Dr. Jeroen Giltaij Passed Away at Age 78

1 December 2025 / Rotterdam

Jeroen Giltaij (1947-2025), a graduate from the University of Amsterdam (PhD in 1997, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), worked most of his professional career at the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (1972-2012). There he started as an assistant in the department of Prints and Drawings and was appointed the first chief curator of Old Master Paintings and Sculpture in 1979. His collection catalogue of the drawings of Rembrandt and his school was published in 1988, ten years after the manuscript was finished. Although from then on most of his time and energy were devoted to the research, publication, acquisition and presentation of Dutch paintings from the seventeenth century, especially by Rembrandt, Jeroen regularly also published on drawings by Rembrandt and by various other Dutch masters such as Jacob van Ruisdael, Jan van der Meer van Haarlem and Jan de Braij, including an article about the latter in our magazine (52, 2023). His last publication is on drawings by the landscape painter Jan Looten, included in Lines of Friendship, the posthumous Liber Amicorum for the late Robert-Jan te Rijdt, which was released just two weeks ago (see news item below).

Our thoughts are with his family and friends.

See also the in memoriam on the Codart website, where attention is also paid to his many publications and exhibitions in the field of Old Master paintings.

 

Lines of Friendship commemorating Robert-Jan te Rijdt

17 November 2025 / Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum

During a well-attended gathering in the Auditorium of the Rijksmuseum the first copies of this comprehensive book (560 pages, 700 illustrations) were presented to the daughter and other family members of Robert-Jan te Rijdt, the Emeritus Curator of Drawings at the Rijksmuseum who passed away in November 2024.

No fewer than 57 authors contributed 55 art historical essays to this impressive book, which was originally intended as a Liber Amicorum to be presented to him on his 70th birthday on 11 August this year. Many of his friends and colleagues, including five members of the Delineavit et Sculpsit editorial board, wrote essays commemorating Robert Jan, who was a member of our board for 30 years.

It is a wide ranging publication with subjects from the late 16th century to the present day, but with a strong focus on the 18th century. All visual arts are represented: paintings, drawings, prints, sculpture, applied arts, and garden architecture.

The editing was done by our former chairman Charles Dumas, together with Charles Kang, Marleen Ram and Gajus Scheltema. The design and layout are by Dumas together with the publisher Evelyn de Regt. Copies can be ordered from her publishing house Primavera Pers in Leiden.

 

Changes in the Editorial Board

30 October 2025 / The Hague

Last Summer Joyce Zelen (Rijksmuseum) decided – much to her regret – to leave the editorial board because museum work and family did not allow enough time and energy to continue her voluntary work for our periodical. She was the editor-in-chief for issues 47 (together with Peter van der Coelen), 49 and 53 and co-editor of the special issue 55. We fully understand her decision and greatly appreciate her dedication and stimulating contributions to our editorial team during the last 6 years.

Fortunately, the vacancy has now been filled by another young colleague from the Rijksmuseum staff: Saskia van Altena (33). Saskia studied Art History at the University of Amsterdam and the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. She is a specialist of Northern- and Southern Netherlandish drawings and prints from the 16th and 17th centuries. As a researcher at the Rijksmuseum, Saskia is currently coordinating the re-launch of the online collection catalogue of Dutch drawings from the Golden Age. As a freelance curator, she is involved in exhibition projects at the Fondation Custodia (Collection Frits Lugt) in Paris. Saskia has published in Master Drawings, Simiolus and the Rijksmuseum Bulletin on a variety of subjects, including the drawings of Abraham van Diepenbeeck (1596-1675) and the etchings of Dancker Danckerts (1634-1666). She has also contributed to various exhibition catalogues, including most recently Un œil passionné. Douze ans d’acquisitions de Ger Luijten (Paris, Fondation Custodia, 2024) and From Scribble to Cartoon. Drawings from Brueghel to Rubens in Flemish Collections (Antwerp, Museum Plantin Moretus, 2023).

Call for candidates: Junior curatorship of Prints & Drawings at the Fondation Custodia and the Rijksmuseum

17 October 2025 / Paris-Amsterdam

The Custodia Foundation and the Rijksmuseum are inviting two early-career art historians to join their teams for a two-year, non-renewable position, starting on 1 January 2026. The junior will spend one year at the Fondation Custodia in Paris and one year in the Rijksprentenkabinet at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. This unique opportunity will allow young art historians specializing in the graphic arts to gain in-depth experience of two internationally renowned collections and prepare you for a career as a curator in the field of prints and drawings.

Created in 2016, this position offers the opportunity to work in two institutions that are very different in nature and size, but which share one thing in common: significant collections of Dutch and Flemish art. Working closely with the teams at these institutions, you will be able to familiarize yourself with the many facets of curatorial work. As a full member of the curatorial team, you will participate in and contribute to its program. This is a 24-month, full-time position.

For more information see the website of the Fondation Custodia (in French) or the website of the Rijksmuseum (in English, apply there before 30 October).

IPH congress Paper Trade, Amsterdam, August 2026

24-29 August 2026 / Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum

The 38th Biennial Congress of the International Association of Paper Historians (IPH) will be held in Holland in 2026.  The main theme will be Paper Trade.

Besides inspiring presentations, the program will include excursions to several Dutch sites of paper historical interest and will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the American Declaration of Independence, which was printed on handmade paper produced in the Zaanstreek, north of Amsterdam.

You are invited to read the call for papers and submit an abstract via the link to the IPH website. Submission deadline is 8 January 2026. More information will added to the IPH website in due course.