Protocol

1. General

1.1. Masters of Realism and Masters of Realism are initiatives carried out by De Kunst Collega’s B.V., with its registered office in Roermond and offices in Oosterhout, Energieweg 49, 4906 CG.

1.2. The purpose of both initiatives is (1) to arrive at the composition of a group of a maximum of 200 Masters of Realism, consisting of Dutch living artists who create realistic paintings at a high level, and (2) to bring realistic painting in general and the Masters of Realism in particular to the attention of art lovers, art buyers, art collectors and (potential) clients at home and abroad.

1.3. Under no circumstances can De Kunst Collega’s be held liable for information not, not fully or incorrectly placed on the website meestersvanhetrealisme.nl or mastersofrealism.com. Nor can De Kunst Collega’s be held liable for information provided by the person who provided the information that is not true.

1.4. By using the services offered by De Kunst Collega’s with regard to Masters of Realism and the Masters of Realism, the person using the services unconditionally and fully agrees to this Protocol.

2. Masters of Realism

2.1. Living artists who, in the opinion of the members of the selection committee, create realistic paintings at a very high level are part of the Masters of Realism.

2.2. A maximum of two hundred visual artists with Dutch nationality or residing in the Netherlands for at least five years are part of the Masters of Realism. This maximum number is a fraction of the total number of Dutch artists who create realistic paintings and therefore allows for a strict selection based on the level of the work.

2.3. If an artist indicates that they wish to join the Masters of Realism and the waiting list contains a maximum of twenty-five balloted artists, applications will not be processed and therefore not balloted.

2.4. Artists who are part of the 200 Masters of Realism remain so until deregistration or death.

2.5. An artist who, in the opinion of De Kunst Collega’s, does not behave as may be expected of a Meester van het Realisme, may be denied continued participation in the Masters of Realism if requests to adjust the behavior do not have the desired effect.

2.6. Artists who are part of the Masters of Realism pay a contribution for this, which is collected annually by direct debit. The contribution for joining and continuing Masters of Realism is indicated on the application form.

3. Masters of Realism

3.1. From the end of 2024, several countries internationally will follow the example of the Masters of Realism and also honor the artists in their country who paint realistically with the title Meester van het Realisme.

3.2. The maximum number of Masters of Realism per country is based on the number of inhabitants, adjusted based on an assumption about the number of national artists who paint realistically.

3.3. At the end of 2024, the further procedural details of the Masters of Realism will be laid down in this Protocol as well as on www.mastersofrealism.com.

4. Registration and balloting

4.1. Any artist who wishes to join the Masters of Realism can register using the registration form on the website of the Masters of Realism (www.meestersvanhetrealisme.nl). Admission to the Masters of Realism is preceded by an assessment of the work by the members of a selection committee. The members of the selection committee give their opinions independently of each other. Only when the opinions of the members of the selection committee are positive can the artist join the Masters of Realism if the Masters of Realism has an open place. Otherwise, inclusion on the waiting list will take place if it does not yet contain twenty-five balloted artists.

4.2. Assessment of the work initially takes place on the basis of digital photos of the work via the artist’s website. If this is deemed desirable, additional images may be requested or the works themselves may be assessed. The works are strictly assessed on various fixed criteria such as: general impression, technique, refinement, expressiveness, light balance and originality.

4.3. If the ballot has a negative result, one can only register again for balloting after a minimum of 12 months with photos of works from the last twelve months.

4.4. Costs are associated with the assessment of the work by the members of the selection committee. These costs are indicated on the application form. The contribution is collected annually by direct debit.

4.5. The result of the ballot will not be communicated.

5. Deregistration

5.1. If a Meester van het Realisme no longer wishes to be part of the Dutch Masters of Realism, this can be made known by sending an e-mail to info@mastersofrealism.com. Preferably, the reason for deregistration is also stated in the e-mail.

