Alles of Niets

Jurriaan van den Berg (1943-2016) built up his collection with the utmost care. He closely followed the development of a number of artists and collected early and recent work so he could visualise the artists’ development from his own collection. All of this was documented meticulously. Every single piece of jewellery was accompanied by a card bearing the object’s details, price and date of purchase. He was also in close contact with jewellery designers, museums and galleries, which means that a lot of documentation and correspondence was preserved. This material does not only consist of factual information; it resonates with the collector’s voice and reflects his view on jewellery design and on collecting and presenting jewellery.

Although Van den Berg was well-known within jewellery circles, no one knew the exact range of his collection. Recent research shows that the entire collection must have consisted of over 600 objects before the donation to Museum Arnhem. Thanks to a generous loan by the Van den Berg family, CODA was able to make a selection from the entire collection for Alles of Niets. Hence the exhibition beautifully conveys the collector’s passion, and focusses on his approach, vision and role within the jewellery scene. Alles of Niets also posthumously fulfils Van den Berg’s wish of realising a museological presentation.

Alles of Niets (All or Nothing) is on view at CODA Museum, Apeldoorn, The Netherlands from January 28 – April 30 2018.