ten top pieces on tour

acquired for the netherlands thanks to the bankgiro lottery

The Museum of Friesland presents a special exhibition from 4 November. The travelling exhibition Ten Top Pieces on Tour: Acquired for the Netherlands thanks to the BankGiro Lottery includes works by Rembrandt, Appel, Steen, Monet and Picasso, among others. The Kröller-Müller Museum, the Van Gogh Museum, the Rijksmuseum and the Mauritshuis are sending these works on a tour. The Museum of Friesland is second in line after the Mauritshuis to showcase these works, which were acquired between 1999 and 2016 thanks to the support of participants in the BankGiro Lottery and other individuals, funds, companies and public money

The exhibition contains an eclectic group of works of art. Examples include seventeenth-century paintings as the iconic Adolf and Catharina Croeser, better known as The Burgomaster of Delft and his Daughter by Jan Steen (Rijksmuseum). From the Mauritshuis collection there are View of Bentheim Castle by Jacob van Ruisdael and Rembrandt’s Portrait of an Old Man. Later works such as Monet’s characteristic Windmills near Zaandam (Van Gogh Museum), Picasso's Petite chouette (Kröller-Müller Museum) and Karel Appel’s The Square Man (Rijksmuseum) are also part of the presentation.

pop-up exhibition

Ten Top Pieces on Tour: Acquired for the Netherlands thanks to the BankGiro Loterij will be opened by Her Majesty Queen Máxima on Wednesday morning, 4 October, at the Mauritshuis in The Hague. The travelling exhibition has the character of a pop-up exhibition: the works travel to six different museums in the Netherlands where they can be seen for three weeks at each location. After the exhibition in the Museum of Friesland, the works travel to TwentseWelle (Rijksmuseum Twenthe) in Enschede, the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven, and the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo. The tour ends in March 2018 at the Bonnefantenmuseum in Maastricht

indispensable contribution to museums

The financial support that museums receive from private individuals to purchase works of art is underexposed but indispensable. New acquisitions ensure that collections continue to evolve: just one good acquisition can revitalise a collection. In addition, a new acquisition means that important artworks remain visible to the Dutch public and are conserved for the future. It is thanks to the generous support of the participants of the BankGiro Lottery (the cultural lottery in the Netherlands) and funds such as those provided by the Vereniging Rembrandt, the VSBfonds, Friends foundations and public funding through the Mondriaan Fund that museums in the Netherlands can continue to purchase important works of art.

The kind of artwork that is eligible for museum acquisition is rare and precious. When the opportunity to purchase arises, it is essential to act quickly and effectively to avoid missing out on a unique opportunity. Together, the Kröller-Müller Museum, the Van Gogh Museum, the Rijksmuseum and Mauritshuis receive the substantial amount of around € 7.5 million for acquisitions annually, thanks to the BankGiro Lottery participants. The contribution the BankGiro Lottery makes to art is unique and vitally important. Not only does it provide a good basis for acquiring additional funds: due to its structural nature (and being able to earn interest on the balance), financing can be arranged quickly.