On the occasion of the celebration of the fortieth anniversary of the Caldic Collection Kunsthal Rotterdam presents a survey exhibition entitled ‘I promise to love you'. A selection of over eighty paintings, photographs, installations and sculptures that have all been purchased over the last ten years, constitutes an impressive overview of the Caldic Collection in the twenty-first century.
The main focus is not only on distinctive showpieces from the collection but also on acquisitions that have never been shown to the public before. Moreover, the visual correlations existing between various works of art are emphasized as well. The acquisitions displayed not only show the guts, diversity and originality of one of the most important privately-owned art collections in the Netherlands, but simultaneously stress the superb quality of this collection.
Recent works by contemporary (inter)nationally renowned artists like Ai Weiwei, Louise Bourgeois, Damien Hirst, Anselm Kiefer, Yayoi Kusama, Ernesto Neto, James Turrell, Sam Taylor-Wood and Robert Zandvliet are exhibited. By showing this extraordinary collection the Kunsthal presents an accurate image of the current state of affairs in the international art world to a broad and diverse audience.
Major Private Collection
The title of the exhibition was derived from a neon work of the same name by British artist Tracey Emin: her art work and token of love ‘I promise to love you' consists of these words in red neon inside a neon heart-shape. Art lover and collector Joop van Caldenborgh is equally committed and not only displays great devotion and dedication to art but also has a solid belief in it. At the age of sixteen he bought his first work of art with the money he had earned himself with a newspaper round. Since then he has visited many exhibitions, workshops, fairs, galleries and auctioneering firms both in the Netherlands and abroad. Under his supervision and as a direct result of his rather obstinate choices the Caldic Collection has grown out to become a sizeable and internationally famous art collection consisting of highly diverse works of various art periods, styles and disciplines.
Publication
To accompany the exhibition ‘I promise to love you' a catalogue of the same name will be published (hard cover, € 29,50).
