Joël Kremer is a partner at Moyosa Media, a digital agency located in Groningen that specialises in producing 3D experiences, including the immersive virtual reality (VR) elements of a recent exhibition at the Mauritshuis and the Humboldt Forum, Loot: 10 Stories.
Kremer started his career at Google and is the son of George and Ilone Kremer who, since 1994, have amassed a significant collection of 17th-century Dutch and Flemish paintings. In 2017, Joël created a VR museum to make the Kremer Collection accessible to online audiences worldwide, and he continues to direct the collection.
My father’s first encounter was with Rembrandt’s The Jewish Bride, which mesmerised him
On 14 March, Joël and George will give a talk at Tefaf Maastricht called Multigenerational Collecting: Carrying on the Legacy of the Kremer Collection Through Virtual Reality. “A very important element for me is that it is fun to have this collection connect us as a family,” Joël says. “We talk about the collection, our projects, exhibitions, auctions and the future almost every day.”
The Art Newspaper: What do you and your family collect, and why?
Joël Kremer: My parents collect Dutch and Flemish Old Masters. My father remembers his first encounter, as a ten-year-old boy, with Rembrandt’s The Jewish Bride [1665-69] during a school visit to the Rijksmuseum. It mesmerised him. Thirty-five years later, he realised he could still buy Old Masters. I mostly collect prints from Rembrandt’s copper etching plates, but that is really a hobby, not a collection.
How would you describe your taste?
Since the very beginning, we’ve loved Northern Caravaggism. In their very first year [of collecting], my parents fell in love with a large work by Theodoor Rombouts. And after acquiring some big names like Rembrandt, Albert Cuyp, Frans Hals and Pieter de Hooch, this Caravaggist inkling continued with acquisitions of works by Hendrick ter Brugghen, Gerrit van Honthorst and Dirck van Baburen. But we’ve also always appreciated lesser-known masters’ top works, Michael Sweerts, for instance. Today he is better known, but 30 years ago he was not a household name. Same with Michaelina Wautier and even the aforementioned Utrecht Caravaggists.
The most important thing about our taste is that it evolved naturally, through looking at many thousands of paintings over the years. George learned through self-study, gallery and museum visits, and many, many conversations with art dealers and museum specialists, whilst Ilone really has done everything by her intuition.
When did the collection begin?
My father read a newspaper article in 1994 and realised to his astonishment that Old Masters were still for sale. In 1995 he bought his first painting, a study of a bearded man by Govaert Flinck. After meeting a dealer from Maastricht some weeks later, things moved very quickly and within a few years my parents had collected 40 works, including [pieces by] Rembrandt, Frans Hals, Pieter de Hooch and A Young Maidservant [c. 1660] by Michael Sweerts.
Founded in 1994 by Ilone and George Kremer (above), the Kremer Collection contains a multitude of 17th-century Dutch and Flemish Old Masters. Their son Joël serves as the director of the collection
Photo: Guy-Georges Trigallez
What is the most recent thing you’ve bought?
At the time of answering these questions, there are very interesting sales going on at the big auction houses [in New York], so who knows! But officially my answer has to be a beautiful little sunset landscape by Aert van der Neer.
What do you regret not buying when you had the chance?
The beautiful thing about the art market is that we could always have another chance at buying it if it comes back onto the market… so, “no comment”.
If you could have any work from any museum, what would it be?
Oh, there are many. Probably a major Vermeer such as the View of Delft [1659-61] or The Milkmaid [c. 1658]. Many Rembrandts. Many beautiful Utrecht and Flemish Caravaggists. But also lesser-known masters who have produced incredible paintings, for instance Caesar van Everdingen at the Mauritshuis in The Hague.
When did you first visit Tefaf Maastricht, and what did you think
of it?
We first visited in 1995 and loved it. We were very new in the market and the fair was one big party. We also bought significant works for the collection that year.
Michaelina Wautier’s Boy with a White Cravat (around 1656)
Photo: René Gerritsen-Kunst en Onderzoeksfotografie
Where do you like to eat and drink in Maastricht?
We usually eat a simple broodje kroket [croquette sandwich] at the fair for lunch.
What’s your least favourite thing about art fairs?
It can get very busy—good for the fair, less so for the art-viewing experience. But overall we love the fairs.
What advice would you give someone who’s visiting Tefaf Maastricht for the first time?
That very much depends on why you are going there. If you are going to have a nice time and socialise you should not have a problem: there’s lots to see and experience. If you’re going to try and buy art, have a strategy, which should include a strict budget—and stick to it!
