After years of spent time, three glass artworks were unexpectedly found in the depot of the municipality of Enkhuizen. The unique, gold -painted plates were previously damaged by a fire. The loss came to light when the Rijksmuseum wanted to borrow the showpieces.
As if they have never been gone, they are on the table of the depot where a lot of art of the municipality is stored. Three glass plates by the French artist August Forberger, painted with gold leaf and pigment.
“They are really very beautiful,” says curator Anniek Bakker, looking at it admiringly. The plates are in beautiful golden frames. Three different figures are depicted in black. “They were made around 1796. We don’t know who the people depicted are. Not even how the municipality got it.”
Rijksmuseum wanted to borrow, but art could be found
Forberger used a technique called ‘distant églomisé’. In addition, the back of the glass is painted and then decorated with gold leaf. They are fairly rare. And it is not for nothing that the Rijksmuseum will come to the then curator a few years ago to borrow the artworks.
They should be stored in the depot that was then still in the Goorn. “But the curator could not find them then,” said Bakker. They remain missing as a Bakker and her predecessor together in the new depot different boxes to make an inventory of what art is there. And what a surprise outlines, there are also the three works of art.
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Artworks Forberger damaged by fire
Unfortunately they are partly damaged. The cause is a fire in 1996 in the former orphanage on Westerstraat in Enkhuizen. The collection is stored in the attic at the time and damage was caused in the event of a lot of art.
“You can see that the fire, the painting on the glass has started to cook. So the attachment of the paint and the gold leaf has come loose. That is why you now also see white spots on the glass plate,” says the curator.
How well can damage be restored?
Now that the artworks are back, Bakker wants to have them restored. “There is only one specialized restorer for this work in the Netherlands. Unfortunately, in this case the damage can never be completely restored.”
There is no longer a budget to have the works refurbished this year. But the goal is that it will happen next year.
The artworks are part of the art collection of Enkhuizen. The art from the depot – where Thousands of pieces are still hidden – is digitized and made visible to the public.