At the Dutch Art Gallery, it’s not rare for memories to become encased underneath a pane of glass.
In addition to its large, curated collection of original artwork, the gallery specializes in custom framing. Mementos are a specialty for staff, who have preserved Air Force caps, a Native American ceremonial pipe, football jerseys, service medals, Civil War-era Colt pistols and even some delicate glass Christmas ornaments from the 1930s inside shadowbox containers.
Photography by Yuvie Styles
Overseeing the framing operation is Nick Massar, the Dutch Art Gallery’s “Framing Guru.” It’s fitting that he oversees such a nostalgic aspect of the business.
After all, it was his grandparents who first opened the store 60 years ago.
Ben and Ann Massar owned a grocery store selling fresh fruits and vegetables in Delft, the Netherlands in the ’40s and ’50s. In the ’60s, Ben and Ann moved their family — consisting of 9-year-old Hans, Nick’s father, and his twin brother — to live in Dallas-Fort Worth after visiting relatives living in Garland. The former grocer, apparently, didn’t have too much of a problem trading paper bags for stretched canvas.
“In Holland, he fed everybody that needed food,” Hans says. “And here, he wanted them to enjoy life.”
In 1965, the same year the Massars moved to North Texas, Ben opened up the original Dutch Art Gallery near White Rock Lake. A year later, he moved the business to its current 7,000-square-foot location in Northlake Center.
The Dutch Art Gallery’s name was originally a bit more than just an ode to the background of its owners. While newer collections tend to feature bluebonnets over tulips and mesas over windmills, Ben Massar first stocked his store with artwork bought directly from Dutch painters, a form of patronage which his family furthers through exhibitions and shows featuring individual artists.
“He wanted to build up the prestige of the artist,” Hans says. “This was a great place for them to support the community.”
Over the years, the Dutch Art Gallery expanded to three additional locations across Dallas, including a storefront in the Adolphus Hotel. The satellite locations eventually closed in the 2000s as a result of economic strain, leaving the Northlake Center location, filled with decades of Massar family memories, as the lone remaining Dutch Art Gallery.
Ben and Anna died in 2000 and 2010, respectively. Before they stepped away from the business, they handed the gallery off to Hans’ wife, Pam Massar.
“It was a complete honor when my mother-and father-in-law came to me and asked if I would be interested in doing it,” Pam says. “It was, in a way, kind of scary at first. The customers were so used to working with my mother-and father-in-law, and I just dug in there and tried to learn as much as I could.”
In her role, Pam manages day-to-day operations, oversees the gallery’s collection of over 10,000 prints, consults with artists and guides buyers in their search for a conversation-starting mantle piece. Original works make up about 98% of the collection found on the gallery floor and are often sourced from Southwestern states like Texas, Arizona and California.
Many of the artists represented in the gallery are found after submitting their work to the Massars for consideration in their two annual juried art shows, while others find their way to the floor through solo exhibitions. Most are commercially established artists. Some, however, sell their first paintings at Dutch Art Gallery shows.
“I just love representing our local artists,” Pam says. “I really do, and especially in this area as well, our working relationship with our artists is very, I think, top notch.”
She says the collection has trended more toward original and modern art in recent years to reflect younger clients’ changing tastes.
Art may take center stage up front, but a speciality for the business lies in custom framing for flat prints and paintings, in addition to mementos inside shadowbox containers made of various materials. Never heard of a shadowbox container? It’s essentially a frame of varying thickness, depending on the object, with a single clear display pane up front. After enough threadwork and container design, objects can appear suspended within the frame.
“(Nick) has an engineering mind,” Hans says.
One notable job, Pam remembers, came when a grandmother decided to frame two baptismal gowns she made for her grandchildren with fabric from her wedding dress. It was easy enough to remove the girls’ gown for the third grandchild, she says.
No. 4 and 5? A little more threadwork.
“Then the little boy outfit came in, and I said, ‘Oh, you’re having another baby grandson.’ She goes, ‘Twins,’” she laughs. “So she had to get her gown, the scraps of her gown, and have the seamstress make another little outfit.”
The Dutch Art Gallery will celebrate 60 years in Lake Highlands this November with a special anniversary celebration and show. Hans says he is looking to the future and would like to further expand while keeping it a family business.
It must be hard to look forward, however, in a space filled with so many memories. He fondly recalls his little brother growing up in a playpen in the back of the store and seeing the care with which his parents grew the gallery. His wife and son both have plenty of warm memories of their own by now.
The gallery has one row of windows toward the front. Through them, passersby can look through 60 years of Massar family history mixed in among the statuettes and landscapes.
It’s become their shadowbox.
“My parents would be very proud of what we’ve done with the business,” Hans says in a voice cracking with emotion. “And I have to thank Pam for that, since she’s just taken it, she has a passion for this.”
