Siebe ten Cate Archive

The Siebe ten Cate Foundation is presenting the RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History with an archive about the artist Siebe ten Cate. Besides letters, photographs, certificates, cuttings and catalogues, the archive contains a great number of small pencil sketches by the artist.

Siebe ten Cate

Born in Sneek, Siebe Johannes ten Cate (1858-1908) moved to Paris in 1880, where he soon came into contact with various impressionist artists, including Camille Pissarro and Emile Bernard. Ten Cate regularly conducted business with Durand-Ruel, Bernheim-Jeune as well as other galleries, and he travelled frequently in Europe and North Africa. He exhibited impressionist landscapes and city views in France, achieving great success. One of his friends was Kees van Dongen, with whom he briefly shared an apartment in Montmartre just after 1900. He is virtually forgotten today, despite his extensive network.

Saving the artist from oblivion

The Siebe ten Cate Foundation was set up in 2020 with the aim of ‘saving the artist from oblivion’ by documenting his oeuvre, generating publicity and keeping it in the public eye. More information about the foundation can be found on the website siebetencate.nl. The RKD and the Siebe ten Cate Foundation are jointly working on a catalogue raisonné as well as an RKD Study about the artist’s life and work.

Transfer of the archive to the RKD

The archive about Siebe ten Cate was bought at an auction in France. In order to ensure the contents are stored in optimal conditions, the archive has been lodged with the RKD. The official handover took place on 3 February 2022. The Ten Cate Archive is a wonderful addition to the extensive collection of artist’s archives housed in the RKD. The archival documents will be further scrutinised: the large collection of pencil sketches may lead to the discovery of unknown works by Ten Cate.