Den norske kunstsamler Rasmus Wold Meyer 1858–1916

Abstract

Summary The Norwegian art collector Rasmus Wold Meyer Among the many Scandinavian collectors of art who were active during the first decade of this century, Rasmus Meyer occupies a unique position in the field of art collecting in Norway. The greater part of his collection of paintings, acquired between 1905 and 1915, to‐day comprises an independent part of the City of Bergen Art Collections: Rasmus Meyer's Collection. Meyer came from a wealthy, tradition‐bound Bergen family in which cultivation of the arts had played a natural role for generations. His father, Gerdt Henrich Meyer (1817–97) had continued to develop the large family business and among other projects built up Vaksdal Mill. Under Rasmus Meyer's competent management it became Scandinavia's largest grain mill, providing the economic wherewithall for his collecting. To begin with, Rasmus Meyer collected applied art. In 1902 he began, in a small way, to buy paintings. From 1905 he began seriously to buy with a specifically formulated end in view. In his native Bergen he would build up a collection of paintings which would be »Western Norway's National Gallery«. For ten years he worked with singleness of purpose towards this goal. From the start his aim was patterned on the Hirschsprung Collection in Copenhagen; his collection was to show the development of Norwegian art (i.e. its history) in the 19th and 20th centuries. In addition, it was his wish that in due time the collection should pass into public ownership. Gradually his plans regarding the essential nature of the collection changed somewhat. He realized that his initial plan was so comprehensive as to be detrimental to the quality he desired to maintain. Influenced by German and Swedish collectors, he partially relinquished his original goal and concentrated on creating what he called a »galerie des Perles«, sticking however to his intention of retaining the distinctive Bergen character of the historical part. During his first years of collecting, Rasmus Meyer was mainly interested in acquiring older art such as works by J. C. Dahl and the Düsseldorf painters. In this he was following an established Bergen art collecting tradition. When, gradually, he turned to the contemporary art of his own period, mainly buying works by the naturalists and painters from the 90's, Meyer was following the example of other Norwegian collectors. But, in 1907–08 he began seriously to buy paintings by the youngest generation of artists, thus breaking with Norwegian collecting tradition hitherto and placing himself in a relatively isolated position in this field. Before 1915, Meyer's collection contained far more works by, for example, J. Heiberg, L. Karsten, H. S⊘rensen, O. Wold‐Torne, A. Kavli, S. Grande and L. Jorde than did Bergen's official collection. As late as 1915 Bergen's Art Gallery owned no works by such prominent artists of the 80's as H. Backer, H. Heyerdahl, Th. Kittelsen or Edvard Munch and only one each of E. Werenskiold, Chr. Krohg and E. Peterssen. In his determined efforts to build up his collection, Rasmus Meyer allied himself with a great number of expert advisors, both Norwegian and foreign. It was the process of building up his collection which brought him into contact with the artists themselves and his start as a collector was not prompted by the wish to help them. He cannot be considered a generous patron of the arts but his many great acquisitions and commissions quickly became an important factor in the national art milieu. For the youngest generation of artists his many purchases generated great moral support in their struggle for recognition. The question of when and how the collection was to be turned over to the public authorities gradually became as important to Meyer as his purchases. He wished to have his collection around him as long as he lived. It quickly outgrew his original home even though alterations and additions were made. Through his visits and familiarity with German and Swedish private collectors, he gradually began to consider some of their private residences, which also housed their collections, as a possible solution. In the homes of Linde, Thiel and Fåhræus he found answers which he himself worked to develop further into his dream of a residence combined with a gallery to which the public would be admitted. These plans resulted in several designs but no final solution was reached before his death.