Fifty paintings, and where the claim stops
For a short season in 1918, N.V. Beens' Woninginrichting ran an exhibition room above its furnishing showroom and briefly added picture display to its trade. The claim is real but narrow, and easy to make too large. Three documents carry it, all from two months of 1918: one from the April opening and two from late June. Where it stops is as telling as what it shows.
A showhouse that hung pictures
When the firm opened at Coolsingel 56 in April 1918, the Catholic daily De Maasbode did not call it a furniture shop. It called it a modelhuis van fijne kunstzinnige woninginrichting, a showhouse of fine, artistic home furnishing. The paper led its readers past Persian carpets and through complete furnished rooms, where paintings hung as part of the setting. It credited many of them to onze beste Hollandsche meesters, our finest Dutch masters, but named only two: a Kever interior and a soulful landscape by Frank van der Valk. Around them stood the decorative touches the firm would still be selling a decade later: a garniture of antique blue, a costly cloisonné vase and a Chinese teapot, over a rare blue-tinted Chinese carpet. The whole episode belongs to this world. The pictures finished a furnished room; they did not hang on a dealer's wall.
N. V. BEEN'S WONINGINRICHTING. At Coolsingel 56 yesterday, another model showroom of the Rotterdam furniture industry was opened. Been's Woninginrichting is the name of the limited company, and whoever may have the good fortune of seeing their home furnished by Been knows it is entrusted to them, assured of a pleasantly tasteful and stylish setting. Been's Woninginrichting! The name says a great deal, but it by no means conveys the grand scale of the emporium; no confusing jumble, but a furniture showroom of refined, artistic home decoration. On the floors are handsome Persian rugs in lovely hues. Here one sees rooms just as a home can be. Along the walls is wallpaper kept in delicate, soft tones, and upon it many a fine painting by our finest Dutch masters, a Kever interior, a soulful landscape by Frank v. d. Valk, among others. All of this rendered picturesque by an atmospheric turret, roofed over and lit by stained glass. Upon these exquisite carpets—observe closely the rare, blue-tinted Chinese carpet—stands the furniture; mahogany Biedermeier craftsmanship, a rosewood cabinet embellished with ebony, a monument in itself, a dining suite in silver patina, parlour cabinets in mahogany and walnut, a beautifully sculpted mantelpiece with a matching brass hearth set. Here and there, a fine garniture of antique blue has been placed, a precious cloisonné vase, a Chinese teapot chosen with love and taste, a hand-painted lampshade. Everything breathes distinction and soothing tranquility. On the upper floor, one finds felicitously coordinated dining rooms, parlour suites, bedrooms in natural American ash, grey stain, carpets, curtains, wallpaper, and stylish lamps, ready to be transferred just as they are to one's own home. The firm has fitted out a private office in fine mahogany panelling, cabinets, and furnishings, where, in this setting that is as tasteful as it is finely styled, one immediately receives the impression of being the guest of a true craftsman. Been's Woninginrichting! Yes, this may certainly be called a model establishment! Whoever furnishes their home according to the models on view here knows that they are turning their house into a little palace. It is a sight of Rotterdam!
From January 1920 the same rooms at Coolsingel 56 would house .
The bovenzaal
In June the firm made the pictures a feature in their own right. Its display advertisement of 21 June 1918 announced a bovenzaal of exhibitions, an upper room above the Persian carpets it sold downstairs.
De Maasbode, Friday 21 June 1918, evening edition, first sheet. A full page of advertisements. The relevant panel (lower left) is the display ad of N.V. Beens' Home-Furnishing Company, Coolsingel 56, telephone 13625, announcing Persian rugs and carpets on show (including very rare pieces) and, in the upper hall, exhibitions of various paintings, among them Th. de Bock, A. Briët, R. Bisschop, W. de Zwart, Monticelli, Troyon and others.
