Mining heritage in focus: the DSM art treasure

Mining heritage in focus: the DSM art treasure

In 1952, in the heyday of the mines, The State Mines began building an art collection. Today, this art treasure counts about 500 works. Upon moving to Maastricht, DSM transferred the entire collection to the municipality of Heerlen as a tribute and thank you. Leen Roels, director of the Netherlands Mining Museum and collection officer Kevin Raetsen are delighted with the donation. "The DSM collection tells the story of DSM but also of the boom of the Mining region and its subsequent transition. The artists' visions of those developments are very valuable."

Mine Art

"In the early years when DSM started collecting art, the focus was on corporate art," Kevin says. "You can see that in that period the company mainly commissioned and purchased works by Limburg artists, such as Charles Eyck, Aad de Haas, Jef Diederen and Eugène Quanjel. Quanjel, for example, was also a construction engineer at the Maurits State Mine - so they sought art primarily in their own world. In time, the collection expanded to include, for example, works by famous Amsterdam Limburgers, such as Ger Lataster, Pieter Defesche and Lei Molin. And it also includes works by big international names, such as Shinkichi Tajiri, Barbara Wagner and Melanie Bonajo. These are valuable additions to Heerlen's already very fine art collection."

Maecenas

"The municipality of Heerlen transferred the collection under management to SCHUNCK. They are the experts in preserving and exhibiting art," Leen adds. "We recently took a look to examine the mine-related artworks. Then you see that the collection contains, for example, a dozen portraits of former mine directors of the State Mines. These were all painted by the Limburg artist Harry Koolen, who incidentally lived for a time at Terworm Castle. He commissioned these portraits from the mine directors. That too is a good thing for the Mining Museum. The collection thus shows that the mines not only provided industrial and economic activity but also promoted art and culture as a patron."

Exhibition

At the end of the Heritage Year, SCHUNCK will put together the first exhibition from the DSM collection. Leen: "This will be a participation project. Together with inhabitants of the city and former miners we are going to make a selection of works with which they indicate what they think this work tells about the development of Heerlen. For example, why do you choose the iconic image of the miner depicted as a hero, the stately portrait of the mine director or the company landscape. Are you proud to have worked there or does the image evoke other memories or emotions. Because there is so little left of the mining past, we are glad these works of art are there. Through the artists' images and visions, we can make the past more tangible for future generations and talk about it."