Research and publications
The Women of the Rijksmuseum project group continuously conducts research into the traces women have left in Dutch art and history, focusing on three core research pillars:
- Women makers
- Women in history
- Women in the institutional history of the Rijksmuseum, with special attention to women collectors, donors, patrons, and former staff members
Through this research, the role of women in Dutch cultural history is strengthened and anchored. The results are incorporated into the museum’s collection display, exhibitions, and (media) publications. Below are several examples of (ongoing) research.
Publications & Bulletin
Research carried out by the Women of the Rijksmuseum project group has so far resulted in more than 35 publications. The most up-to-date overview can be found here. In 2023 (vol. 71 no. 1) and 2025 (vol. 73 no. 1), two special issues of The Rijksmuseum Bulletin dedicated to Women of the Rijksmuseum were published.
FEATURED RESEARCH: APPLIED ARTS IN THE 18TH CENTURY
From makers to tastemakers, and from collectors to patrons: women played highly diverse roles within the applied arts. In 2024, the Rijksmuseum researched the women behind porcelain, silver, furniture, and glass. This resulted in around 70 new labels and gallery texts in the 18th-century displays, including the addition of three women makers.
Women were an important driving force behind developments in taste and style. They acted as commissioners and patrons. Without the support of Madame de Pompadour, for instance, the Vincennes porcelain manufactory would never have become so successful, while the distinctive preferences of Queen Marie Antoinette strongly influenced stylistic developments of the 1770s and 1780s. Her tastes also sparked a renewed interest in 17th-century Asian lacquerware. Even in the choice of a twenty-six-piece silver table service, a woman’s taste proved decisive: the wife of the recipient preferred the tableware set over a collection of snuffboxes.
FEATURED RESEARCH: DONORS
Women donors and bequestors have made an important contribution to the Rijksmuseum collection since its founding, yet their role has never been systematically studied. Many of them remained pverlooked, hidden in the archives behind male family names. This research brings these women to light, showing how they contributed to shaping the collection.
Roughly one in four donors of objects to the museum is a woman. They include collectors, heirs of family collections, and relatives of artists. For example, the 17th century doll’s house of Petronella Dunois was passed down through generations until it was bequeathed to the museum in the 20th century by Sara Maria van Tienhoven-Hacke. Women artists, too, regularly donated their own work – Lou Loeber, for instance, gifted hundreds of her drawings and prints.
By uncovering these and other stories, the significant role women have played in the institutional history of the Rijksmuseum becomes increasingly visible.
