Huis Marseille, Museum for Photography is the oldest

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. The museum is housed in a monumental canal house at

Keizersgracht The Keizersgracht (; "Emperor's canal") is a canal in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It is the second of the three main Amsterdam canals that together form the Grachtengordel, or canal belt, and lies between the inner Herengracht and outer Prinseng ...

401. Since 1999, it has served as the first museum in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

fully dedicated to photography as an art form, also known as Huis Marseille. The museum offers a diverse exhibition program and stands out for the unique historical ambiance of its two seventeenth-century

canal house A canal house () is a (usually old) house overlooking a canal. These houses are often slim, high and deep. Canal houses usually had a basement and a loft and attic where trade goods could be stored. A special Beam (structure), beam or pulley in ...

s. Many original details have been meticulously preserved, including richly decorated ceiling paintings, elegant

stucco work Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

, marble finishes, and a distinctive

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

-style room featuring a striking red interior; the building was restored and the museum extended into the adjacent building in 2007–2013.David Rosenberg, "Jacqueline Hassink: ''View, Kyoto''": "Our Seven Favorite Photography Shows From 2014"
David Rosenberg and Jordan G. Teicher, Behold photography blog, ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

'', December 26, 2014. Huis Marseille deviates from the traditional "

white cube White Cube is a contemporary art gallery founded by Jay Jopling in London in 1993. The gallery has two branches in London: White Cube Mason's Yard in central London and White Cube Bermondsey in South East London; White Cube Hong Kong, in Centra ...

" layout. Its authentic, light-filled spaces enhance the presentation and experience of the photographic works. In addition, the museum features a photography

library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

, a specialized photobook store, and a canal garden with a historic garden house. The artistic nature of photography is a central theme at Huis Marseille. In an era where photography is an omnipresent and accessible (mass) medium, the art form continues to evolve. Huis Marseille focuses on photography that emphasizes an artistic visual language, characterized by a passionate spirit of inquiry and

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

innovation. Additionally, photography at Huis Marseille holds societal relevance, offering numerous connections to the shifting spirit of the times. The museum has showcased works by renowned photographers such as

Berenice Abbott Berenice Alice Abbott (July 17, 1898 – December 9, 1991) was an American photographer best known for her portraits of cultural figures of the interwar period, New York City photographs of architecture and urban design of the 1930s, and science ...

, Deborah Turbeville,

Cy Twombly Edwin Parker "Cy" Twombly Jr. (; April 25, 1928July 5, 2011) was an American Painting, painter, Sculpture, sculptor, and photographer. Twombly influenced artists such as Anselm Kiefer, Francesco Clemente, Julian Schnabel, and Jean-Michel Bas ...

Samuel Fosso Samuel Fosso (born July 17, 1962) is a Cameroonian-born Nigerian photographer who has worked for most of his career in the Central African Republic. His work includes using self-portraits adopting a series of personas, often commenting on the hi ...

, Dana Lixenberg,

Viviane Sassen Viviane Sassen (born 1972) is a Dutch artist living in Amsterdam. She is a photographer who works in both the fashion and fine art world. She is known for her use of geometric shapes, often abstractions of bodies. She has been widely published an ...

Bernd and Hilla Becher Bernhard "Bernd" Becher (; 20 August 1931 – 22 June 2007), and Hilla Becher, née Wobeser (2 September 1934 – 10 October 2015), were German conceptual artists and photographers working as a collaborative duo. They are best known for their e ...

Edward Burtynsky Edward Burtynsky (born February 22, 1955) is a Canadian photographer and artist known for his large format photographs of industrial landscapes. His works depict locations from around the world that represent the increasing development of indust ...

, and Deana Lawson. In addition, the museum houses an extensive collection of contemporary photography, featuring works by artists including Jacqueline Hassink,

Guy Tillim Guy Tillim (born 1962) is a South African photographer known for his work focusing on troubled regions of Sub-Saharan Africa. A member of the country's white minority, Tillim was born in Johannesburg in 1962. Poplak 2011. He graduated from the ...

Anton Corbijn Anton Johannes Gerrit Corbijn van Willenswaard (; born 20 May 1955) is a Dutch photographer, film director, and music video director. He is the creative director behind the visual output of Depeche Mode and U2,Pitman, Joanna"The silent partner" ...

Thomas Struth Thomas Struth (born 11 October 1954) is a German photographer who is best known for his ''Museum Photographs'' series, black and white photographs of the streets of Düsseldorf and New York taken in the 1970s, and his family photographs series. ...

, and

Sophie Calle Sophie Calle (; born 9 October 1953) is a French writer, photographer, installation artist, and conceptual artist. Daughter of the contemporary art collector Robert Calle, Calle's work is distinguished by its use of arbitrary sets of constrai ...

History

The museum Huis Marseille takes its name from the building in which it is housed. The monumental canal house is built around 1665 for the French merchant Isaac Focquier. On the building's impressive, classical façade, Focquier placed a stone depicting the layout of the French

port city A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manche ...

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

. The ship he had outfitted in Marseille, which brought him to Amsterdam, made him a wealthy man. For several years, he was a member of Amsterdam's ''College van Commercie'' ( College of Commerce), where his experience as a successful merchant allowed him to influence trade matters. His involvement with the commission coincided with the construction of his house on the Keizersgracht, underscoring his status as a respectable figure. Focquier had distinguished himself and risen to the highest circles of Amsterdam, an elite class of affluent, self-assured men immortalized in group portraits such as

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (; ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), mononymously known as Rembrandt was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and Drawing, draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in ...

