The Rijksmuseum, the national museum of the Netherlands in Amsterdam, announced today that it will partner with the municipality of Eindhoven to build a satellite branch in Eindhoven. The branch will show works from the Rijksmuseum’s collection.
With a collection of over one million objects, the Rijksmuseum is famous for its holdings of Dutch art from 1200 to now, including works by Rembrandt van Rijn, Johannes Vermeer, Judith Leyster, Frans Hals, Rachel Ruysch, Vincent van Gogh, Karel Appel, and others. In pride of place are such masterpieces of Dutch Golden Age art as Vermeer’s The Milkmaid (c. 1660), Rembrandt’s The Night Watch (1642), and Hendrick Avercamp’s Winter Landscape with Ice Skaters (1608).
Eindhoven, a city in the south Netherlands, is the home base of Philips formerly a consumer electronics giant and now a health technology firm which was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. In part because of Philips’s presence in the city, the “Brainport” region surrounding Eindhoven has become known as a technology and industrial hub.
A major sponsor for the project is the Dutch semiconductor company ASML, which has a location in nearby Veldhoven. “Attracting this world famous institution to the region will not only allow more people to experience and enjoy the museum’s artistic and cultural treasures, but will also strengthen Brainport Eindhoven as a cultural destination and a great place to live and work,” Christophe Fouquet, CEO of ASML, said in a statement.
The new 35,000 square foot building will be located in a park near the Eindhoven Central Station and is expected to open in six to eight years. Once open, according to the press release, it will be “a dynamic space that presents exhibitions from new perspectives.”
