2.1 Introduction
During his 40-year career, the German-Dutch artist Jürgen Ovens travelled back and forth between his native Schleswig-Holstein and the Dutch Republic.1 Horst Gerson mentioned in his Ausbreitung of 1942 that Ovens was ‘verholländert’ and one may not underestimate his meaning as a mediator of Dutch cultural heritage.2 Ovens was a mediator first and foremost as an artist. He can, however, also be characterized as a collector and an art agent for the Dukes of Gottorf, Frederick III (1597–1659) [1], and his son and successor Christian Albrecht (1641–1695) [2].3 Through these activities Ovens brought Dutch culture to Schleswig-Holstein as well. Studying Ovens in his capacity as an international art dealer thus furthers the goal of the Gerson Digital research project of the RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History, namely analyzing the dispersal and after-effect of 17th-century art from the Low Countries. As such, this essay can be considered complementary to the article the author published last year as part of Gerson Digital: Germany.4
Ovens served as an intermediary for the Dukes of Gottorf, supplying them with Dutch art and all kinds of goods. After 1648, when the Thirty Year War in the German lands ended, Frederick III wished to elevate his small duchy, which was located between Hamburg and the present German-Danish border, by heavily investing in culture and science.5 For works of art, he primarily looked to the Low Countries.6 Schleswig-Holstein lacked well-qualified painters and fine collections – art from Holland and Flanders was in demand in northern Germany due to its high quality. Economic and cultural relations between these two areas were intense.7 In 1621, Frederick III had founded Friedrichstadt, which was populated by a large Dutch colony.8 Already in 1627, a resident of the small town bought a ‘Storm by Porcellis’.9 By assembing a collection of paintings from Holland and Flanders, buying Bernardus Paludanus’s (1550–1633) [3] outstanding Kunst- und Wunderkammer – through his custodian, the German scholar Adam Olearius (1599–1671) [4] – in 1651 in the Dutch town of Enkhuizen, and establishing a fine library, Frederick III contributed to turning Gottorf Castle near Schleswig, the ancestral home of the Dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf, into one of the cultural centres of northern Europe.10
1
Jürgen Ovens
Portrait of duke Friedrich III of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf (1597-1659), late 1650s
Schleswig, Schleswig-Holsteinisches Landesmuseum, inv./cat.nr. 1988/1260
2
Jürgen Ovens
Portrait of duke Christian Albrecht of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf (1641-1694), before 1665
Kiel, Kunsthalle zu Kiel, inv./cat.nr. CAU 68
3
Hendrick Pot
Portrait of Bernardus Paludanus (1550-1633), c. 1620-1630
Haarlem, Frans Hals Museum, inv./cat.nr. OS I-288
4
Jürgen Ovens
Portrait of Adam Olearius (1599-1671), Gottorpian court librarian, 1665/66
Copenhagen, SMK - National Gallery of Denmark, inv./cat.nr. KMSsp807
Notes
1 The author is writing a PhD about Jürgen Ovens. I thank Rieke van Leeuwen for having enabled me to participate in the Gerson Digital: Germany research project.
2 Gerson 1942/1983, pp. 212–213. See also Larsson 2003.
3 Gerson 1942/1983, p. 214: ‘In Holland he [Ovens] acquired paintings and prints for the ducal court’.
5 Drees 1997C; Klussmann 1997; Drees 2003.
6 As early as 1623, the Dutchman Christoffel Barentsz. van Hartochvelt (c. 1590/1595-1651) sent Frederick III paintings from Amsterdam. See Landesarchiv Schleswig-Holstein (LAS), Abt. 7, no. 5500, fol. 8 Rs; Michelson 2007, p. 108.
7 Jürgens 1914, pp. 185–193, 205–206; George 1923; Gerson 1942/1983, p. 199–201; Kuhl 1997; Mörke 2003; Baumann et al. 2020.
8 Gerson 1942/1983, p. 214; Schmidt 1957; Teuchert 1965; Erler 1977; Claussen 1997; Riis 2003; Norden 2008; Thomsen 2020.
9 Schmidt 1917, p. 85; Gerson 1942/1983, p. 214.
10 For the ducal painting collection: Schlee 1965, pp. 260–279; Spielmann 1997. On Paludanus’ collection: Hunger 1934; Schepelern 1981; Van Berkel 1992, pp. 169–177; Schepelern 2017; Keblusek 2020. For the Gottorf Kunstkammer: Schlee 1965, pp. 280–299; Bencard 1997; Drees 1997B. On the library of the Dukes: Schlee 1965, pp. 251–259; Lohmeier 1997; Kuder 2008, pp. 17–42.