’s ''Syndics of the Drapers' Guild'' ('' De Staalmeesters'').

The houses

Three hundred years later, the original seventeenth-century layout of the house—consisting of a 'front' segment, a courtyard, a 'back' segment and garden—is still largely intact. In the current garden room hangs an original ceiling painting from 1730, specially created for the house by

Jacob de Wit Jacob de Wit (19 December 1695 – 12 November 1754) was a Dutch artist and interior decorator who painted many religious scenes. Biography Jacob de Wit was born in Amsterdam, and became famous for his door and ceiling paintings. He lived on ...

, the leading decorator of the

18th century The 18th century lasted from 1 January 1701 (represented by the Roman numerals MDCCI) to 31 December 1800 (MDCCC). During the 18th century, elements of Enlightenment thinking culminated in the Atlantic Revolutions. Revolutions began to ch ...

. The work depicts

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

, seated on the clouds, flanked by

Minerva Minerva (; ; ) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. She is also a goddess of warfare, though with a focus on strategic warfare, rather than the violence of gods such as Mars. Be ...

and the nine

Muses In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

. The ceiling piece was housed in the

Rijksmuseum The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the S ...

for many years but returned to its original location in 2004, after a thorough restoration, on loan from the Royal Archaeological Society ( Koninklijk Oudheidkundig Genootschap). In September 2013, the museum was expanded to include the neighboring building at Keizersgracht 399, providing the museum with more exhibition space, a larger library, and its own

collection Collection or Collections may refer to: Computing * Collection (abstract data type), the abstract concept of collections in computer science * Collection (linking), the act of linkage editing in computing * Garbage collection (computing), autom ...

storage. The first

exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibiti ...

in the expanded Huis Marseille took place in September 2013. Since the expansion in 2013, Huis Marseille, Museum for Photography, consists of two connected buildings. Both buildings have five floors accessible to visitors, with a total of fourteen different exhibition rooms. The most striking feature of the extension is a Louis XIV-style room from the early 18th century. Over the decades, the room has featured various colors. Beneath the last cream-colored layer of paint, olive green, earth-toned, and scarlet pigments were found. This particular shade of red is almost unique in the Netherlands in a reference room. In consultation with the Bureau for Monuments and Archaeology ( Bureau Monumenten en Archeologie), it was decided to restore the detailed red wall and ceiling moldings to their original state.

Exhibitions

Some of the exhibitions that have taken place at Huis Marseille: *

David Goldblatt David Goldblatt HonFRPS (29 November 1930 – 25 June 2018) was a South African documentary Photographer noted for his dedicated portrayal of the South African peoples within the political landscape of the apartheid era.Weinberg, Paul.David ...

: Intersections (2007) * Jacqueline Hassink: The Power Show (2007) *

: Oil (2009) * Digitaal? Analoog! ''met fotoveiling ten bate van fotografielaboratorium Aap-lab'' (2010) * First Light: Fotografie & Astronomie (2010) * Scarlett Hooft Graafland: Soft Horizons (2011) * Yasusuke Ota: The Abandoned Animals of Fukushima (2012) *

: In and out of fashion (2012) * Rob Hornstra: ''Gouden jaren'' (2013) * Apartheid & After (2014) * Taco Anema: In Conference. Portraits of Dutch Administrative Boards (2014) * Cor Jaring: Cor was hier (2015) * Stephan Shore: Retrospective (2016) * Dana Lixenberg: Imperial Courts (2016) * Eddo Hartmann: Setting the Stage: Pyongyang, North Korea, Part 2 * Jeff Cowen: Photoworks (2017) * Jamie Hawkesworth: Landscape with Tree (2017) * Joscha Steffens: Teen Spirit Island * Harold Strak & Willem van Zoetendaal: Amsterdam Stuff (2018) * Helga Paris, Céline van Balen, Esther Kroon & Julie Greve: Futures Past & Present (2019) *

: Portraits of Modernity (2019) * Elspeth Diederix: When Red Disappears (2019) * Deana Lawson (2019) * Jean-Luc Mylayne: The Autumn of Paradise (2020) * Farah Al Qasimi, Frida Orupabo, Coco Capitán, Myriam Boulos: Infinite Identities (2020) * Vincent Delbrouck: Champú (2021) * Sohrab Hura: Spill (2021) *

Luc Delahaye Luc Delahaye (born 1962) is a French photographer known for his large-scale color works depicting conflicts, world events or social issues. His pictures are characterized by detachment, directness and rich details, a documentary approach which is h ...

: Le Village (2021) * Charlotte Dumas: Ao (2021) * Lindokuhle Sobekwa: Umkhondo. Tracing memory (2022) * Dana Lixenberg: Polaroid 54/59/79 (2022) * Sabelo Mlangeni: Isivumelwano (2022) * Dirk Kome: Vijf lange meden (2022) * Jochen Lempert: Natural sources (2022) * Nhu Xuan Hua: Hug of a swan (2022)

References

{{Authority control Photography museums and galleries in the Netherlands