Introduction
Thomas Vroom Collection For the past 60 years most major collectors of Aboriginal Art have not been
canvases. In addition to acquiring works for his own collection he established
Australians. From the 1950s to the 1970s significant collectors included the
the Songlines Galleries in San Francisco (with David Betz), and in Amsterdam
Czech/Parisian artist and ethnographer Karel Kupka, and American’s Professor
(with Maggie de Moor), where he exhibited contemporary art from traditional
Edward L. Ruhe, and later Californian’s Louis Allen and Jerome Gould, all of who’s
communities.
impressive collections are now housed in European, American and Australian galleries and museums. In the 1980s, inspired by the landmark exhibition at the
In September 2014 Thomas called me to advise that he had decided to sell his
Asia Society in New York, Dreamings - The Art of Aboriginal Australia, a new
vast collection, and engaged my company Tim Klingender Fine Art to oversee
wave of international collectors, including the American billionaire John Kluge
its sale at auction. The first sale to include works from the collection was held in
of Virginia, and Richard Kelton and The Kelton Foundation of Santa Monica,
London in June 2015 and achieved outstanding results, followed by two highly
began to collect as Indigenous Australian art was in the midst of a dynamic
successful auctions held in Sydney in late 2015 and 2016.
transcendence. And in their footsteps came the Dutch collector Thomas Vroom. This auction represents the final instalment of the Thomas Vroom Collection to I first met Thomas in the early 1990s. Thomas is a friendly man, always with a
be offered at auction, and includes around 700 artworks and artefacts condensed
spark in his eye, a smile on his face and exuding enthusiasm for life. After first
into just over 400 lots. The sale features many works by Emily Kngwarreye and
encountering Australian Indigenous Art in New York at the end of the 1980s,
Kathleen Petyarre, the two artists for which he was most passionate, and many
Thomas Vroom became passionately engaged in collecting Aboriginal Art
other significant canvases, bark paintings sculptures, prints and artefacts. All
globally for the next two decades on an unprecedented level, acquiring important
artworks in this auction have recently returned to Australia from the Thomas
historical works at auction, tracking down and directly acquiring old collections,
Vroom Collection, which for over a decade has been used as the corner stone for
buying contemporary works on his numerous trips to remote regions, from
exhibitions at the Aboriginal Art Museum Utrecht, The Netherlands.
galleries in the capital cities throughout Australia and from dealers internationally. Vroom’s interest in the field was broad from the outset, and the collection includes
Tim Klingender
early artefacts, bark paintings and ceremonial sculptures, through to historical
Director, Tim Klingender Fine Art
paintings from the Kimberley and Central Deserts, and the most contemporary
205 Detail opposite GLORIA PETYARRE (BORN c.1938) Untitled acrylic on canvas inscribed verso with artist’s name and Delmore Gallery cat. no. 0871 310 x 123.5cm $5,000-8,000 © Gloria Petyarre. Licensed by Viscopy Ltd. Australia
3