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Journal of the History of Collections Advance Access originally published online on June 10, 2009
Journal of the History of Collections 2009 21(2):241-252; doi:10.1093/jhc/fhp022
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

This article appears in the following Journal of the History of Collections issue: Special Issue: The art collector-between philanthropy and self-glorification [View the issue table of contents]

Monument to an industrialist's wife

Helene Kröller-Müller's motives for collecting

Eva Rovers


  Abstract

With her collection of modern art, the German-Dutch collector Helene Kröller-Müller (1869–1939) founded one of the first museums of modern art in Europe. It seems that the passion with which she collected sprang not so much from her love of art as from a personal pursuit of self-definition and recognition. This pursuit led Kröller-Müller to assemble an extraordinary collection of modern art that included almost 100 paintings by Vincent van Gogh (1853–90). It also led to Kröller-Müller's decision to make her collection accessible to the public, to found a museum of modern art and ultimately to leave this museum to the state of The Netherlands. In this way Kröller-Müller contributed to the reception of modern art in Europe.

Address for correspondence Eva Rovers, Institute of Biography, University of Groningen, PO Box 716, 9700 AS Groningen, The Netherlands. E.M.Rovers{at}rug.nl


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