Bob Scholte Fine Art will be exhibiting at PAN Amsterdam 2026 • Stand D • 1 - 9 November
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Bob Scholte Fine Art is a specialised art dealership focused on high-quality 19th and 20th-century art. As an art historian and dealer, Bob Scholte combines academic research with a trained eye for detail to identify exceptional works within the international market and place them in their proper context. Quality, transparency, and refined storytelling lie at the heart of the approach, complemented by personal guidance for private collectors.
About Bob Scholte
Art Historian, Art Dealer and Collector
My fascination with the art world began when I was thirteen, when I bought my first painting at an antiques market in Haarlem: a dark, worn nineteenth-century Madonna. Nothing of any great importance, but a seed had been planted. Since then, I have been drawn to tracking down unusual works and the research that often lies behind them. Much of my time is spent at auctions, going through catalogues and archives, looking for works that have somehow fallen out of view or whose stories have been forgotten.
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During my studies in History (BA) and Art History (BA, MA), I started buying art seriously. I set aside €300–400 of my student loan every month to buy works, taking them to auctions and seeing what I could find. I would then sell the works on. What started as a personal passion gradually grew into the art dealership I run today.
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The period around 1900 particularly fascinates me. It was the birthplace of countless art movements. From Symbolism and Expressionism to Fauvism, Cubism and Futurism, artists broke with tradition and searched for new forms, ideas and ways of looking at the modern world. Anything but boring.
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In the art trade, I focus on both established and overlooked artists, from Jan Mankes and Carel de Nerée tot Babberich to Nola Hatterman. I build my collection on personal conviction, market knowledge and art-historical research, while also working as an acquisition agent for collectors seeking specific works. I listen closely to collectors and curators. What are they looking for? Where are the challenges, and where is the supply? That is where I come in.
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A significant part of my work involves tracking down ‘sleepers’: undervalued works that, through research, can be put back into their proper context. Finding a trouvaille for my own collection gives me at least as much satisfaction as finding a hard-to-find work for someone else. That search has taken me to some unusual places, from working with the National Team for Art and Antiques Crime to valuation work at Waardewerk, television appearances at Talkshow Eva Jinek, and vetting at PAN and TEFAF.
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Curiosity is essential in the art trade. If you keep digging and stay persistent, you are regularly rewarded. I write about that search in my column 'Notes from the art trade' for Tableau Fine Arts Magazine, covering discoveries, archival research, forgeries and the surprises you encounter along the way. In doing so, I try to open up the art market to a wider audience.
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Fancy joining the search for a special work, or simply talking about a painting? Feel free to get in touch. Email, call or send me a WhatsApp message.
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Bob Scholte Fine Art is based in Haarlem, where the art dealership is currently located at a private residence. A dedicated gallery space at the same location is expected to open in spring 2027.