ABRAHAM BREDIUS

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Bredius is standing in the middle

Abraham Bredius; drawing by H.J. Haverman 1899 (detail)

Abraham Bredius became known mainly as a Rembrandt expert, a collector, director of the Royal Picture Gallery "Mauritshuis" in The Hague and as a scientific investigator of historical archives. Not only these activities contributed to his fame, also his enthusiasm and his headstrong character generated a lot of publicity.
Bredius lived from 1855 to 1946 and was born in Amsterdam to a prominent family. His father was director of the joint gunpowder manufacturers of the three provinces North Holland, Zeeland and Utrecht. Bredius never aspired to a business career, his inclination was more towards the artistic. First he tried for a time to become a concert pianist, but, since he found himself unable to reach the top in this field, devoted himself instead to the visual arts. On the advice of his father he made an artistic "grand tour" of Europe, visiting all the great museums. This brought him into contact with Wilhelm von Bode, future director of the Berlin museums. On his advice, Bredius enthusiastically embarked on the study of the almost virgin area of 17th century Dutch painting. As no education facilities in this field were available in the Netherlands until 1907, Bredius acquired his knowledge by reading a few handbooks and by travelling around and visiting collections. This study took barely two years, around 1878. By as early as 1879 Bredius published his first article on "The archangel Michael on the Monte Gargano" in the magazine "de Nederlandsche Spectator"; in the same year he wrote four more articles.

In 1880 Bredius' museum career began. For eight years he was deputy director of the Museum of History and Art in The Hague. In 1885 this museum merged with the Rijksmuseum. In 1889 Bredius was appointed director of the Mauritshuis, a post which he held until 1909. In those twenty years Bredius did a great deal for the museum: together with Hofstede de Groot he wrote a new catalogue and the museum was restored and redecorated. This, and the many spectacular acquisitions caused the number of visitors to rise sharply. Bredius saw to it that the international reputation of the Mauritshuis was much improved. While he was in charge, 125 paintings were added to the collection. By contrast, the number of acquisitions in the 1831-1889 period was a mere 9 paintings.

Bredius was a self-willed man who regularly came into conflict  with his close colleagues or other co-workers. At the end of the 19th century, a cautious beginning was made with setting up a culture policy. It was difficult to get a budget allotted for implementing this policy. There were a number of men who were passionately devoted to this cause. They were so used to dealing with the ignorant around them that cooperation was not their strongest point. One man who fitted this description perfectly was Victor de Stuers. Bredius had several furious rows with De Stuers. Sometimes their quarrels were fought out in the newspapers, to the delight of the readers.

In the years after his retirement Bredius had many advisory functions, e.g. he was consultant of the Mauritshuis until his departure for Monaco. Originally this was meant to be an honorary job, but Bredius took it very seriously. Sometimes this would drive the director Martin to despair. This happened whenever people had neglected to inform Bredius about some new arrangement. Bredius was a member of the board of the Rembrandt Society from 1888 (which strove to maintain and expand the national art collection).

In 1922 Bredius moved to Monaco for good. He did not think it was proper to take his art collection with him, nor did he think the climate there was suitable for these paintings. He sold his house at Prinsegracht to the municipality of The Hague, giving his collection to them on loan. After he settled in Monaco, Bredius came to Holland for three months each year to do research in archives. In 1927 he published a book about Jan Steen, in 1935 one about Rembrandt. The body of work which is ascribed to Rembrandt in this book, was the starting point for the Rembrandt Research Project. The index numbering is still used nowadays to indicate Rembrandt's oil paintings.
Even at a very advanced age, Bredius was still consulted on the attribution of paintings. At his death in 1946 it turned out that he had bequeathed all of his loans to the Mauritshuis and his private collection to the city of The Hague.
  View a list of his gifts.

Bredius touring The Hague

Article: "Bredius, Rembrandt en het Mauritshuis" from the book of the same name. (Dutch only).

Article: "Abraham Bredius, A Biography" by Louise Barnouw-de Ranitz. (Long article, English only)

Article: "Eerherstel voor Bredius? (Rehabilitation for Bredius?)" (Long article about Bredius and Van Meegeren's Emmausgangers by Jim van der Meer Mohr, Dutch + English summary)

A complete list of publications by A. Bredius: books, magazines, newspaper articles etc. 1879-1948

The Bredius obituary, written by W. Martin (url, Dutch only)