 1935. 2 items.

1.4.2 Letter from Dirk Hannema to Mrs Anna Koenigs, Countess von Kalckreuth, regarding the request by Henri Verne, director of the Musée du Louvre for the loan of a few early Netherlandish drawings for the exhibition Van Eyck to Bruegel in the Orangerie in Paris; 1 November 1935. Also correspondence between director Dirk Hannema and De Waal & Zoon Assurantiën about extending the insurance cover for four works for that exhibition; 5 November 1935-5 February 1936. 8 items.

1.4.3 Letter from Mrs Anna Koenigs, Countess von Kalckreuth, requesting that some of their Dutch drawings in the museum be lent to Gratema [G.D. Gratama, director Frans Hals Museum] for an exhibition of Het Nederlandsch Kunstverbond in the Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem, with a reply from director Dirk Hannema agreeing to the request, together with a list of loans; 14 and 21 March 1936. 3 items.

1.4.4 Letter from De Waal & Zoon Assurantiën signed by a proxy concerning the prolongation of the all risks insurance of a loan of 25 drawings to the Kaiser Friedrich Museum in Berlin; 15 October 1936. 1 item.

1.4.5 Covering letter from De Waal & Zoon Assurantiën accompanying the all risks insurance policy in the name of F.W. Koenigs; 17 November 1936. 1 item.

1.4.6 Delivery note on Museum Boymans notepaper signed by H. Lütjens acknowledging receipt of five drawings for the exhibition of Old Master art in the Rijksmuseum; 15 June 1936. Also a note to H. Lütjens accompanying the invoice for making several photographs of the Koenigs Collection; 12 January 1937. 2 items.

1.4.7 Loan request from Henri Verne, director of the Musée du Louvre, to F.W. Koenigs for the drawing Portrait of Madame Dombrowski by Edgar Degas for an exhibition about Degas in the Orangerie in Paris; 5 January 1937. Letter from H. Lütjens on behalf of F.W. Koenigs agreeing to the request, and a note with the specifications of the drawing; 15 January 1937. 3 items.

1.4.8 Letters from Henri Verne, director of the Musée du Louvre to H. Lütjens and director Dirk Hannema about the transport of Edgar Degas’s Portrait of Madame Dombrowski to Paris via the Rijksmuseum; 29 January 1937. With Hannema’s reply to Verne; 1 February 1937. 3 items.

1.4.9 List of drawings loaned from the Koenigs Collection to Cassirer & Co.; June 1938, and a receipt from Kunsthandel Paul Cassirer & Co. for a drawing by A. Watteau; 3 November 1938. 3 items.

The Koenigs Collection/Corresp. 1933-1949 Website Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam page 4/7

1.4.10 Correspondence about the loss of the drawing Portrait of Madame Dombrowski by Degas during the return shipment from Paris after being lent to the Edgar Degas exhibition in the Orangerie in Paris; 12 November 1938-11 August 1939. 23 items.

1.4.11 Documents relating to the loan of 60 French drawings from the Koenigs Collection for an exhibition in the Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Cologne; 21 December 1938-14 April 1939. 25 items.

1.4.12 Letter from director Dirk Hannema about the loan of four drawings by Delacroix to the Eugène Delacroix exhibition, with confirmation of the receipt of the shipment by Wartmann, director of the Zürcher Kunsthaus; 20 and 24 January 1939. 2 items.

1.4.13 Letter from Mrs Anna Koenigs, Countess von Kalckreuth, to director Dirk Hannema about a phone call from someone representing the Italian ambassador about some Veronese drawings that were wanted for an exhibition in Venice. That person will now probably get in touch with Hannema. With Dirk Hannema’s letter of thanks for the information; 6 and 7 February 1939, 2 items.

1.4.14 Documents relating to the loan request from Dr W.R. Valentiner of Art Associates for Portrait of a Tyrolean Peasant Woman by Dürer and Madonna and Child as the Queen of Heaven by Grünewald for the exhibition Masterpieces of Art at the World’s Fair in New York, 1939; 20 February-29 June 1939. 8 items.

1.4.15 Receipt for the loan of two drawings by Matthias Grünewald for a Grünewald exhibition in the Rijksmuseum, signed by assistant curator H. Baard; 27 February 1939. 1 item.

