Late Rembrandt

February 12 2015 to May 17 2015
https://www.rijksmuseum.nl

The Rijksmuseum presents its first major retrospective of Rembrandt van Rijn’s late works dating from c. 1652. This landmark exhibition, the world’s largest ever, brings together more than 90 paintings, drawings and prints from the world’s leading museums and private collections to showcase Rembrandt at the height of his power.

“For the first time in over twenty years, the Rijksmuseum will again be organising a Rembrandt exhibition, giving every generation the chance to renew its acquaintance with the great Master of the Golden Age.” Wim Pijbes, General Director of the Rijksmuseum

Daring, individual and intimate. Emerging from the shadow of tragic personal losses and financial setbacks, Rembrandt produced some of his finest work in his final years. By experimenting with paint and light, he achieved an unparalleled emotional depth, leading to his most daring, individual and intimate works.

Alexander Calder in the Rijksmuseum Summer Sculpture Garden

21st June 2014 - 5th October 2014
www.rijksmuseum.nl

Around 20 monumental sculptures and mobiles by American sculptor Alexander Calder (1898-1976) will be displayed in the museum's new 'outdoor gallery'.

In collaboration with the Calder Foundation, large scale sculptures from museums and private collections across Europe and the USA will be shown in the open air.

The exhibition is the second in a series of annual international sculpture displays which will be presented in the Rijksmuseum’s gardens over the next four years, made possible with funding from the BankGiro Lottery and an anonymous donor.

Art as Therapy

25th April 2014 - 7th September 2014
www.rijksmuseum.nl

From 25 April, British writers and philosophers Alain de Botton & John Armstrong will be showing in the Rijksmuseum what art can mean to visitors. And not so much from an (art-)historical point of view, but focusing rather on the therapeutic effect that art can have and the big questions in life that art can answer. In the exhibition Art is Therapy, De Botton (1969) and Armstrong (1966) will be commenting on 150 artworks on display in the Rijksmuseum galleries, from the Middle Ages right through to the 20th century, but also on objects in the shop, café, cloakroom and entrance. They have also selected approx. 40 prints from the Rijksmuseum Print Room. The text boards have been designed by Irma Boom and added to the museum’s original ones. De Botton and Armstrong believe that these new captions shed an entirely new light on the Rijksmuseum collection. This exhibition will be the first time that the philosophers put their theories from their latest book Art as Therapyinto practice.

De Botton and Armstrong feel that by providing the name of the artist, the material used, the period in which the object was made/created, etc., traditional museum text boards already suggest what the visitor should think about a certain object. The exhibition Art is Therapy, however, wants to question what the purpose of art is and highlight the therapeutic effect that art has on visitors who simply look at art and enjoy it. As far as the British philosophers are concerned, the focus should be less on where an art object comes from and who made it, and more on what it can do for the museum visitor in terms of issues that concern us all: love & relationships, work, status, memory and mortality. Prints from our own collection will also be on display based around these themes.