The advertisement listed an exhibition of schilderwerken with works given as by Théophile de Bock, Arie Briët, Richard Bisschop and Willem de Zwart of the Hague School, and named the French painters Monticelli and Troyon too. The attributions are the firm's own, and nothing here depends on whether they were right. In June 1918 the upper room was given over to showing paintings.
Fifty paintings in the furnished rooms
Two days later an independent writer confirmed it. On 23 June 1918 De Maasbode's art column ran under the heading Kunst bij Beens' Woninginrichting, reviewing about fifty paintings by Dutch masters that the firm's actieve leider, its active head, had gathered in the Coolsingel rooms.
LETTERS AND ART. ART AT BEENS' HOME-FURNISHING [STORE]. In the beautiful, light showrooms of Beens' ideal home-furnishing [business] on the Coolsingel, the enterprising proprietor has brought together a delightful collection of good Dutch art. They are some fifty paintings by Dutch masters, names of the best repute. This is not a picture exhibition here, in which one is necessarily thrown from one painting to the next, but Mr. Beens has spread the beautiful canvases across his tastefully furnished model rooms and found a happily-restful corner for every piece, which greatly benefits one's appreciation of the work. We came upon a fine church interior by Bisschop, a fine colour-mellowed flower-piece by Kever, by which master a couple more finely-toned little interiors also hang. Further, a characterful [work by] Gabriël, a very [warm-]toned [work by] Roelofs, one by 'Yurres [?]', which excels through its colour relations, a couple of imposing [works by] Theoph. de Bock, a sparkling winter landscape by the accomplished Kuypers, a nicely washed watercolour by Briet, by whom a well-composed [violin player (?)] also hangs. By Apol and Mastenbroek a couple of small but fine things. A delicately-toned evening sky by Rosa Bouheur [Bonheur], a downy scene of kittens at play by Henriette Ronner, an attractive landscape by Ype Wenning complete this collection of very felicitous art for the drawing-room. Let us also not forget a very skilfully done [woman's] portrait by Isaäc Israëls. Also across the floors, Mr. Beens has laid out a collection of Persian carpets, which by their splendid glow of colour could pass for paintings [themselves].
The critic took care to say what kind of showing it was. Het is hier geen schilderijententoonstelling, he wrote: this was no picture exhibition of the usual kind, and no canvas crowded the next. The paintings were spread through the furnished rooms, each in its own quiet corner, above Persian carpets on the floors. He called it kunst voor de salon, art for the drawing room.
Then he went from room to room, naming what he saw. There was a church interior by Bisschop, a colour-mellowed flower piece by Kever and a couple more finely toned little interiors by the same hand. There was a characterful Gabriël, a warm-toned Roelofs, and one canvas by a painter he could only give as 'n Yurres, a name the record cannot place. He saw a couple of imposing Théophile de Bocks, a name that, like Bisschop and Briët, the firm's own advertisement had also carried two days earlier. There was a sparkling winter scene by Kuijpers, and a washed watercolour by Briët with a violin player by him besides. Apol and Van Mastenbroek were there with small but fine things. Last came an evening sky given as Rosa Bonheur (the paper prints Bouheur, almost certainly a printer's slip), a downy cats' game by Henriëtte Ronner, an attractive landscape by Ype Wenning, and a skilfully done woman's portrait by Isaäc Israëls.
Where the claim stops
The picture-dealing is not documented as a continuing trade beyond the June 1918 season. A search of the digitised press from 1918 to 1923 finds no standing gallery, no second independent exhibition and no painting sale at Beens.
The one later echo is the 1922 Vienna relief lottery. It bought fifty thousand guilders' worth of prizes in Vienna, paintings among them, and put them on show in the firm's Coolsingel rooms. The firm is documented at Coolsingel 49 in 1922 and January 1923, after the Coolsingel 56 of the 1918 gallery.
