Royal Asian Art Society in the Netherlands

The Royal Asian Art Society in the Netherlands (KVVAK) is a collectors society that has established a large collection of Asian art over time. Since 1952, KVVAK's collection is displayed at the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam.

Description

The Royal Asian Art Society in the Netherlands is an association founded in 1918 that holds the designation "Royal" since 2018. The KVVAK was founded on June 29, 1918 by the engineer H.F.E. Visser (1890-1965) and collector and art dealer G.J. Verburgt (1871-1926), with the aim to give greater publicity to high quality Asian art, stimulate interest, and promote scholarship on the topic of Asian art. The association's first president was H.K. Westendorp 1868-1941, who would later bequeath his own collection to the KVVAK. The association's collection currently comprises around 1,850 objects, consisting of various art forms such as sculptures, Japanese prints and ceramics.

After several temporary exhibitions, in 1928, on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the KVVAK, it was decided to establish a fund with which the ascociation could acquire its own collection and found a museum. In 1932, the so-called Museum of Asian Art was opened in the Tuinzaal of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. In 1952, the collection was moved to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, where it is still on display. Initially, the KVVAK collection was exhibited in the Druckeruitbouw, which later became part of the current Philips wing. After the major renovation of the Rijksmuseum in 2013, the KVVAK collection was housed in the Asian Pavilion (http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q37769044). Not the entire Asian art collection of the Rijksmuseum is on loan from the KVVAK; the museum also has Asian artefacts in its own collection. Most of the KVVAK objects are labelled ‘AK-MAK’, but a few prints are labelled ‘RP’. For the best overview of the KVVAK collection, please visit the association's website. In addition to maintaining its own collection, the KVVAK organises lectures and trips, among other things. The magazine Aziatische Kunst is published by De Gruyter Brill.

Provenance research

The archive of the KVVAK is located within the Rijksmuseum's collection. To consult the archive, you need to contact the Rijksmuseum's collections department. In addition, the research library of the Rijksmuseum has a collection of publications, including catalogs of past exhibitions, that are of interest with regard to provenance research on the KVVAK collection.

Resources

• NL-HaNA 2.24.25 554-555
  Photographs of the Aziatische Kunst exhibition at the Museum voor Aziatische Kunst in 1936. Inventory number 554 covers an overview of the exhibition space. Inventory number 555 covers an overview of the Chinese ceramics. — https://www.nationaalarchief.nl/onderzoeken/archief/2.24.25/invnr/%40B~578~554-555
• NL-HlmNHA 64 116
  Correspondence between H.F.E. Visser, curator of the Museum van Aziatische Kunst, Amsterdam, and the Royal Dutch Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) regarding the identification and placement of a Buddha's head from the Borobudur, in possession of the KNAW, 1939. — https://hdl.handle.net/21.12102/F3CA33316B0B49EEB6E8C0BC9BCAFDD4
• Southworth, William. “The Provenance of Four Sandstone Sculptures from Cambodia”. The Rijksmuseum Bulletin 61 (2):140-71, Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum, 2013.
  This article examines the acquisition and provenance of four sculptures from Cambodia in the Rijksmuseum's collection. The sculptures were acquired by the KVVAK in the early 1930s. — https://doi.org/10.52476/trb.10069
• Vereniging van Vrienden der Aziatische Kunst. Aziatische Kunst : mededelingenblad van de Vereniging van Vrienden der Aziatische Kunst, Leiden: Brill, 1986 – Nu.
  — https://brill.com/view/journals/vvak/vvak-overview.xml
• NL-HaNA 2.14.73 674
  Records concerning the acquisition of art works and the housing of the collection of the Museum voor Oost-Aziatische Kunst at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, 1947-1960. — https://www.nationaalarchief.nl/onderzoeken/archief/2.14.73/invnr/%40H.~H.3~674
• Southworth, W. “Twelve Stone Sculptures from Java”. The Rijksmuseum Bulletin 65 (3):244-75 Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum, 2017.
  This article examines the history and provenance of a group of twelve stone statues from Java. All twelve are Hindu-Buddhist images from the Central Java period from the eighth to the tenth century AD. The statues were purchased by the Royal Asian Art Society in 1932. — https://doi.org/10.52476/trb.9791
• NL-HlmNHA 476 2506
  Report by H.F.E. Visser on the desirability of achieving the establishment of a State Museum for Asian Art as part of the reorganization of the Dutch museums, (c. 1920). — https://hdl.handle.net/21.12102/0BC966D7764F4EC3AB2B0A4AFF30B73A
• NL-HaNA 2.24.25 1281-1288
  Various photos of the exhibition rooms of Museum of Asian Art in Amsterdam between 1931-1958. It therefore contains both photographs from the Stedelijk Museum and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. — https://www.nationaalarchief.nl/onderzoeken/archief/2.24.25/invnr/%40C~1442~1448~1281-1288
• NL-HaNA 2.20.69 2982
  Correspondence between the Royal Tropical Institute and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam regarding the Museum voor Aziatische Kunst, 1941. — https://www.nationaalarchief.nl/onderzoeken/archief/2.20.69/invnr/%40B.~B.5.~B.5.1.~B.5.1.1.~B.5.1.1.5~2982
• Campen, J. van, et all. Asian Art, Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum, 2014.
  This book presents 119 highlights from the Rijksmuseum's Asian art collection. Objects from India, Southeast Asia, Korea, Japan and China are introduced in essays by curators. — https://search.worldcat.org/title/907556128
• Fontein, J., et all. Oosterse schatten. 4000 jaar Aziatische kunst, Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum, 1954
  Exhibition catalog of the KVVAK from 1954. — https://search.worldcat.org/title/1156720537
• NL-HaNA 2.14.73 6609
  Records concerning to a grant to the Museum van Aziatische Kunst in Amsterdam, 1942-1964. — https://www.nationaalarchief.nl/onderzoeken/archief/2.14.73/invnr/%40T.~6609
• NL-HaNA 2.27.19 2934
  Records concerning the approval of loan agreements of objects between the Rijksmuseum and the Asian Art Society in the Netherlands, 1970 - 1971. — https://www.nationaalarchief.nl/onderzoeken/archief/2.27.19/invnr/%402~2.2~2.2.6~2933-2940~2933-2936~2934
• Lim, K.W., et all. Aziatische kunst uit het bezit van leden : Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, 22 december 1978-4 maart 1979 : Vereniging van vrienden der Aziatische kunst 1918-1978, Amsterdam, 1979.
  A catalog containing all objects acquired in the first 60 years of the KVVAK. — https://search.worldcat.org/title/63330271?oclcNum=63330271
• NL-HaNA 2.14.73 663
  Records concerning the financial management of the Museum of East Asian Art at Amsterdam 1940-1960. — https://www.nationaalarchief.nl/onderzoeken/archief/2.14.73/invnr/%40H.~H.3~663