The Pieter and Olga Dreesmann Collection of works by Pablo Picasso

Pieter and French-Colombian Olga Ramos-Esteban, who were married in 2005, have worked closely together to build and shape their collections, sharing a passion for art. When in 2011 they decided against buying another Old Master painting and then, the following year, to sell their Old Master collection, they jointly agreed to focus thereafter on searching for works of special interest by Picasso. Not only have they assiduously attended many exhibitions and visited galleries featuring the artist’s work, they have studied different aspects of his development in detail. If they discovered a drawing or sculpture that held a particular fascination for them both, they discussed the possibility of a new acquisition with James Roundell, who usually acted on their behalf at auctions. 

Since the first Picasso work entered their collection in 1997, Dutch collector Pieter Dreesmann and his wife Olga have worked closely with James Roundell to build and shape the collection. From early Blue, Rose and Cubist explorations to Neo-classicism, Surrealism and later periods of his career, the works in the collection date from 1899 to 1962 and cover the broad spectrum of Picasso's artistic evolution.

Pieter and Olga’s genuine passion and enthusiasm for Picasso has been at the heart of their attitude towards understanding and collecting his art.From the very beginning, according to James Roundell, the idea was to create a collection rather than to acquire separate, that is, unrelated works. Not only did they choose objects that were characteristic of Picasso and referred to the different stages of his life, but the techniques that the artist employed across a wide range of media were always taken into consideration. No matter what they selected, of prime importance was both the quality of the objects and also how any new acquisition might relate to works already in the collection.