Bad Thoughts with Joop van Caldenborgh

The Stedelijk museum is pleased to invite you to view the exhibition Bad Thoughts – The Martijn and Jeanette Sanders Collection in the company of art professionals from the contemporary practice of collection, as part of the ongoing Gallery Talks series. During the tour, corporate collectors, private collectors, artists, and academics will discuss a selection of works in the exhibition from the perspective of their own work and interests. In this way, the Stedelijk provides room for not only new but also personal visions of the exhibition.

Throughout the exhibition period, friends and valued colleagues of the Sanders couple will organize these special tours based on their specific knowledge and expertise. These experts include Martijn van Nieuwenhuyzen (the curator of the exhibition and a curator at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam), Carel Blotkamp (art historian and emeritus professor, involved with the Sanders Collection from the beginning), Alexander Strengers (corporate collector and chairman of the art committee of the Nederlandsche Bank), Joop van Caldenborgh (private collector of contemporary art).

 More information about the speakers

Joop van Caldenborgh has been passionate about art since he was a child. As a schoolboy, he visited the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague so often to see the Mondriaan collection that he was given an annual membership as a present. He made his first purchase when he was a teenager and has continued to collect ever since. In the past few decades, Van Caldenborgh has put together a varied collection which includes paintings, sculpture, photography, videos, and installations. The focus is on modern or contemporary art, or, as Van Caldenborgh says, art which has been made during his own lifetime. He collects art which affects, stimulates, surprises, and moves him, or just art which he considers to be beautiful. Sometimes this may be a work by a celebrated artist, but just as often it can be a work by a young and talented artist taking the world by storm. Parts of Van Caldenborgh’s collection were exhibited at the office of the Caldic company in Rotterdam. Altogether, eleven presentations were organised there, including photography, self-portraits, American art, and artists’ books. In 1995, Van Caldenborgh achieved a longtime dream and set up a sculpture garden at his home. During the summer months there are weekly tours for the public. Van Caldenborgh was reticent to establish his own museum for a long time, but in the end the idea of developing a home for the collection became a reality. Since 2013, work has been carried out on building a museum at the Voorlinden Estate in Wassenaar. The Voorlinden museum will present work from the Caldenborgh collection and a number of permanent works, as well as a program of temporary exhibitions. The opening of the museum is planned for 2016.