Acquisitions
Acquiring works by women makers, as well as objects that highlight women’s stories in history, is essential to improving the gender balance within the Rijksmuseum’s collection. Thanks to the support of the Women of the Rijksmuseum Fund, the collection has been enriched with more than 40 acquisitions in recent years. Below are several examples.
Vanitas still life
Maria van Oosterwijck (1630–1693)
Oil on canvas, ca. 1690
The symbolism of a 17th-century painting is often difficult to decipher, but not in this still life. On the sheet of paper in the foreground, Van Oosterwijck listed a relevant Biblical text for each element. The sunflower, for instance, represents God, while the wreath of flowers around the skull refers to the “crown of righteousness” that awaits all who love God after death.
Purchased with the support of the VriendenLoterij and the Women of the Rijksmuseum Fund, 2023
Portrait of Moses ter Borch as a Two-Year-Old Child
Gesina ter Borch (1633–1690)
Oil on canvas, 1667–1669
Moses ter Borch died in the Second Anglo-Dutch War at the age of 22. Shortly thereafter, his older sister Gesina painted a portrait of him as a two-year-old as a memento and tribute. We see him beating a drum, surrounded by toy weapons that allude to the virtues of courage and patriotism. The message seems to be that he was fearless, even as a toddler.
Purchased with the support of the Women of the Rijksmuseum Fund, 2024
Portrait of Francesca Riozzi-Gualano (1862-1946)
Georgine (“Geo”) Schwartze (1854–1935)
Carrara marble, ca. 1885
Rendered in marble by sculptor Georgine Schwartze, Francesca Riozzi wears the traditional costume of her native Lazio, Italy. Though less conventional as a subject for sculpture, the idealised, bucolic peasant life evoked by this dress was immensely popular among painters of the 19th century, including Georgine’s sister, Thérèse. The two shared a studio in their home on Prinsengracht, Amsterdam.
Purchased with the support of the Women of the Rijksmuseum Fund, 2023
Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium
Maria Sibylla Merian (1647–1717)
Book with parchment binding, blind-tooled; bound with hand-colored engravings, 1705
Artist and researcher Maria Sibylla Merian and her daughter Dorothea travelled to Suriname in 1699 to study the country’s indigenous insects. Merian published this book of her work, which was based on her own observations and on the knowledge of Suriname’s original inhabitants and of enslaved people. It contains 60 hand-coloured engravings on subjects such as the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly.
Purchased with the support of the VriendenLoterij, the Vrouwen van het Rijksmuseum Fonds, and the bequest of S.L.R. Zimmerman-Taylor and M.C.E. Aarts, 2024
Portrait of Madeleine Eulalie Land (1912–1991)
Wilhelmina Drupsteen (1880–1966)
Watercolour and pencil on paper, 1919
Drupsteen made this striking portrait of Madeleine Land in 1919, the year that Dutch women gained the right to vote. Land belonged to the first generation of Dutch girls who would be able to vote when they reached adulthood. Drupsteen was known in her own time for her work for the women’s movement. This was possibly a reason that Land’s parents chose her to paint a portrait of their oldest daughter, who in her future life would benefit from the increased opportunities available to women – particularly those from affluent backgrounds – thanks to first-wave feminism. Madeleine Land went on to have a long career as a paediatric and school physician.
Purchased with the support of the Women of the Rijksmuseum Fund, 2024
