Victor De Stuers
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Victor Eugène Louis de Stuers (20 October 1843,
Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; ; ; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital city, capital and largest city of the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Maastricht is loca ...
– 21 March 1916,
The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...
) was a Dutch art historian, lawyer, civil servant and politician. Widely regarded as the father of
historic preservation Historic preservation (US), built heritage preservation or built heritage conservation (UK) is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance. It is a philos ...
in the Netherlands, he played a notable part in keeping ''
Girl with a Pearl Earring ''Girl with a Pearl Earring'' () is an oil painting by Dutch Golden Age painter Johannes Vermeer, dated 1665. Going by various names over the centuries, it became known by its present title towards the end of the 20th century because of the e ...
'', by
Vermeer Johannes Vermeer ( , ; see below; also known as Jan Vermeer; October 1632 – 15 December 1675) was a Dutch painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle-class life. He is considered one of the greatest painters of the Dutch ...
, from being sold abroad.


Biography

He was the third son of General
Hubert Joseph Jean Lambert de Stuers Hubert Joseph Jean Lambert ridder de Stuers (November 16, 1788 – April 13, 1861) was a Dutch general and commander of the East Indies Army. Life De Stuers was born in Roermond. He joined the French army as a volunteer and in 1817 he left for ...
, and his second wife, Hortense Joséphine Constance, Baroness Beyens (1814-1869). In 1861, he began studying law at the
University of Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange as a Protestant institution, it holds the distinction of being the oldest university in the Neth ...
; obtaining his doctorate there in 1869. That same year, he was sworn in as a lawyer at the
Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
in The Hague.Jos Perry, ''Ons fatsoen als natie. Victor de Stuers 1843-1916'', SUN, 2004 During his time at the university, he had become interested in preserving historical buildings and works of art. In 1873, he published an essay in ''
De Gids (from Dutch: ''The Guide'') is the oldest Dutch literary periodical still published today. It was founded in 1837 by Everhardus Johannes Potgieter and Christianus Robidé van der Aa. Long regarded as the most prestigious literary periodical ...
'', a literary journal, in which he criticized the poor preservation of monuments, government architecture, and museum policy, among other subjects. The following year, a Royal Decree established the "Board of Government Advisors for the Monuments of History and Art", and De Stuers was named Secretary. They provided so many recommendations, the government agencies involved were overwhelmed. In 1875, he helped to establish the (History and Art), now a part of the
Rijksmuseum The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the S ...
. For its first few years of operation, he served as Provisional Director and purchased the art. Its building was designed by his close friend,
Pierre Cuypers Petrus Josephus Hubertus "Pierre" Cuypers (16 May 1827 – 3 March 1921) was a Dutch architect. His name is most frequently associated with the Amsterdam Central Station (1881–1889) and the Rijksmuseum (1876–1885), both in Amsterdam. ...
. The design was heavily criticized, but received the support of
Jan Heemskerk Jan Heemskerk Abrahamszoon (; 30 July 1818 – 9 October 1897) was a Dutch politician who served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers from 1874 to 1877, and again from 1883 to 1888. His son, Theo Heemskerk also served as Chairman of the Cou ...
, the Minister of the Interior. Actual construction costs were almost three times the initial estimate, and King
William III William III or William the Third may refer to: Kings * William III of Sicily () * William III of England and Ireland or William III of Orange or William II of Scotland (1650–1702) * William III of the Netherlands and Luxembourg (1817–1890) N ...
wrote to him on several occasions, to prohibit certain expenditures on features he disapproved of. De Stuers was also interested in drawing education. To become more familiar with the subject, he took a seat on the committee for awarding the drawing teacher certifications. Later, he was named its Chairman. His work there resulted in the establishment of the in 1881. The years 1886 to 1894 saw him and the art critic, , involved in establishing the (Applied Arts). He would serve many years there as a board member, and a major donor of art objects. He served several terms in
Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
, and was involved in the affairs of what were then the
Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...
. In 1907, together with Lodewijk Thomson, he attacked the crimes committed against civilians by Frits van Daalen, during the
Aceh War The Aceh War (), also known as the Dutch War or the Infidel War (1873–1904), was an armed military conflict between the Sultanate of Aceh and the Kingdom of the Netherlands which was triggered by discussions between representatives of Aceh ...
. By 1908, he was suffering from
gout Gout ( ) is a form of inflammatory arthritis characterized by recurrent attacks of pain in a red, tender, hot, and Joint effusion, swollen joint, caused by the deposition of needle-like crystals of uric acid known as monosodium urate crysta ...
, and was forced to deliver many of his speeches while seated.


Victor de Stuersprijs

The Victor de Stuersprijs has been presented annually since 1987 by the municipality of Maastricht. The award is for architects, their clients or institutions that play an important role in the preservation of the
cultural heritage Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are "heritage"; rather, heritage is a product of selection by socie ...
, or the promotion of the urban development or architectural quality, in the city of Maastricht. In even years, the prize is awarded to a new development project and in odd years to a restoration project. Previous winners of the architecture award include:
Wiel Arets Wiel Arets (, born ) is a Dutch architect, architectural theory, architectural theorist, urbanist, industrial designer and the former Dean (education), dean of the college of architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, in the ...
(1987), (1998),
Hubert-Jan Henket Hubert-Jan Henket (born 11 March 1940) is a Dutch architect. He is a specialist in the relations between old and new buildings, the redesign of buildings, renovation and restoration. He is the founder of DOCOMOMO international. Life Henket was ...
(2000),
Jo Coenen Jo Coenen (born 30 September 1949 in Heerlen) is a Dutch architect and urban planner. He studied architecture at the Eindhoven University of Technology (graduating in 1975), and later held professorships at TU Karlsruhe, Eindhoven University of T ...
and (2008), Fred Humblé (2012), Mathieu Bruls (2014) and Misak Terzibasiyan (2017). The heritage prize was awarded, among other things, for the redevelopment of major monuments by
Maastricht University Maastricht University (abbreviated as UM; ) is a public university, public research university in Maastricht, Netherlands. Founded in 1976, it is the second youngest of the thirteen List of universities in the Netherlands, Dutch universities. In ...
(1993) and for the restoration of the
Basilica of Saint Servatius The Basilica of Saint Servatius () is a Roman Catholic Church (building), church dedicated to Saint Servatius, in the center of Maastricht, Netherlands. The architecturally hybrid but mainly Romanesque architecture, Romanesque church is situated ...
(1990), the (1997), the (2001), the (2005), (2009) and the "" (2011).


Works

*''Da capo. Een woord over regeering, kunst en oude monumenten''. 's-Gravenhage, Thieme, 1875. *''Beknopte beschrijving van de kunstvoorwerpen, tentoongesteld in het Koninklijk kabinet van schilderijen te 's-Gravenhage''. 's Gravenhage, 1875. *''Het Binnenhof en 's lands gebouwen in de residentie''. 's Gravenhage, Van Stockum, 1891.


References


Bibliography

* J.A.C. Tillema: ''Victor de Stuers : ideeën van een individualist'', Van Gorcum, 1982 {{DEFAULTSORT:Stuers 1843 births 1916 deaths 19th-century Dutch politicians Dutch civil servants 19th-century Dutch lawyers People from Maastricht