above image: An unforgettable day, Olphaert den Otter | photographer Jannes Linders
Lely's Column by Hans van Houwelingen in the center of Lelystad, Tom Claassen's Elephants along the A27 and A6 near Almere, Thom Puckey's smashed UFO on a school square in Almere, all three are works of art that belong to the selection of 100 key works of BK Information belong. Behind the realization of these iconic works of art, and many more, is Art and Business. That exists 75 years this year, Gabi Prechtl has been its director for 26 years. An excellent opportunity for Esther Didden to engage in conversation.
The most recent artwork created through the mediation of Arts and Business is An unforgettable day, a monumental mural by Olphaert den Otter for the Berlage Lyceum in Amsterdam. The building is a Rijksmonument from 1924, in Amsterdam School style, recently renovated by Atelier PRO. The school felt that the renovated building deserved a work of art. They approached Kunst en Bedrijf to guide them. Matching the school's wishes and Unesco profile, Gabi Prechtl almost immediately thought of artist Olphaert den Otter. The mural in Amsterdam is Den Otter's Magnum Opus; it is the largest work he has created to date and combines his entire oeuvre. It was the right commission, at the right time, for the right artist. That is what she always strives for, that commission and artist coincide in such a way that the artist can rise above himself. The school offered an opportunity to capture the process of creation, and Prechtl recommended doing so with a film. She introduced Jeanne van der Horst, who followed Den Otter from August 2023 through February 2025, and she made a beautiful cinematic document about the painting and it has also become a very sympathetic artist's portrait.
That is what she always strives for, that commission and artist coincide in such a way that the artist can rise above herself
Pioneering and thinking big is in Gabi Prechtl's DNA. This was immediately evident when she joined Arts and Business in 1996 as an education consultant. She came at a time when the central government had ended the percentage scheme for education projects but had still made a budget available to phase out the subsidy relationship. For anyone else a difficult time to step in but because she likes to break new ground, it was Prechtl's call. She devised a matching arrangement to spend the budget that was still there in the best way possible. She wanted to work with clients who were motivated and intrinsically involved in the creation of art, and who also demonstrated this financially by making a budget available. A budget that at the time was doubled from Art and Business. The best works of art come about when a client is truly committed, says Prechtl. That was true then and it still is, as the Berlage Lyceum shows.
In 1999, Prechtl became the first director-owner of Arts and Business, and that marked a change in direction: she put full effort into obtaining art commissions. "The little ship, went out into the ocean," she recalls. She set her sights on the real estate sector, a previously unexplored area where the added value of art was far from self-evident. Her drive to pioneer came in handy. She made sure that she was introduced to the real estate sector; how does the world work, who matters, where are interesting developments taking place? She held countless discussions with developers and also architects. A strategy best described as ice cold acquisition. Many companies, even in real estate, still think of art as a painting on the wall or a statue on a pedestal. But integrating art commissions into a construction project or public space design was virtually unknown. While it can provide visible added value and has great distinctive power. Slowly, she got the industry on board.
She set her sights on the real estate sector, a previously unexplored area where the added value of art was far from self-evident
In 2002, ING Real Estate came forward with an issue for their brand new headquarters at the Zuidas. The prestigious building was finished but the bank employees looked out on an ugly 8000 m2 gravel roof of the adjacent Amsterdam Waterworks. Could Art and Business do something about this? Of course! Artist Diederik Klomberg realized a gigantic Zen garden in 2003 by "raking" 500 tons of light and dark gray gravel and soft green and dark blue marbles in circles around twenty half-spherical mirrors. A garden that no one will ever enter but is beautiful to look at. Art and Company had issued its signature.
