BMW Art Guide by Independent Collectors

Pieter and Carla Schulting

The Schulting Art Collection

Portrait of Carla & Pieter Schulting, Artworks from left to right: Tschabalala Self (2022), Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi (2021), Isshaq Ismail (2022). Courtesy of Carla and Pieter Schulting, Photo: RobinMeyer_artdoc
Portrait of Carla & Pieter Schulting, Artworks from left to right: Tschabalala Self (2022), Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi (2021), Isshaq Ismail (2022). Courtesy of Carla and Pieter Schulting, Photo: RobinMeyer_artdoc

Pieter and Carla Schulting started collecting art in the 90s. Their initial focus was on Dutch Romantic Art (e.g. A. Schelfhout) and The Hague School of Art (e.g. H.W. Mesdag) from the 19th century, followed by French (e.g. A. Marquet) and Belgian (post-) Impressionists (e.g. Th. van Rysselberghe), Pop Art (e.g. Warhol), Street Art (e.g. Banksy), Minimal art from the 60s (e.g. Fontana) and contemporary art in general (B. Riley, P. Halley, Y. Kusama).

In 2018, they were very much attracted by the novelty and freshness of Contemporary African Art. They discovered many artworks of high quality and were surprised that this was as yet unknown in the art world. Until then, they had heard of a few big names from the African continent, such as W. Kentridge and El Anatsui, but now they discovered a huge array of new young talents (e.g. S. Mlengeya, K. Nyamai, L. Ky, and K. Botchway).
The couple initially collected mainly portraiture and figurative imagery, but after a while, they also started to collect abstract works, sculptures, photographs, and works made of textiles or waste materials.
Eventually, this resulted in a museum exhibition in Kunsthal KAdE in the Netherlands in 2023, which presented a large cross-section of the collection, showing how diverse, complex, and promising the artistic development of contemporary African art was.

Artworks from left to right: Stacy Gillian Abe (2022), Annan Affottey (2021), Dankyi Mensah (2022), Edson Chagas (2014). Courtesy Kunsthal KAdE Amersfoort, Africa Supernova, 2023, Photo: Peter Cox
Artworks from left to right: Stacy Gillian Abe (2022), Annan Affottey (2021), Dankyi Mensah (2022), Edson Chagas (2014). Courtesy Kunsthal KAdE Amersfoort, Africa Supernova, 2023, Photo: Peter Cox
Artworks from left to right: Joël Andrianomearisoa (2021), Bonolo Kavula (2022), Amina Agueznay (2022), Jack Kabangu (2023). Courtesy Kunsthal KAdE Amersfoort, Africa Supernova, 2023, Photo: Peter Cox
Artworks from left to right: Joël Andrianomearisoa (2021), Bonolo Kavula (2022), Amina Agueznay (2022), Jack Kabangu (2023). Courtesy Kunsthal KAdE Amersfoort, Africa Supernova, 2023, Photo: Peter Cox
Artworks top row, from left to right: Sanlé Sory (1978), Alice Mann (2018), Baudouin Mouanda (2008), Cristina de Middel (2011), Ngadi Smart, 2018), Kelani Abass (2019), Dawit Petros (2016), Fathi Hassan (2017). Bottom row, from left to right: Thandiwe Muriu (2022), Omar Victor Diop (2016), Prince Gyasi (2019), César Schofield Cardoso (2023), Kiripi Katembo (2008-2013). Courtesy Kunsthal KAdE Amersfoort, Africa Supernova, 2023, Photo: Peter Cox
Artworks top row, from left to right: Sanlé Sory (1978), Alice Mann (2018), Baudouin Mouanda (2008), Cristina de Middel (2011), Ngadi Smart, 2018), Kelani Abass (2019), Dawit Petros (2016), Fathi Hassan (2017). Bottom row, from left to right: Thandiwe Muriu (2022), Omar Victor Diop (2016), Prince Gyasi (2019), César Schofield Cardoso (2023), Kiripi Katembo (2008-2013). Courtesy Kunsthal KAdE Amersfoort, Africa Supernova, 2023, Photo: Peter Cox

With a focus on young artists - most are in their thirties, a few in their early twenties - the exhibition was not a comprehensive overview of African art, but an anthology from an emerging art scene that had gained an increasingly prominent place in the international art firmament.

