The Rijksmuseum in 2024

Publication date: 19 December 2024 - 12:08

The Rijksmuseum welcomed some 2.5 million visitors over the past year. More than 900,000 of them were based in the Netherlands and 445,000 were children. In the past ten years, the Rijksmuseum only received more visitors in the Rembrandt year (2019) and at the time of the Vermeer exhibition (2023). Members of the public gave an average rating of 8.6 for their visit to the Rijksmuseum in 2024. Online user figures grew, with 7.2 million people visiting the Rijksmuseum website in 2024 and our social media channels reaching 58.5 million people.

We thank everyone for their visit to the Rijksmuseum, both physically and online, and to all museums in the Netherlands where the treasures of the Rijksmuseum were on display last year. Thanks to the many collaborations with museums throughout the Netherlands and thanks to our supporters, millions of people can enjoy and be inspired by art and history.

Taco Dibbits, Director of the Rijksmuseum

Following several years of extensive research, November 2024 saw the start of the removal of the varnish layer from Rembrandt’s The Night Watch. Made possible in part by main partner AkzoNobel, along with funds and private donors through the Rijksmuseum Fonds.
In spring 2024 the Rijksmuseum presented the first major exhibition of the work of Frans Hals, one of the greatest Dutch painters of the 17th century, in partnership with the National Gallery in London, the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin and the Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem. Made possible in part by Ammodo, Rijksmuseum International Circle and Rijksmuseum Patrons.
The Point of View exhibition in summer 2024 offered a fresh perspective on the Rijksmuseum’s own collection. It showed how changing ideas around gender have been represented in art through the ages. Made possible in part by Fonds 21 and the Rijksmuseum Club.
Throughout the summer the Rijksmuseum Gardens were the setting for the first solo exhibition in the Netherlands of work by Korean artist Lee Ufan. This outdoor show was open to the public free of charge. Made possible in part by the Don Quixote Foundation/Rijksmuseum Fonds, Pon and the Rijksmuseum Club.
The Rijksmuseum is rounding off the year with the major international exhibition Asian Bronze. 4000 Years of Beauty. It brings together more than 75 masterpieces for the first time, from countries including India, Pakistan, Indonesia and Thailand. The exhibition runs until 12 January 2025. Made possible in part by the Bagri Foundation, Flora Fonds/Rijksmuseum Fonds and Rijksmuseum Friends.
The Rijksmuseum loaned works from the collection to 62 museums throughout the Netherlands. A total of 766 objects were loaned out.
This year saw the fourth edition in a series of exhibitions of paintings from the Rijksmuseum collection in the Dutch city museums Museum Gouda, Gemeentemuseum Het Hannemahuis in Harlingen, the Westfries Museum in Hoorn, the Stedelijk Museum Zutphen and the Limburgs Museum in Venlo. This series of exhibitions titled Treasures of the Rijksmuseum started in 2018.
The Rijksmuseum partnered with the Jewish Cultural Quarter to mount the exhibition Looted. Personal Stories about the Looting and Restitution of Jewish Cultural Property. It ran from 31 May to 27 October 2024 at Amsterdam’s National Holocaust Museum and Jewish Museum. Made possible by Vfonds and Mondriaan Fund. Co-financed by the European Union.
This year, the research project Women of the Rijksmuseum, which started in 2022, has continued to work on increasing visibility and appreciation for the role of women in Dutch cultural history. In 2024, this led to an audio tour, several new text boards, the international symposium Women in the Museum: Reclaming and reframing, and eight purchases from female makers.Made possible in part by CHANEL, Women of the Rijksmuseum Fund and private donors.
In late November 2024 the Rijksmuseum launched Collection Online, an innovative AI-enabled digital platform giving access to a vast resource of knowledge and beauty. Made possible in part by KPN, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Mondriaan Fund, Rijksmuseum International Circle and private donors through the Rijksmuseum Fonds.

Acquisitions

The support of many donors enabled the Rijksmuseum to acquire a large number of exceptional objects in 2024. They include:

A portrait of Moses ter Borch painted after 1667 by Gesina ter Borch. This is the only signed oil painting by the artist. Its purchase was made possible by support from the Women of the Rijksmuseum Fund.
A 1705 first edition of Maria Sibylla Merian’s Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium. This book was purchased with the support of the Friends’ Lottery (VriendenLoterij) and through the following Rijksmuseum Funds: the Women of the Rijksmuseum, the estate of Mrs S.L.R. Zimmerman-Taylor, the Joost and Carin Scholten Fund and Mrs M.C.E. Aarts, drs.
A leading Modern Japanese Lacquer collection, transferred to the museum by Jan Dees and René van der Star.
The photographic oeuvre of Hans van Manen, comprising 86 photographs donated by the photographer and his partner Henk van Dijk.
Judith Leyster’s Two Children with a Cat (c.1630), received on long-term loan from a private party.
Three paintings by Vincent van Gogh, received on long-term loan from the P. and N. de Boer Foundation.

Vital support

The Rijksmuseum is grateful for all the forms of support that it receives. Funding from the government, contributions from businesses and funds, as well as gifts, bequests and Friends are, and will remain, essential to the Rijksmuseum.

Looking ahead

Please find here the Rijksmuseum 2025 programme