Portrait printed on canvas
My choice fell on this canvas-printed portrait of VU founder Abraham Kuyper. It's in a plastic frame and Kuyper here has red-blond hair and blue eyes, which isn't right at all - he was dark! With that pink sash and his chest hung with medals, he looks like a Prussian general. You often come across this kind of kitsch on websites like AliBaba or Aliexpress and I really didn't expect it in the VU archives.'
Interest in Kuyper and Calvinism in Korea
'On the back it says that it was donated to VU Amsterdam in 1989 by Dr. S.K. Chung, President of the Institute of Calvinistic Studies in Korea. That fascinates me. At VU Amsterdam, few students still know who Abraham Kuyper was, and we are hardly concerned with Kuyper and the Protestant heritage. This painting shows that in Korea in the 1980s, of all places, he was still of interest to people who were once converted by us. I find that poignant. I wonder who received this portrait at VU Amsterdam and how they reacted.'
What is the story behind this portrait?
We asked (former) UB curator Hans Seijlhouwer about the story behind this portrait. He immediately started enthusiastically: 'I always say if a fire breaks out here, I'll get this out of the basement. The portrait was donated to VU Amsterdam after we helped Dr. Chung make an exhibition about Kuyper in Korea. Chung studied theology at VU. In 1987, the 150th anniversary of Abraham Kuyper's birth was celebrated with an exhibition on his life. That exhibition was in Maassluis and then was also on display at VU Amsterdam for two months, and then we put it away again.'
Riots between Protestant and Catholic Christians
In 1988 the Olympic Games took place in South Korea, in Seoul - where the Institute of Calvinistic Studies is also located. At the time, there were riots in Korea in which Protestant and Catholic students, among others, were pitted against each other. Many Koreans were converted by Americans of the Pentecostal Church but there were also Catholic missionaries. Dr. Chung was strongly committed to Calvinism and therefore wanted an exhibition on Kuyper and asked us if he could take it from us.'
Bright red hair
'We were unable to send any originals, so we reproduced as much photographic material as possible and sent doublets of Kuyper's work to Korea. With this, Chung made a wonderful exhibition of which we also have the catalog in the archive. On it is a great portrait of Kuyper -a woodcut- depicted as Koreans see us Dutch. Kuyper has bright red hair on the catalog. This printed portrait was made with a computer scan of this photo of Kuyper in ministerial uniform. And that photo in turn was made for the bust of Kuyper that stands in the hall of VU Amsterdam.
Novelty
'We were very pleased when this portrait was offered by Dr. Chung to our then director. Such a printed portrait was an impressive novelty at the time. This portrait is also colored the way Koreans see us, with reddish hair and blue eyes. Like Koen, I find it impressive that people in the 1980s were still paying attention to Kuyper. In Korea, Calvinist Christianity is really still alive.'
