Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (City Museum), a building with a large roof, is a modern art museum with a collection of about 90,000 works of art.
Architectural history of Stedelijk Museum
The Stedelijk Museum was founded in 1874, but for about 20 years it rented space in the National Gallery to exhibit.
In 1895 a separate building for the Stedelijk Museum was completed and opened.
Designed by Adriaan Willem Weissman, the Stedelijk Museum is a Neo-Renaissance architectural style inspired by 16th-century Dutch Renaissance architecture.
During World War II, valuable art objects were transferred to storage. However, even during the war, the museum continued to exhibit.
Although the works of art and buildings survived the war, the deterioration of the buildings was inevitable. At the end of 2003 the museum closed for major renovations.
During the renovation work, the museum was temporarily moved to another building and opened. In the meantime, various lectures and special exhibitions are held, and 600,000 people visit every year.
Reopened in 2012, the number of visitors recorded was over 95,000 in one month.
The main collection is exhibited in the old building, and experimental works and video works are exhibited in a large roofed building called “The Bathtub”, which was newly renovated.
The first floor is the entrance, the basement is the permanent exhibition hall, and the second floor is the special exhibition hall.
Case Files of Stedelijk Museum
Cut the painting by Barnett Newman with a utility knife
In March 1986, a mentally ill man cut a Barnett Newman painting on display at the Museum with a cutter, and was sentenced to eight months in prison, paroled for two years, and banned from the museum for three years.
Eleven years later, in November 1997, the same man cut Barnett Newman’s painting again, and the man was acquitted of his mental disorder at trial, but was permanently banned from entering the museum.
After this incident, museums are now only allowed to view Barnett Newman’s paintings from a distance of one meter.
Destruction of the large roof
On May 2011, the football team Ajax’s victory in the national competition was celebrated at Museumplein.
At that time, the large roof and glass panels of the museum were destroyed by the supporters who were participating in the event. The total damage was €400,000.
The next year’s event was held in a different location, but recently, security has been strengthened and the event is resuming at Museumplein.
Museum Tour in Amsterdam