The Stedelijk Museum Coevorden already had several works by painter Frits Meppelink, but a still life was not yet among them. Until now.
Director Rik Klaucke is therefore pleased with the donation of a painting with roses. “We do have more work by this painter, we have also held an exhibition with drawings by Frits. Only we don’t have a still life yet, so this still life with roses in a vase is also unique within our selection, so there are we’re doubly happy.”
“You see a jug, that’s how I came up with it, turquoise with beautiful roses in different colors. Beautiful actually,” Saakje ter Beek describes the canvas. But despite the fact that she thinks it’s a beautiful job, she still distances herself. “My husband Henk ter Beek passed away last year. I’m moving so I have to get rid of things. You can easily say goodbye to one, not to the other. This was one thing to get rid of.”
Saakje’s husband Henk ter Beek was the brother of Relus ter Beek. Relus was Minister of Defense in the early 1990s and later until 2008 the Queen’s Commissioner in Drenthe. The painting was a wedding gift from their father to their mother, so it still hung on the wall in their parental home in the Tuindorp district in Coevorden.
According to Saakje ter Beek, there was no real interest in the painting within the family. Because both the last owners and the painter come from Coevorden, it was clear to her that the painting had to be returned to Coevorden. “It falls into place for me. The painting by Meppelink, who lived in Coevorden, and the Ter Beek family, who also lived in Coevorden, couldn’t get a better place for me.”
Saakje confirms that this is why the museum was the first choice, because the canvas is well taken care of there. “We must not forget our history. Sometimes the past is treated a bit laconically.” Director Klaucke emphasizes: “If people are in doubt whether they should keep something or don’t want something themselves, but are wondering ‘what should I do with it?’, then contact a museum. Even if it has no monetary value, it is possible. have historical or artistic value.”