Abraham Bredius

Abraham Bredius ( born April 18, 1855 in Amsterdam, † March 13, 1946 in Monaco ) was a Dutch art historian. He was director of the Mauritshuis in The Hague.

Life

Abraham Bredius was born on 18 April 1855 in Amsterdam. His father Johannes Jacobus Bredius was director of a factory, was prepared in the gunpowder, so that Abraham Bredius grew in prosperity. The family belonged to a collection of paintings from the Golden Age of the Netherlands and Chinese porcelain. When Abraham Bredius was ten years old, his mother died. First he wanted to be a pianist, broke after three years of the study, however, from, because he badly einschätzte his chances in this profession. Abraham Bredius received in 1878 his father's permission to travel to Italy. There he learned the Italian art know. Bredius met in Florence Wilhelm von Bode, director of the Berlin museums, which prompted him to make the art of his native country the focus of his studies. He placed emphasis on the 17th century painting, which he knew from his family out already, and traveled all over Europe to visit collections. He also focused on archival work, which became a special characteristic of his work.

He published several articles in the Nederlandsche Spectator, which earned him attention. Therefore, he was in 1880 as deputy director of the Nederlandsch Museum voor Geschiedenis en Arts in The Hague, which was five years later the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam affiliated appointed. His job was to catalog the local collection. Abraham Bredius made ​​a name for himself as an expert on Jan Vermeer, when he in 1883 a write-up by Théophile Thoré in a publication as " a pseudo- Vermeer " designated. 1888 left Bredius the Rijksmuseum, as the Giessen University awarded him a doctorate. Another was awarded to him in Krakow. Bredius was appointed director of the Mauritshuis in The Hague in 1889, beating Victor de Stuers by who was in charge at the Home Office for Art. 1891 Cornelius Hofstede de Groot his deputy, with the Bredius part had serious disputes over which he repeatedly informed the newspapers until 1896. Both published in 1895 in spite of everything a new catalog of the works of the Mauritshuis. Under the direction Bredius the museum gained international fame. He also complemented the collection with 30 acquisitions. In 1909 he left the Mauritshuis on the grounds that his health had deteriorated.

Then Abraham Bredius continued his journey activity in which he had, for example, discovered the painting The Polish Rider by Rembrandt van Rijn. So he traveled in 1913 and 1914 by the United States. In addition, he has published articles in the newspaper Oud Holland, whose co-editor he was. 1922 Abraham Bredius moved to Monte Carlo in order to save taxes.

List of Works

Museum Bredius

After his death on 13 March 1946, the city of The Hague acquired the private collection Bredius and maintains from the former residence of the collector with the Museum Bredius a museum for the collection.