> MISCELLANEOUS NEWS. > > A LOTTERY FOR VIENNA. > > Much has already been done by the Dutch for the destitute of Vienna, but despite all that help there remain > categories in the bitterest need. Among those categories are the intellectuals and those who must make do on > a pension. > > Mr H. P. Beens, director of the N.V. Beens' Home Furnishing Company [Woninginrichting Maatschappij] at > Rotterdam, was on his most recent business journeys to Vienna so struck by the misery of these people that > he now wishes to try to help them. For this purpose the Beens' Committee for Destitute Vienna [Beens' Comité > voor noodlijdend Weenen] has been founded, which seeks to raise money by issuing lottery tickets. In this > lottery 25,000 tickets are issued at 5 guilders apiece. The proceeds from this therefore amount to 125,000 > guilders. For 50,000 guilders various prizes have been bought in Vienna. These prizes consist of splendid > dining-room, drawing-room and bedroom suites of furniture, paintings, Persian carpets, table lamps [reading > lamps/"schemerlampen"], club armchairs, vases, miniatures, cushions, table covers ["tafelkloedjes" — as > printed; presumably "tafelkleedjes"], etc. Owing to the favourable time at which they were bought, the prizes > are worth far more than what was paid for them. The prizes are exhibited at Rotterdam at the N.V. Beens' > Woninginrichting Mij., Coolsingel 19; at Amsterdam at the N.V. de Phoenix, Damrak 76; and at The Hague at > H. T. L. Coolwijk. The drawing will take place before Christmas.
Pictures turned up again in the draw the following January. Of two hundred and fifty prizes, the ninth was a canvas given as Italiaansche school and the tenth a Koekkoek, alongside a walnut dining suite and a Hupfeld player-piano. That belongs to rather than the gallery's.
> Needy Vienna. Yesterday afternoon the drawing of the 1st series of tickets issued by Beens' Committee > for needy Vienna took place at the Notarishuis. Just over 7,000 numbers had been sold; numbers still in > the portfolio [unsold] were not eligible for a prize. The principal prizes were: 1st, a walnut > dining-room suite (no. 6280); 2nd, a canteen of table silver (2409); 3rd, a Hupfeld Phonola [player-piano] > (4257); 4th, a drawing-room suite (4109); 5th–8th, ash and oak bedroom suites; 9th, a painting of the > Italian school (3351); 10th, a painting by Koekkoek (6672); 11th, a silver mocha service (2728); 12th, an > ash bedroom suite (3642). In total 250 prizes were drawn.
The advertised art auction
When was liquidated, its goods were disposed of in stages, and the surviving advertisements catch the planned sales: first art objects, later a collection described as including the firm's paintings and antiquities. The wind-down began in November 1926, when a four-line notice called shareholders to a meeting to vote on a liquidation proposal.
BEENS' HOME FURNISHINGS CO. At an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders of N.V. Beens' Woninginrichting to be held shortly, the dissolution and a liquidation proposal will be submitted for consideration.
At the end of May 1928 the whole stock was advertised for auction ten verzoeke van eene Bankinstelling, at a bank's request, a sign that creditors were in control. On 5 and 6 June the notary S. Wijsenbeek offered Wilton carpets, club and model chairs, clocks, light fittings and kunstvoorwerpen. That was the sale of furniture and fittings.
