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The Rijksmuseum (ολλανδική προφορά: ˈrɛi̯ks myˈzeːʏm) (αγγλικά: State Museum‎‎) is a Dutch national museum in Amsterdam, located on the Museumplein. The museum is dedicated to arts, crafts, and history. It has a large collection of paintings from the Dutch Golden Age and a substantial collection of Asian art. It also displays the stern of the HMS Royal Charles which was captured in the Raid on the Medway, and the Hartog plate.

Foundation

The museum was founded in 1800 in The Hague to exhibit the collections of the Dutch stadtholders. It was inspired by French example. By then it was known as the National Art Gallery (Dutch: Nationale Kunst-Gallerij). In 1808 the museum moved to Amsterdam on the orders of king Louis Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon Bonaparte. The paintings owned by that city, such as The Night Watch by Rembrandt, became part of the collection.

Cuypers' building

Front of the Rijksmuseum, circa 1895

Dutch newsreel from 1959

In 1863, there was a design contest for a new building for the Rijksmuseum, but none of the submissions was considered to be of sufficient quality. Pierre Cuypers also participated in the contest and his submission reached the second place. In 1876 a new contest was held and this time Pierre Cuypers won. The design was a combination of gothic and renaissance elements. The construction began on October 1, 1876. On both the inside and the outside, the building was richly decorated with references to Dutch art history. Another contest was held for these decorations. The winners were B. van Hove and J.F. Vermeylen for the sculptures, G. Sturm for the tile tableaus and painting and W.F. Dixon for the stained glass. The museum was opened at its new location on July 13, 1885.

The front of the museum is located at the Stadhouderskade, but on the other side it has a prominent position on the Museumplein, nowadays among the Van Gogh Museum, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, and the Concertgebouw.

Rembrandt's The Night Watch in the Philips wing

In 1890 a fragment building was added to the Rijksmuseum. This building was made out of fragments of demolished buildings that together give an overview of the Dutch history of architecture. In 1906 the hall for the Night Watch was rebuilt. In the interior more changes were made, between the 1920s and 1950s most multi-coloured wall decorations were painted over. In the 1960s exposition rooms and several floors were built into the two courtyards. The building had some minor renovations and restorations in 1984, 1995–1996 and 2000. From 2003 until 2013 the Rijksmuseum will be restored and renovated based on a design by Spanish architects Antonio Cruz and Antonio Ortiz. Many of the old interior decorations will be restored and the floors in the courtyards will be removed. During the restoration and renovation process only about four hundred of the one-million piece permanent collection are on display in an exhibition called The Masterpieces in the already renovated "fragment building," nowadays called the Philips wing.

Library

The Rijksmuseum Research Library is part of the Rijksmuseum, and is the best and the largest public art history research library in The Netherlands.

Collection

The paintings collection includes works by artists Jacob van Ruysdael, Frans Hals, Johannes Vermeer, Jan Steen and Rembrandt and Rembrandt's pupils.

Rembrandt

Rembrandt's The Night Watch (1642)

Vermeer's The Milkmaid (1658–1660)

Hals' Portrait of a Young Couple

The Paintings in the collection by Rembrandt van Rijn:

• Tobit and Anna with the Kid goat
• Musical Allegory
• Self Portrait 1629
• Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem
• An Old Woman Reading, probably the Prophetess Anna
• Bust of Young Woman (probably Saskia van Uylenburgh)
• Joseph Telling his Dreams
• Portrait of Johannes Wtenbogaert
• Portrait of van Haesje Jacobsdr van Cleyburgh
• Landscape with a Stone Bridge
• Dead Peacocks and a Girl
• Portrait of Maria Trip
• The Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq and Lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburch
• Portrait of Ephraim Bueno
• The Denial of Peter
• Titus as a Monk
• Self-portrait as the Apostle Paul
• Syndics of the Drapers' Guild
• The Jewish Bride

Johannes Vermeer

Paintings in the collection by Johannes Vermeer:

• The Milkmaid
• The Love Letter
• Woman in Blue Reading a Letter
• The Little Street

Frans Hals

Paintings in the collection by Frans Hals:

• Portrait of a Young Couple
• The Company of Reynier Real
• The Jolly Drinker
• Portrait of Lucas De Clercq
• Portrait of Nicolaes Hasselaer
• Portrait of a Man

Jan Steen

Paintings in the collection by Jan Steen.

• The Feast of Saint Nicholas
• The Drunken Pair
• The Toilet
• Adolf en Catharina Croeser
• Arent Oostwaard and his wife

The 'New' Rijksmuseum

The renovation of the south wing of the museum, known as the Philips Wing, was completed in 1996. The wing is used as a temporary museum space during the major refurbishment of the main building (2003-2013). In early December 2003, a large part of the museum closed for a renovation that initially would take only several years, but due to various delays, will now take about ten years to complete. In the meantime, the Philips Wing (named after one of the sponsors) of the museum remains open to the public.

On 26 February 2008 it was announced that the renovation will take a lot longer than previously planned. The opening is now scheduled for the first half of 2013.

The major renovations will take place for an amount of € 322 million. During this time, The Night Watch can be seen in the Philips Wing together with all 17th-century masterpieces of the museum. After the renovation, in 2013, the museum will display an exhibition of Dutch art and culture from 1200 to 2000. The Night Watch will return to the Night Watch Room, at the end of the Hall of Fame.

The reconstruction of the museum was completed on 16 July 2012. It will take until April 2013 before the museum reopens. Two weeks before the opening the museum's main pieces of art will move from the Philips Wing to the main building.

References

Royal Charles stern piece

External links

• Rijksmuseum – in six languages
• Paintings at the Rijksmuseum (in English)
• [1] (in English)