The Bonnefanten Museum is a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

fine art In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwor ...

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

History

The museum was founded in 1884 as the historical and archaeological museum of the Dutch province of Limburg. The name Bonnefanten Museum is derived from the French 'bons enfants' ('good children'), the popular name of a former convent that housed the museum from 1951 until 1978. In 1995, the museum moved to its present location, a former industrial site named 'Céramique'. The new building was designed by Italian architect Aldo Rossi. With its rocket-shaped

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, fro ...

overlooking the river Maas, it is one of Maastricht's most prominent modern buildings. Since 1999, the museum has become exclusively an art museum. The historical and archaeological collections were housed elsewhere. The museum is largely funded by the province of

Limburg Limburg or Limbourg may refer to: Regions * Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium * Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands * Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...

. In 2009, the museum celebrated its 125th anniversary with the exhibition ''Exile on Main Street''. In 2012, Stijn Huijts became director.

Collection

The combination of old art and contemporary art under one roof gives the Bonnefanten Museum its distinctive character. The department of old masters is located on the first floor and displays highlights of early Italian,

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

and Dutch

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

. Exhibited on the same floor is the museum's extensive collection of Medieval sculpture. The contemporary art collection is usually exhibited on the second floor and focuses on American Minimalism, Italian Arte Povera and Concept Art. The second and third floors are also used for temporary exhibitions.

Old art

The collection old art of the Bonnefanten Museum consists of four main sections: * Wooden sculptures dating from the 13th to the 16th century, notably by Jan van Steffeswert (e.g. '' The Virgin and Child with St. Anne'') and the ); * The so-called ''Neutelings collection'' of medieval art, consisting of artifacts made of wood, bronze, marble, alabaster and ivory from the

Southern Netherlands The Southern Netherlands, also called the Catholic Netherlands, were the parts of the Low Countries belonging to the Holy Roman Empire which were at first largely controlled by Habsburg Spain (Spanish Netherlands, 1556–1714) and later by the A ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and the German

Lower Rhine region The Lower Rhine region or Niederrhein is a region around the Lower Rhine section of the river Rhine in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany between approximately Oberhausen and Krefeld in the East and the Dutch border around Kleve in the West. ...

; * Italian paintings from the 14th and 15th centuries:

Giovanni del Biondo Giovanni del Biondo was a 14th-century Italian painter of the Gothic and early-Renaissance period. He was active in the period 1356-1399 and is mainly known for his panel paintings. He specialized in religious-themed works, many of which have su ...

, Domenico di Michelino, Jacopo del Casentino,

Sano di Pietro Sano di Pietro or Ansano di Pietro di Mencio (1405–1481) was an Italian painter of the Sienese school of painting. He was active for about half a century during the Quattrocento period, and his contemporaries included Giovanni di Paolo and S ...

, Pietro Nelli; * Flemish and Dutch paintings from the 16th and 17th centuries: Colijn de Coter, Jan Mandyn, Jan Provost, Roelandt Savery, Pieter Coecke van Aelst,

Pieter Aertsen Pieter Aertsen (1508 – 2 June 1575), called ''Lange Piet'' ("Tall Pete") because of his height, was a Dutch painter in the style of Northern Mannerism. He is credited with the invention of the monumental genre scene, which combines still life ...

Pieter Brueghel the Younger Pieter Brueghel (also Bruegel or Breughel) the Younger (, ; ; between 23 May and 10 October 1564 – between March and May 1638) was a Flemish painter, known for numerous copies after his father Pieter Bruegel the Elder's work as well as h ...

, David Teniers II,

Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradi ...

, Jacob Jordaens,

Hendrik van Steenwijk II Hendrik van Steenwijck II (also ''Steenwyck, Steinwick'') (c.1580–1640
at the RKD d ...

Gérard de Lairesse Gerard or Gérard (de) Lairesse (11 September 1641 – June 1711) was a Dutch Golden Age painter and art theorist. His broad range of skills included music, poetry, and theatre. De Lairesse was influenced by the Perugian Cesare Ripa and Fr ...

, Wallerant Vaillant,

Melchior d'Hondecoeter Melchior d'Hondecoeter (; 1636 – 3 April 1695), Dutch animalier painter, was born in Utrecht and died in Amsterdam. After the start of his career, he painted virtually exclusively bird subjects, usually exotic or game, in park-like landscap ...

Jan van Goyen Jan Josephszoon van Goyen (; 13 January 1596 – 27 April 1656) was a Dutch landscape painter. The scope of his landscape subjects was very broad as he painted forest landscapesm marines, river landscapes, beach scenes, winter landscape, cityscap ...

and Cornelis de Bryer.

Contemporary art

Since Alexander van Grevenstein became director in 1986, the Bonnefanten Museum has focused mainly on contemporary art. The main focus of the permanent collection is on: *

Conceptual art Conceptual art, also referred to as conceptualism, is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic, technical, and material concerns. Some works of conceptual art, sometimes called insta ...

