Our AKN Editor Visits The Centraal Museum In Utrecht ~ The Earliest Municipal Museum of The Netherlands

Written by Juan Cardona Friday, 14 January 2011 21:46

The Centraal Museum in Utrecht is known as the the earliest municipal museum of the Netherlands. Founded in 1838, the museum is located in a former medieval Augustinian monastery which was enlarged in the beginning of the 20th century and converted into a museum. It encircles a beautiful historic garden. Initially, the collection - exhibited on the top floor of the Utrecht townhall - was limited to art related to the city of Utrecht. In 1921 the collection merged with various private collections in the new 'centralised museum' (hence the name 'Centraal museum', centraal being the Dutch word for central) Sections of the building were also used as an orphanage, military stable and a psychiatric hospital.Utrecht's ancient city-centre features many buildings and structures from the early Middle Ages. It has been the religious centre of the Netherlands since the eighth century. In 1999 the Centraal museum went under renovations by architects Stéphane Beel, Lieven Achtergael and Peter Versseput. The museum consists of a central courtyard surrounded by a series of historical buildings, including a church and additional modern extensions. The museum also has a series of additional buildings such as the Bruna House, with more than 1,200 works by artist Dick Bruna, and the Rietveld-Schröderhuis, which is listed on the Unesco Heritage List since the end of year 2000. The Centraal museum has an abundance of permanent collections as well as special exhibitions. Currently, the collection comprises pre-1850 art, modern art, applied art, fashion and the city history of Utrecht. The museum presents - besides it's semi-permanent presentations of the collocation - annually about 12 exhibitions which attract a total of 225.000 visitors each year. In recent years the museum became more and more a platform for international, contemporary art. However, the focus on contemporary art from non-western countries as the planned exhibition "Beyond the Dutch. Indonesia, The Netherlands and the visual arts since 1900" is the one of the first exhibitions of the museum which presents the work of contemporary artists from the South. So far, the Centraal Museum has no further specific plans to continue this focus on non-western art. Utrecht is host to Utrecht University, the largest university of the Netherlands, as well as several other institutes for higher education. Due to its central position within the country it is an important transportation hub in the Netherlands. It has the second highest number of cultural events in the Netherlands, after Amsterdam. Visit the website at : www.centraalmuseum.nl/

The museum has a large and varied collection of art divided into five departments: old masters, modern art, design, fashion and local history. Among the highlights of the old masters are works by Seared, Van Scorel and the Utrecht Caravaggists, including Bloemaert, Ter Brugghen and Van Honthorst. The modern art collection provides a broad survey of Dutch visual art of the twentieth century, featuring work by Van Doesburg, Van der Leck and the "Magic Realists" like Koch, Willink and Moesman. Amongst the highlights of the museum is the one-thousand year old 'Utrecht Ship'. The ship is part of the collection 'Stadsgeschiedenis' (City History). The ship was found in 1930 near the Van Hoornekade in Utrecht and was put in the cellar of the 16th-century built part of museum. A much appreciated highlight is the reknowned collection of paintings by the Utrecht Caravaggians, such as Gerard van Honthorst and Hendrick ter Brugghen. Both of them travelled to Rome in the early 17th century to study the works of the Italian master Caravaggio. Along with the mannerists Joachim Wtewael, Abraham Bloemaert, Paulus Moreelse and renaissance-painter Jan van Scorel, the carravagists give the collection in Utrecht an international allure. The Centraal Museum possesses the largest Rietveld collection in the world. (Utrecht architect and designer Gerrit Thomas Rietveld (1888-1964) )The collection includes furniture, models, drawings as well as the Rietveld Schröderarchive and the Rietveld Schröderhouse. In the Centraal Museum the Rietveld collection is on permanent view. In addition the Centraal Museum has extensive collections of paintings, sculptures, applied art as well. It is a rich and varied collection ranging from the Middle Ages to the present. The collections of applied art and fashion occupy a prominent position within the museum and reflect design development, from simple utility to high fashion. The museum can also boast of a comprehensive overview of twentieth-century Dutch art with works by Van Doesburg, Van der Leck and Pyke Koch. Only one work of art from Utrecht is more famous around the world than the Rietveld chair, and that is "Miffy", the little rabbit created by Dick Bruna in 1955. Design icon, children’s character, now a fashion brand – "Miffy" is an international phenomenon.