Gustave De Smet at Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar
For Gestel – De Smet, the Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar brought together works by Leo Gestel alongside, among others, seven paintings by Gustave De Smet on loan from The Phoebus Foundation. The exhibition creates a dialogue between two distinctive voices of European modernism. We went behind the scenes during the installation and condition checking of the loans.
Before a painting reaches the museum wall, it undergoes a carefully managed journey behind the scenes. Once the works arrived in Alkmaar, they were unpacked on site and meticulously inspected by both a conservator from The Phoebus Foundation and a conservator from the museum. Using detailed condition reports and close-up photographs prepared in the conservation studio, every painting was checked to ensure its condition remained fully unchanged from before departure.
Certain paint layers in some of Gustave De Smet’s works required particular attention. Due to aspects of the artist’s painting technique, some areas displayed pronounced cracking and craquelure, making close monitoring during transport and installation essential.
Only once the condition checks had been completed were the paintings installed by the art handlers. A precise and carefully coordinated process that largely unfolded out of sight, yet remained essential in bringing the works safely before the public.
The exhibition runs at the Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar until 13 September 2026.