1.4.16 Correspondence between the curator of the Kunsthalle Basel and director Dirk Hannema about the loan of four drawings by Delacroix for the Delacroix exhibition in the Kunsthalle; 23 March-13 April 1939. 5 items.

1.4.17 Letters from Dr Erich V. Strohmer of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna and director Dirk Hannema about the loan request for the drawing Traunkirchen am Gmundener See by Wolfgang Huber for the Gotische Kunst des Donaulandes exhibition. Hannema says that he cannot grant the request because Koenigs is away on his travels; 25 and 30 May 1939. 2 items.

1.4.18 Correspondence about the loan to Paul Cassirer Ltd., London, of The roofs by Cézanne for the exhibition Cézanne, Water Colours that is to be held in London; 22 June-19 August 1939. 4 items.

1.4.19 Correspondence about the loan of ten drawings (seven by Holbein, one by Urs Graf, one by Hans Leu and one by a Swiss master of 1517) for an exhibition in the Kunsthaus Zürich; 12 and 13 June 1939. Also correspondence about the return shipment; 21 August and 9 and 11 September 1939. 6 items.

1.4.20 Correspondence between director Dirk Hannema and Mrs Anna Koenigs, Countess von Kalckreuth, in which they agree that the times are unsuitable for lending works of art to exhibitions far from home; 26 and 29 April 1940. 2 items.

2. Property of D.G. van Beuningen, Rotterdam (April-December 1940)

2.1 D.G van Beuningen’s purchase of the Koenigs Collection

- Personal letter from director Dirk Hannema to D.G. van Beuningen about his offer for the Koenigs Collection, in which he remarks that some of the paintings could be sold from the

The Koenigs Collection/Corresp. 1933-1949 Website Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam page 5/7 collection without doing any harm to it as a whole, but that that is not the case with the drawings. ‘I cannot sufficiently stress the importance of the drawings. It is the largest and most important collection that there is in private hands in this sphere. I consider it impossible that such a collection could be put together ever again, since the material is no longer available’; 8 April 1940. 1 item. See inventory no. 1.1.17 .

2.1.1 Telegram from director Dirk Hannema to the Goudstikker gallery: ‘Glad transaction arranged thanks for great cooperation’ and telegram from Goudstikker to Dirk Hannema: ‘Everything arranged as we had hoped hearty congratulations Goudstikker’; 9 April 1940. 2 items.

2.1.2 Note by director Dirk Hannema about his visit to the Department of Education, Arts and Sciences on 11 April regarding the Koenigs Collection, and his request that the minister send Van Beuningen a congratulatory letter. Year not specified, but very probably 1940. 1 item. N.B. Written on Museum Boymans notepaper, on which there is information about the size and insured value of the Koenigs Collection received on loan in 1935.

- Letter from director Dirk Hannema to F.W. Koenigs about his collection, which has been transferred to ‘Rotterdam ownership’, 12 April 1940, and a handwritten reply by Mrs Anna Koenigs, Countess von Kalckreuth, dated 14 April 1940. ‘It is a consolation that those works of art will remain together in the Netherlands, in Museum Boymans, and last but not least in your custody. Perhaps the collection will then give our children and grandchildren a sense of tradition after all, and keep the love of art alive.’ 2 items. See also inventory no. 1.1.19 .

2.1.3 Letter from director Dirk Hannema to Ernst Heldring, Chairman of the Rembrandt Association and trustee of the Museum Boymans Foundation, about D.G. van Beuningen’s purchase of the bulk of the Koenigs Collection. ‘A letter had already arrived requesting that everything be packed and ready for shipment to Lisbon, where the Museum would receive the collection. In consultation with Mr Van der Vorm, and after much negotiation, Mr Van Beuningen made an offer of one million for the whole, but that was rejected. I then advised letting some of the paintings go and the offer was finally accepted’; 12 April 1940, with Heldring’s reply of 16 April 1940. 2 items.

2.1.4 Correspondence between director Dirk Hannema and the collector Dr J.C.J. Bierens de Haan about D.G. van Beuningen’s purchase of the bulk of the Koenigs Collection for Museum Boymans; 19 and 21 April 1940. 2 items.

