APELDOON.- Paleis Het Loo is showing an exhibition entitled ‘Royal Photos by Vincent Mentzel’, featuring some of the finest pictures of the Royal Family made by photographer Vincent Mentzel. Mentzel was allowed to work in close proximity to the family and the result is often very unique. His work gives a striking time-line of the Netherlands and the life of the House of Orange under Queen Beatrix.
Throughout his 40-year journalistic career, Vincent Mentzel produced photographs that gave a face to NRC Handelsblad. Thanks to his broad perspective as photo journalist, Mentzel did not focus on any specific field or subject. In his enormous oeuvre, the central place is given to people, and a very special place is reserved for an exceptional family that he regularly had before his lens: the Royal Family. Over the years, a special bond arose with Queen Beatrix, Prince Claus and their family. Mentzel was asked on several occasions to make an official portrait. The two most famous photographs of Queen Beatrix are strikingly stately. They formed the basis for her portrait on the Dutch guilder and the well-known “dotted” postage stamp.
With his journalistic eye and background, Mentzel never hesitated to capture the more informal moments during his contacts with the Royal Family. This, together with his original photographic view, resulted in a special series of images, characterised by an informal, sometimes even frivolous, yet always respectful approach.
Paleis Het Loo is located in the heart of the Netherlands, on the outskirts of Apeldoon. Since 1984, after a thorough restoration, this former royal palace has been open to the public. The furnished rooms and chambers show how the Oranges have lived and worked here for 300 years. The baroque gardens have a symmetrical design, taking the garden of the 17th century as an example, and are unique in the Netherlands. In the course of those 300 years, the palace has had a lot of very diverse residents and the building itself underwent many changes.
Paleis Het Loo not only has its own collection, but also has items and collections on loan from others, including the Foundation of Historic Collections of the House of Oranje-Nassau, the Royal Collections, the Historic Society Oranje-Nassau, the Foundation for the Preservation of the Museum of the Chancery of Dutch Orders, and from private collections. A large number of acquisitions were made possible by the Foundation ‘t Konings Loo, the Rembrandt Society and private individuals. The collection has c. 160,000 objects and consists of several sub-collections: paintings, sculptures, furniture, arts and crafts, textile and costumes, drawing, prints and photos, orders and decorations, books and carriages and vehicles. In addition, Paleis Het Loo manages part of the National Plant Collection.