PUBLIC SALE MANAGEMENT: VAN MARLE EN DE SILLE, Auctioneers, Brokers and Appraisers. NOTARISHUIS — WIJNSTRAAT 35 — ROTTERDAM. By Notary S. S. WIJSENBEEK, at the request of a Banking Institution, on Tuesday 5 and Wednesday 6 June, at 10 a.m.: THE ENTIRE STOCK OF GOODS OF N.V. BEENS WONINGINRICHTING IN LIQ. including VERY FINE STUDY, BEDROOM and DINING ROOM SUITES, 2 PHONOLAS, LUXURY FURNITURE, CHESTERFIELD SUITES, CLUB ARMCHAIRS, DISPLAY CABINETS, BUFFETS, SMALL FURNITURE PIECES, MODEL CHAIRS and FRAMES, WILTON, PERSIAN and other CARPETS AND RUGS, DIVAN AND TABLE COVERS, ART OBJECTS, CLOCKS, LIGHT FIXTURES, etc. etc. Viewing days: Saturday 2, Sunday 3 and Monday 4 June from 10 to 4 o'clock. Catalogue available upon request from VAN MARLE EN DE SILLE — WIJNSTRAAT 35 — ROTTERDAM. 30231.120
The paintings and antiquities were advertised for a separate sale two weeks later . On 10 June the Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant announced that the notary G. J. M. Schoenmaeckers would offer the collection on 19 June 1928. It included the paintings-and-antiquities collection of N.V. Beens' Woninginrichting-Mij. in liquidatie, pooled with a collection of antique family jewellery and other property. Van Marle en De Sille of Wijnstraat 35 were to direct the sale, with viewing days from 16 to 18 June and an illustrated catalogue on request. That catalogue might have identified the lots one by one, but no copy is recorded in this dossier.
B. By Notary G. J. M. SCHOENMAECKERS on TUESDAY 19 JUNE 1928, at 10:30 a.m., in the Art Auction Room: A VERY IMPORTANT COLLECTION OF OLD, MODERN AND DEMI-MODERN PAINTINGS AND WATERCOLOURS, including works by: C. J. Addicks, G. Altmann, F. Arntzenius, N. Bastert, S. Bisschop Robertson, P. Böhm, J. Bosboom, J. Carabain, L. A. Carolus, P. ten Cate, J. C. W. Cossaar, H. A. van Daelhoff, Th. van Dommelshuizen, R. van Eeckhout, O. Eerelman, A. Eversen, E. van Heemskerk, L. Hermann, Isaac Israëls, G. C. Kannemans, Koekkoek, H. W. Mesdag, P. Mondriaan, W. Roelofs, S. Schellhout, F. P. Schiedges, J. C. Schotel, A. Sheerboom, J. J. Spohler, J. A. B. Stroebel, J. van Stry, A. Vermeulen, P. G. Vertin, J. van der Vucht, A. Waldorp, J. H. Weissenbruch, W. de Zwart, a.o. ANTIQUES, including some Delftware, Chinese Porcelain, Crystal and Glassware, including an extensive crystal dessert service, 2 PEARL NECKLACES, FINE ANTIQUE JEWELLERY, SILVERWARE, 2 GRANDFATHER CLOCKS, 1 of which with musical mechanism, VERY FINE ANTIQUE FURNITURE, including 2 Large Cushion Cupboards, 2 Cabinets, Desks, Commodes, Ball-foot Tables, Small Pieces of Furniture, etc., comprising the collection of Paintings and Antiques of the N.V. Been's Woninginrichting Mij. in liq., collection of Antique Family Jewellery, a.o. VIEWING DAYS: SATURDAY 16, SUNDAY 17 and MONDAY 18 JUNE 1928 from 10 to 4 o'clock. The illustrated catalogue will be sent to known addresses and is further available upon request from VAN MARLE EN DE SILLE, Wijnstraat 35, Rotterdam.
De Maasbode ran the same notice on the same day, a second independent placement for the one sale.
De Maasbode, 10 June 1928, public-auction notice by notaries Van Marle en de Sille: "PUBLIC AUCTIONS ... a very important collection of Antiques, old, modern and semi-modern Paintings and Watercolours ... of N.V. Beens Woninginrichting-Mij. in liquidation."
The advertisement lists painters by the score, old, modern and demi-modern schools together: Bosboom and Weissenbruch, Arntzenius and Mesdag, a Koekkoek, a P. Mondriaan, and W. de Zwart, a name the firm's own June 1918 advertisement had also carried. But the sale pooled more than one owner's goods, and its wording assigns no single picture to Beens.