5.2. Deregistration can take place at any time.

5.3. As a rule, a cancellation will be confirmed in writing by the organization of the Masters within five working days.

5.4. Regardless of the time of cancellation, membership ends on the last day of the current membership year, except when the membership is canceled less than 31 days before the end of the membership year. Then the membership continues for another year.
It is possible that some messages will still be received as if there was no cancellation. In those cases, the messages should be ignored because they are only intended for artists who are part of the Masters of Realism. Cancellation does not affect ongoing agreements, such as participation in an art fair in which Masters of Realism play or have played a role. Cancellation with retroactive effect is not possible.

5.5. After deregistration, the Master is no longer entitled to present themselves as a Meester van het Realisme. Attributes that were once received or acquired by the Master as gifts, such as the apron with the imprint ‘Masters of Realism’, the facade sign and the pin, may no longer be displayed from the day the deregistration is effective, as these attributes are inextricably linked to the status of the Masters of Realism.

5.6. In the event of deregistration, there will be no refund of contribution or other costs paid.

5.7. A former Meester van het Realisme can re-register as a Master, whereby the standard registration procedure is followed, with the exception of the ballot. Because there is a waiting list or for other reasons, it is possible that a new registration cannot be honored immediately.

6. Publicity and communication

6.1. An artist who registers for balloting gives permission with the registration for publication of the submitted data.

6.2. De Kunst Collega’s strive, among other things, to bring the work of the Masters of Realism to the attention of art lovers and art buyers at home and abroad.

6.3. For publicity, especially on the website of the Masters of Realism and in newsletters, artists who have registered or are registered to be part of the Masters of Realism and artists who are part of the Masters of Realism owe De Kunst Collega’s no compensation, just as little De Kunst Collega’s artists who have registered or are registered to be part of the Masters of Realism and artists who are part of the Masters of Realism owe a compensation.

6.4. Publicity and promotion at art fairs and in art books is also initially and under conditions free of charge. However, costs may be associated with these forms of publicity and promotion. If there are costs involved, these will be indicated in advance and in writing.

6.5. Protocols apply to participation in art fairs and art books, which are presented to artists who are part of the Masters of Realism before they make use of these forms of publicity and promotion.

6.6. If an artist no longer appreciates publicity, this can be made known by e-mail (info@mastersofrealism.com). The publicity will then be stopped after editions, contracts and other obligations have been terminated.

6.7. Communication between artists who are part of the Masters of Realism and De Kunst Collega’s takes place in the Dutch language and almost entirely via e-mail. For this reason, it is necessary that De Kunst Collega’s are informed of any changes to the e-mail address.

6.8. If an e-mail is not received, De Kunst Collega’s cannot be held responsible for this.

7. Privacy

7.1. The applicable privacy statement is set out at https://dekunstcollegas.nl/privacy/.

7.2. The person responsible for registering the data required for communication can be reached by e-mail: info@mastersofrealism.com.

8. Complaints

8.1. If there is dissatisfaction with the services of Masters of Realism, a complaint can be submitted.

8.2. Complaints must be made known in writing to Masters of Realism (info@mastersofrealism.com) within two weeks of the complaint arising.

8.3. De Kunst Collega’s strive to resolve complaints within 10 days.

9. Other

9.1. De Kunst Collega’s may amend this Protocol if there is reason to do so.

9.2. This Protocol is effective from June 1, 2023.

9.3. If one or more provisions in this Protocol are wholly or partially void or are nullified at any time, the remainder of the provisions in this Protocol will remain fully applicable.

9.4. This Protocol is not a complete record of all aspects that may play a role in the relationship between Masters of Realism and third parties. In cases where this Protocol does not provide, the opinion of De Kunst Collega’s is decisive.

9.5. This Protocol is governed by Dutch law.

9.6. All disputes for which no amicable settlement can be reached will be exclusively submitted to the judgment of the competent court in the district of the Zeeland-West-Brabant court, location Breda.