Carla and Pieter Schulting were eyewitnesses to the blossoming of a group of young artists who were taking the art world by storm in the wake of a number of - now - big names. Looking at the rich visual vocabulary of the African artists in the Schulting collection, one senses long histories, many experiences - including traumatic ones - and great stories ready to be told. A history of many histories, portrayed from specific points of view and individual cultural experiences, presenting Africa from within, with great self-awareness and a sense of how the black body had been treated for centuries.
Their ultimate goal is to have representation of all of the countries of the African continent in their collection and they hope that the collection will travel to a museum in another country. In this way, they hope to support the artists concerned and African art in general.

Artworks on the wall, from left to right: Chéri Samba (2003), Cornelius Annor (2021) Cornelius Annor (2022), Simphiwe Ndzube (2023), Joana Choumali (2021), sculpture: Victor Ekpuk (2019). Courtesy Kunsthal KAdE Amersfoort, Africa Supernova, 2023, Photo: Mike Bink
Artworks on the wall, from left to right: Chéri Samba (2003), Cornelius Annor (2021) Cornelius Annor (2022), Simphiwe Ndzube (2023), Joana Choumali (2021), sculpture: Victor Ekpuk (2019). Courtesy Kunsthal KAdE Amersfoort, Africa Supernova, 2023, Photo: Mike Bink
Artworks on the walls, from left to right: Raphael Adjetey Mayne (2021), Esiri Erheriene-Essi (2019), Feni Chulumanco (2021), Ayogu Kingsley (2021), Sculpture: Niyi Olagunju (2019). Courtesy Kunsthal KAdE Amersfoort, Africa Supernova, 2023, Photo: Peter Cox
Artworks on the walls, from left to right: Raphael Adjetey Mayne (2021), Esiri Erheriene-Essi (2019), Feni Chulumanco (2021), Ayogu Kingsley (2021), Sculpture: Niyi Olagunju (2019). Courtesy Kunsthal KAdE Amersfoort, Africa Supernova, 2023, Photo: Peter Cox
Artwork on the top wall: Oluwole Omofemi (2021), artworks on bottom walls, from left to right: Emma Odumade (2020-2021), Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi (2021), Iris Kensmil (2016-2021), Simphiwe Ndzube (2022), Sthenjwa Luthuli (2018), sculptures: Tschabalala Self (2022), Wabi Dossou (2022), Samson Kambalu (2021), Wangechi Mutu (2016), Zizipho Poswa (2023). Courtesy Kunsthal KAdE Amersfoort, Africa Supernova, 2023, Photo: Mike Bink
Artwork on the top wall: Oluwole Omofemi (2021), artworks on bottom walls, from left to right: Emma Odumade (2020-2021), Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi (2021), Iris Kensmil (2016-2021), Simphiwe Ndzube (2022), Sthenjwa Luthuli (2018), sculptures: Tschabalala Self (2022), Wabi Dossou (2022), Samson Kambalu (2021), Wangechi Mutu (2016), Zizipho Poswa (2023). Courtesy Kunsthal KAdE Amersfoort, Africa Supernova, 2023, Photo: Mike Bink

Insiders (69)

