Polygon helps save an art gallery in the Netherlands

The art gallery Kasteel Wijlre estate was hit hard by last week's flooding in the Netherlands. The hedge house art pavilion Buitenplaats Wijlre Castle was severely affected by the flood disaster and had to close.

On Tuesday night, the situation seemed to be under control, but when the Geul river flooded out of its borders on Wednesday, the park and the Hedge House art pavilion flooded within hours, leaving extensive damage.

Jonny Kievits at Vanwaarde went by Wijlre on Wednesday morning, prepared with gloves, art foam, and other protective equipment to offer his knowledge and skills and to help arrange any evacuation transport.

“On the Tuesday everything was fine and they didn´t need any help. But I went by on the Wednesday morning as well and by then the situation had gone awry. With the help of the fire brigade, colleagues of Polygon, Stichting Salvage and many others we were able to help them and a large part of the art collection was saved from the water and high humidity in the building”

Many pieces of artwork had suffered water damage or been affected by the humidity. The pieces of artwork were left to dry under the guidance of conservation expert Helicon and restored where necessary.

“The garden and sculptures in the park also suffered from the large amount of water. In the coming months, the art gallery will be closed. Polygon will help with cleaning and drying the estate property and work together to restore the country estate so it will be able to open again”, says Jonny Kievits.

Polygon Netherlands subsidiary Vanwaarde is a document restoration company and a specialist in restoring documents, artifacts, art and antiques.