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A hotelier from Boekelo wants to auction off a statue next to his hotel in Paris. But the municipality of Enschede considers itself the owner of the statue and has taken it to court.
The statue The great couple by French sculptor Henri Étienne-Martin was presented in Boekelo in 1968. It was a gift from the Royal Dutch Salt Industry to the village community, which provided so much work for salt production.
The municipality of Enschede considers itself the rightful owner because the artwork was a gift to Boekelo, which falls under Enschede. The hotelier sees it differently: he bought the statue in 2004 at the same time as the hotel and the surrounding land. With that, he considers himself the rightful owner and is able to sell the statue, he writes RTV Ext.
He had the statue excavated last summer. He was subsequently transferred to Paris, where interested parties will have time in the coming weeks to view the work and make an offer. Recently, another sculpture by the same artist sold like hot cakes at an auction in the French capital.
Value of the image discovered by chance
After the unveiling, the statue stood for years outside the entrance to what was then a wave pool and spa. In recent decades, the building has functioned as a hotel with an apartment complex.
The value of the artwork was accidentally discovered by Henk Dekker, the president of the apartment complex owners association. The art aficionado stumbled upon a statue of Étienne-Martin in a sculpture garden in Switzerland and immediately bonded with the artwork in his village.
He discovered that the Boekelos art object is part of a series of six sculptures, he tells RTV Oost. One of these copies was auctioned in October 2020 at the renowned Christie’s auction house in Paris. Where the proceeds had been estimated in advance at €30,000 to €40,000, the picture was reduced to €150,000.
‘The image is part of our intangible heritage’
Dekker was lyrical about his discovery. He bundled his photos and accompanying story into a booklet and eagerly distributed them. Not only to the Boekelo village council, but also to the hotel owner. He therefore regards the subsequent legal battle with regret. “Let it end like this, I’m disappointed.”
After the innkeeper had the statue excavated in July, the village council raised the alarm with the municipality. “After all, it is a gift to us as a community. To the workers who have contributed to the village of Boekelo as it is today,” says President André de Boer. “It symbolizes the bond Boekelo traditionally has with salt. This makes this image part of our intangible heritage.”
The municipality wants to prevent the sale of the statue with summary proceedings. The judge called on both sides to reach an agreement. The hotel owner’s attorney says she will sit down with the commissioner in charge to see if they can come to an agreement. If not, the judge will issue a ruling on December 1.