KOO HOUSE MUSEUM

Exhibition venue with the theme ‚Living with Art‘

Wilhelmina Jewell Strong - Sparks

Founder of BiTHOUSE Projects - BAAR Art Journey

MATTHIAS ARNDT

Collector behind the ARNDT Collection

Sandra Guimarães

Director of Museum of Contemporary Art Helga de Alvear

Grazyna Kulczyk

Founder of Muzeum Susch

THE FAIREST

Interview with Georgie Pope and Eleonora Sutter, Co-founders

Kamiar Maleki

Director at VOLTA

Gallery Weekend Berlin 2022

Tokini Peterside

Founder and Director, ART X Lagos

Poka-Yio

Founding Director of the Athens Biennale

Boris Ondreička

Artistic Director of viennacontemporary

Maribel Lopez

Director of ARCO

David Gryn

Founder and Director of Daata

Fondation Beyeler Audiovisual Broadcast

Fondation Beyeler and Nordstern Basel present Dixon x Transmoderna

Gary Yeh

Founder of ArtDrunk and Young Collector

WATCH: The Best of the BMW Art Guide

Where will you travel next to explore art?

Maike Cruse

2020 Gallery Weekend Berlin

Touria El Glaoui

Founding Director of 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair

Johann König

Messe in St. Agnes

PArt - Producers Art Platform

A crisis initiative to help artists directly affected by the pandemic

Barbara Moore

CEO of Biennale of Sydney

Unique Collector’s Item

by Independent Collectors

Alix Dana

Fair Director at Independent

When Collectors are Able to Commission

by Nicole Büsing and Heiko Klaas

Juliet Kothe and Julia Rust

Initiators of Collection Night, Berlin

Marie-Anne McQuay

Curator of Wales in Venice, 58th Venice Biennale 2019

Dorothy and Herb Vogel

Two extraordinary art collectors

Heather Hubbs

Director at NADA

Every Art Collection Needs Space

by Nicole Büsing and Heiko Klaas

Collecting Art with François Pinault

Rudolf Stingel at Palazzo Grassi

A Common Ground

by Silvia Anna Barrilà

Caroline Vos

Director at Amsterdam Art Weekend

Hidden Collections

by Nicole Büsing and Heiko Klaas

Nicole Berry

Executive Director of The Armory Show

Daniel Hug

Fair Director at Art Cologne

The Role of the Art Fair

by Silvia Anna Barrilà

Peter Bläuer

Director at LISTE

A Brush Against Nature

by Nicole Büsing and Heiko Klaas

Ilaria Bonacossa

Director of Artissima

Excessiveness, the Latent Danger of Collecting Art

by Independent Collectors

Jo Stella-Sawicka

Artistic Director at Frieze

Florence Bourgeois

Director at Paris Photo

Where Artists Can Work More Playfully

by Christiane Meixner

Specifically Commissioned

by Silvia Anna Barrilà

Manuela Mozo

Executive Director of UNTITLED, ART Miami and San Francisco

Important Museums and Private Collections

by Christiane Meixner

Susanna Corchia

Director of the Barcelona Gallery Weekend

Emilia van Lynden

Artistic Director at Unseen, Amsterdam

Carlos Urroz

Director at ARCOmadrid

Shoe Smudges Streaked Across the White Walls

by Christiane Meixner

Amanda Coulson

Director at VOLTA Basel

Douwe Cramer

Director at Singapore Contemporary

Art and Architecture – Attractive Allies

by Nicole Büsing and Heiko Klaas

Jo Baring

Curator of Sculpture Series, Masterpiece London

Bidders and Buyers

by Christiane Meixner

Anne Vierstraete

Managing Director at Art Brussels

Nanna Hjortenberg

Director at CHART

The Crucial Role of the New

by Independent Collectors

Makers and Believers

On Art History’s Most Famous Patrons

The Past is Back

And collectors are buying it up

Are Artists the Better Curators?

On the diminishing boundary between professions in the art world

The Digital Museum

On the importance of the museum’s web presence

The Man in the Middle

On the curator’s private and public engagements

A Private Matter?

On the importance of physical space for the value of art

Off the Wall

How museums contribute to the worth of artworks

Where to Go Next?

The fragmentation of Manhattan’s gallery scene

To Buy or Not to Buy

Collectors on their experiences of letting an artwork slip away

How to Pass On a Passion

On long-term challenges for new private museums