STAND NUMBER: 127

Kunsthandel Ivo Bouwman

Lovers of art from around 1900 can indulge themselves at the Ivo Bouwman Art Dealership, which celebrates its 51st anniversary this year. Over the past five decades, Bouwman has sold many beautiful works to private collectors, organizations and museums. This year he will once again participate in the PAN and show amongst others works by Isaac Israels, J.B. Jongkind, G.H. Breitner and Raoul Dufy. Ivo Bouwman bought his first work of art at the age of sixteen. In his younger years he spent several years working with Hans Cramer, a dealer in old masters, and regularly visited exhibitions. During his study of interior design at the Royal Academy of Art, it was his passionate art history teacher who inspired him to choose the art world. He then becomes Cramer's assistant for a year and then travels around the world for two years to train his eye at auctions, museums and galleries. According to Bouwman, there are few people who really look closely. “But you have to train yourself. You have to learn to see that certain aspects or details determine whether something is a masterpiece or not.” Bouwman is a member of the Jongkind Paris-La Haye Committee, which has acquired enormous knowledge and expertise about the works of J.B. over the years. Jongkind has collected. Publishing a catalog raisonné of all Jongkind's works is a project planned for the coming years. He shared his love for this Dutch artist with Victorine Hefting of the Hague Municipal Museum. Hefting was the first female museum director in our country and a great expert in the field of Jongkind. Bouwman maintained close contacts with her and with her colleague Anna Wagner, scientific employee at the museum and Isaac Israels expert, the other Dutch artist who occupies an important place in Bouwman's expertise. He opened his first business in 1972 on Laan van Meerdervoort and later moved to Lange Voorhout. There the business took off enormously in the 1970s, partly thanks to major exhibitions that he organized by Isaac Israels, J.B. Jongkind, Jan Sluijters and Leo Gestel. Since the price level at the beginning of the 1970s was a joke according to Bouwman, especially compared to foreign masters, he saw it as his task to take these artists to a higher level, not only in terms of fame but also in terms of price. All these now famous artists still play a major role in his life. Over the years, Bouwman has built up an excellent reputation, also far beyond the Dutch borders. He was an early participant at both the PAN and TEFAF in Maastricht. He was also associated with the television program Tussen Kunst en Kitsch for 21 years as an expert. His art dealership has been located on Jan van Nassaustraat for more than three decades. After making an appointment, he will be happy to receive you there!