2.2 Sale of part of the Koenigs Collection to the Germans

2.2.1 Alphabetical list (71 pages long) of drawings from the Koenigs Collection bought by Dr Hans Posse in 1940 and intended for the Führer Museum in Linz, undated [c. 1940-41, the List of contents:1987]. 1 package.

2.2.2 Memorandum (draft, final version and carbon copy) by director Dirk Hannema for Van Beuningen, who could not attend the negotiations over the valuation of the Koenigs Collection, and a memorandum from Hannema to himself about the valuation by Geheimrat Friedländer; 14 and 23 October 1940. 5 items.

2.2.3 Correspondence between director Dirk Hannema and Dr Wickel, Generalkommissar zur besonderen Verwendung Sonderreferat Kulturaustausch, and Dr H. Posse of the Staatliche Gemäldegalerie in Dresden, about the four crates of drawings selected by Posse for the Gemäldegalerie in Dresden, with receipts; 4 March-29 May 1941. 6 items.

2.2.4 Correspondence between director Dirk Hannema, Lucas Peterich (D.G. van Beuningen’s son-in-law) and Dr H. Posse about a drawing by Veronese (‘Illustrated by Hadeln, fig. 31’) left behind in the museum which Posse had bought and which will be

The Koenigs Collection/Corresp. 1933-1949 Website Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam page 6/7 returned after the war as soon as it is possible to remove the drawings from storage; 30 June 1941. 4 items.

2.3 D.G. van Beuningen’s donation to the Museum Boymans Foundation

2.3.1 Letter from director Dirk Hannema to D.G. van Beuningen asking him to sign a receipt for three paintings by Rubens; 27 June 1940. 2 items.

2.3.2 Letters from director Dirk Hannema to D.G. van Beuningen, J.C.J. Bierens de Haan, H. Schneider and E. Heldring about the donation to the Museum Boymans Foundation of the bulk of the drawings bought by D.G. van Beuningen from the Koenigs Collection with a value of 2m guilders, as well as a request that they be discreet about the donation. With E. Heldring’s reaction; 5 December 1940-28 February 1941. 9 items.

2.4 Loans to exhibitions outside the museum, returned after the Second World War

2.4.1 Correspondence from deputy director J.C. Ebbinge Wubben about the return of the loans of Dürer’s Portrait of a Tyrolean Peasant Woman and Grünewald’s Madonna and Child as Queen of Heaven , which were lent to the World’s Fair in New York in 1939; 28 August 1946-19 November 1947. 12 items.

2.4.2 Letter from D.G. van Beuningen to director Dirk Hannema about a painting by Daubigny that was lent to the Musée du Louvre in 1939 and has been returned, after much insistence. Van Beuningen also speaks of his pleasure that the drawings by Dürer and Grünewald have arrived back from America; 30 December 1946. With a reply from deputy director J.C. Ebbinge Wubben announcing that the Daubigny has arrived in the museum in good order, and asking if he could add the Dürer and the Grünewald, which belonged to the Museum Boymans Foundation, to the Koenigs Collection; 5 February 1947. 2 items.

2.4.3 Two short letters from H. Lütjens of the Paul Cassirer & Co. gallery to deputy director J.C. Ebbinge Wubben about his receipt of two watercolours from the possessions of the Koenigs family which he had written about in his letter of 10 October 1945: La Partie de Billard by L. Boilly and Fête Champêtre by L. Debucourt, and a note from Mrs B. de Neeve, the museum secretary, that the washed drawings are ready for delivery; 9, 19 and 27 September 1949. 4 items.

3. Property of the Museum Boymans Foundation. Drawings and paintings lent to Museum Boymans since December 1940

3.1 Correspondence between director J.C. Ebbinge Wubben and Eduard Trautscholdt of C.G. Boerner, Kunstantiquariat, in Leipzig, about the museum making a copy of their list of drawings from the Koenigs Collection (original attached, 54 pages, to be returned) that was rescued during a fire in the Kunstantiquariat’s offices; 30 June, December 1948 and 5 January 1949. 3 items.

Translation: Michael Hoyle

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The Koenigs Collection/Corresp. 1933-1949 Website Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam page 7/7