: Jan Dibbets, Marcel Broodthaers,

Joseph Beuys Joseph Heinrich Beuys ( , ; 12 May 1921 – 23 January 1986) was a German artist, teacher, performance artist, and art theorist whose work reflected concepts of humanism, sociology, and anthroposophy. He was a founder of a provocative art mov ...

Bruce Nauman Bruce Nauman (born December 6, 1941) is an American artist. His practice spans a broad range of media including sculpture, photography, neon, video, drawing, printmaking, and performance. Nauman lives near Galisteo, New Mexico. Life and work ...

, Gilbert and George,

Ai Weiwei Ai Weiwei (, ; born 28 August 1957) is a Chinese contemporary artist, documentarian, and activist. Ai grew up in the far northwest of China, where he lived under harsh conditions due to his father's exile. As an activist, he has been openly c ...

; *

Minimal Art Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or co ...

Sol LeWitt Solomon "Sol" LeWitt (September 9, 1928 – April 8, 2007) was an American artist linked to various movements, including conceptual art and minimalism. LeWitt came to fame in the late 1960s with his wall drawings and "structures" (a term he pref ...

, Robert Ryman, Robert Mangold,

Richard Serra Richard Serra (born November 2, 1938) is an American artist known for his large-scale sculptures made for site-specific landscape, Urban area, urban, and Architecture, architectural settings. Serra's sculptures are notable for their material q ...

; * Arte Povera: Luciano Fabro,

Mario Merz Mario Merz (1 January 1925 – 9 November 2003) was an Italian artist, and husband of Marisa Merz. Life Born in Milan, Merz started drawing during World War II, when he was imprisoned for his activities with the ''Giustizia e Libertà'' antif ...

Jannis Kounellis Jannis Kounellis ( el, Γιάννης Κουνέλλης; 23 March 1936 – 16 February 2017) was a Greek Italian artist based in Rome. A key figure associated with Arte Povera, he studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Rome. Life and work ...

; *

Neo-expressionism Neo-expressionism is a style of late modernist or early-postmodern painting and sculpture that emerged in the late 1970s. Neo-expressionists were sometimes called ''Transavantgarde'', '' Junge Wilde'' or ''Neue Wilden'' ('The new wild ones'; 'Ne ...

: Neo Rauch, Peter Doig,

Gary Hume Gary Stewart Hume (born 9 May 1962) is an English artist. Hume's work is strongly identified with the YBA who came to prominence in the early 1990s. Hume lives and works in London and Accord, New York.

, Grayson Perry, Luc Tuymans, Marlene Dumas. The collection also features video art and room-size installations by younger artists: Atelier Van Lieshout, Francis Alÿs, David Claerbout, Patrick Van Caeckenbergh,

Roman Signer Roman Signer (born 1938 in Appenzell, Switzerland) is principally a visual artist who works in sculpture, art installations photography, and video. Early life and career Born in Appenzell, Switzerland, Signer started his career as an artist later i ...

Franz West Franz West (16 February 1947 – 25 July 2012) was an Austrian artist. He is best known for his unconventional objects and sculptures, installations and furniture work which often require an involvement of the audience. Early life and e ...

Pawel Althamer Pavel ( Bulgarian, Russian, Serbian and Macedonian: Павел, Czech, Slovene, Romanian: Pavel, Polish: Paweł, Ukrainian: Павло, Pavlo) is a male given name. It is a Slavic cognate of the name Paul (derived from the Greek Pavlos). P ...

. In 2011, a deal was negotiated between the collectors Jo and Marlies Eyck and the province of Limburg. The result was that the Eyck collection of postwar art and the castle of

Wijlre Wijlre ( or ; li, Wielder) is a village in the Dutch province of Limburg. It is located in the municipality of Gulpen-Wittem. History The village was first mentioned in 1075 as Wilere, and means "farm or hamlet". Wijlre developed in the Middl ...

and its grounds, are now part of the museum.

Gallery

Bibliography, references and notes

* Szénássy, I.L. (ed.), ''Bonnefantenmuseum. Het gebouw. Het museum. De verzamelingen''. Maastricht, 1984 * Szénássy, I.L. (ed.), ''Kunst in het Bonnefantenmuseum''. Maastricht, 1984 * Szénássy, I.L. (ed.), ''Oudheden in het Bonnefantenmuseum''. Maastricht, 1984 * Poel, P. te, ''Bonnefantenmuseum. Collectie Middeleeuws Houtsnijwerk''. Maastricht, 2007 * Poel, P. te, ''Bonnefantenmuseum. Collectie Neutelings''. Maastricht, 2007 * Quik, T., Bonnefantenmuseum. De geschiedenis. Maastricht, 2007 * Timmers, J.J.M., ''Catalogus van schilderijen en beeldhouwwerken''. Maastricht, 1958 * Wegen, R. van, and T. Quik (ed.), Bonnefantenmuseum Maastricht. Maastricht, 1995

External links

Bonnefantenmuseum
within Google Arts & Culture * {{Authority control Modern art museums Art museums and galleries in the Netherlands Postmodern architecture Museums in Maastricht Art museums established in 1884 1884 establishments in the Netherlands