Diederik Klomberg 'DROOG WATER' | photographer Gert Jan van Rooij
The Kunst en Bedrijf website lists an impressive number of realized art commissions: for example, for hospitals, the Department of Public Works, housing corporations, and for schools. The latter almost always commissioned by municipalities for primary education and school boards for secondary education. More than once, Art and Business collaborated with both private parties and government. These public-private collaborations have resulted in fantastic works of art. Prechtl: "Whether you're talking about area development, a building or the interior, it's all about the identity and experiential value of a place. And art can play a very important role in that. For that you need commitment from enthusiastic clients. This is certainly possible in public-private partnerships, but then alliances must be able to thrive. And that requires continuity and a careful process that benefits both parties." Prechtl also sees that this is becoming increasingly difficult; it is becoming more difficult to get projects off the ground and then it doesn't help when the government is also increasingly abandoning its stimulating role. Because a good example leads the way, but unfortunately so does a bad example. We have seen this with the cutbacks in the cultural sector in 2012 and the disastrous consequences this has had.
After delivery, the phase of management and maintenance always begins for which the client is responsible
After delivery, the phase of management and maintenance for which the client is responsible always begins. With some regularity, works of art come her way again as a result. Currently Prechtl is working on the reinstallation of The Gas Molecule by Marc Ruygrok along the A7. A landmark commemorating the discovery of the Groningen gas field 'Slochteren'. Ruygrok designed a giant methane molecule. The special location of the landmark, the central reservation of the A7, makes the artwork extra iconic. It is the perfect spot for this work of art, near the first site where the gas was found, says Prechtl.
Soon, the Department of Public Works is going to do maintenance work and they have decided that, for safety reasons, the work of art must be removed from the median and also may not be put back. "We worked with the Municipality of Midden-Groningen for a long time to stop this. But as cooperative as Rijkswaterstaat was when it was placed, they are now dismissive. That safety requirements change over the years may be true, but what is striking is the lack of cultural awareness that prevents solutions being sought that are acceptable to both parties. There is nothing left but to move the artwork from a super A location to a B location on the verge," Prechtl says. It is typical of art in public space, which becomes vulnerable over time when cultural and historical awareness fades. It remains human work.
Art and Business as the crow flies, 1950 to the present
1950: Art and Business Foundation is founded by artist Adriaan Lubbers. One of the founding fathers was the Philips company. Kunst en Bedrijf gained more patrons from the business world and advised them on exhibitions, purchases, anniversary and corporate gifts. Art commissions also began to take shape thanks to the new percentage regulation established by the central government. Art was considered important in the reconstruction of the Netherlands.
1960s, 1970s and 1980s: Under the first formally appointed director Aat van IJperen, Kunst en Bedrijf professionalized rapidly. A permanent subsidy relationship with the national government emerged. The Ministry of CRM (Culture, Recreation and Social Work) asked Kunst en Bedrijf to set up a national documentation center. Starting in the 1970s, this was expanded to include implementation of the percentage scheme for education throughout the Netherlands. A flood of art commissions began. In addition, the business community built many new offices, many of which were decorated with art. In this way, Art and Business stood at the cradle of many corporate collections that resulted.
The 1990s were marked by major changes in the arts field. The Ministry of WVC (Welfare, Public Health and Culture) wanted to get rid of its permanent subsidy relationships; for example, the BKR was abolished in 1987 and many artists became defunct. For Kunst en Bedrijf, too, this meant termination of the subsidy relationship at the end of the 1980s, and this was accompanied by a one-time buyout. Kunst en Bedrijf would continue independently as a BV, but still had financial backing from the Kunst en Bedrijf foundation. Only the percentage scheme for art commissions in education remained in place until 1995. As directors, Titus Yocarini and later Fleur Gieben charted new ways for Kunst en Bedrijf to stand on its own two feet. That proved more difficult than imagined.
In 1999, Gabi Prechtl takes over Kunst en Bedrijf BV as its first director/owner. The BV is permanently separated from the foundation. She decides to divest the consultancy in the field of collection development because many business consultants have now joined the company. The focus becomes entirely on developing art commissions in the built environment and public spaces. Doing acquisition is vital to securing new commissions. Under the motto "if you don't move, nothing happens" many new commissions are generated. In 2012, under the influence of the financial and real estate crisis, the BV is terminated and the company continues to this day under the name of Art and Company-Gabi Prechtl.
The archive of Art and Business from 1950 - 2012 is at the RKD - Netherlands Institute for Art History.
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