Another work that stands out is the View of the city of Huy by Hendrick Gijsmans, due to the scarcity of works signed by this artist from Mechelen. Specifically, it is the second signed scene known from the author and is part of a group of pen and ink drawings of landscapes, views of cities and towns made during a trip that took him from the Netherlands to Rome.
More oddities: the bust of Diana by Bernardino Cavallino. Only eight drawings by the Neapolitan Baroque master are known, so this piece from the Custodia Foundation is decisive to delve deeper into his graphic work. And what to say about the View of Hampstead Gardens, with an elder tree by John Constable! It is the jewel that leads the twenty British paintings acquired under the direction of Ger Luijten.
The engravings deserve a separate chapter, especially Le Savoyard by Karel Dujardin, as well as handwritten letters. If the founder of Custodia acquired Rembrandt’s last two letters in private hands in 1917; Luijten took the baton by purchasing letters from Antonio Canova, Ingres, Géricault and Cèzanne, among others.
The first painting that Ger Luijten bought when he arrived at the foundation in 2010 was a portrait of François Langlois made by an anonymous French or Italian artist of the 17th century. A true declaration of intentions for what would later be his time at the French institution, whose heritage he has contributed to enriching not only in the number of pieces, but also in schools. You couldn’t leave a better legacy. Sol G. Moreno
