The Secret Report

In July 1940, Reichskommissar Arthur Seyss-Inquart visits the museum to acquaint himself with the collection. A month previously, Sam van Deventer is approached by SS chief and art historian Kajetan Mühlmann who informs him that the German State wants to purchase 3 ‘German’ 16^th century artworks from the collection. Venus and Amor by Hans Baldung Grien, Venus with Amor the honey thief by Lucas Cranach the Elder and the double panel by Barthel Bruyn the Elder must be relinquished under the guise of ‘Rückführung’ (Repatriation), with the vague argument that they ‘possess such a great emotional value for Germany’ that they cannot be missed there. In actual fact they are intended for the art collections of Hitler and Goering.

Sam and Anton decide to negotiate and gain the maximum possible benefit from the agreement. Seyss-Inquart compensates the museum with 600,000 guilders for the three paintings. This amount is placed in a fund for the acquisition of new works of art. In addition, the administrative structure of the Kröller-Müller Foundation and De Hoge Veluwe National Park is altered, creating financial leeway and strengthening the managemant positions of Sam and Anton. Sam is appointed director of both the Kröller-Müller Foundation, The Hoge Veluwe National Park and the Rijksmuseum Kröller-Müller. The Reichskommissar even claims to still be willing to realise the construction of the ‘Grand Museum’ in the future. Although this never transpires, it does indicate how Sam and Anton are able to use the situation. The negotiations are not included in the annual report, but they are documented in the so-called ‘Secret Report’.

Between 1940 and 1946, Sam purchases nearly 20 paintings with the 600,000 guilders. The first acquisitions are Portrait of a man by Edouard Manet, Road leading to the lake by Cézanne and work by Degas, Gauguin, Pissarro, Sluijters and Corot. In a way, gaps in the collection can be filled. The collection is also enhanced with drawings, sculptures and furniture. The acquisitions are made in The Hague, Paris and Berlin, often with the help and advice of Kajetan Mühlmann and his staff. Immediately after the war, two paintings by Pissarro and Degas have to be returned as they were acquired in Berlin and Paris from collections stolen from their Jewish owners by the Germans. The money is also spent on commissions. For example, John Rädecker is asked to create portrait busts of H.P. Bremmer and Henry van de Velde.

Anton also manages to divert an amount to himself from the 600,000 fund. That is badly needed, as he is certainly no longer the well-endowed millionaire. His income has fallen dramatically since his departure from Müller & Co, but his lifestyle remains essentially unchanged. The domestic staff of St. Hubertus still consists of seven people, he travels around in a chauffeur-driven luxury car and regularly stays in expensive hotels in The Hague. To pay his debts, in 1941 Anton sells the painting Roses and peonies by Vincent van Gogh from his personal possession to the museum for 25,000 guilders. A large amount of furniture, including many pieces by the architects Berlage and Van de Velde, also becomes property of the State in this way. This provides Anton with another 30,000 guilders.