Centraal Museum

Profile

Utrecht's Centraal Museum was founded in 1838, which makes it the oldest municipal museum in the Netherlands. The museum has a large and varied collection of art divided into five departments: old masters, modern art, design, fashion and local history. Among the highlights of the old masters are works by Saenredam, Van Scorel and the Utrecht Caravaggists, including Ter Brugghen and Van Honthorst. The modern art collection provides a broad survey of Dutch visual art of the twentieth century, featuring work by Van Doesburg, Van der Leck and the Magic Realists Koch, Willink and Moesman. The Centraal Museum possesses the world's largest collection of Rietveld designs and has a permanent exhibition of work by Dick Bruna. 

from Cloister to Museum

The Centraal Museum is housed in a former medieval cloister. But parts of the building have also served as an orphanage, military stable and a psychiatric hospital. In 1999 the museum was renovated by the architects Stéphane Beel, Lieven Achtergael and Peter Versseput. The museum comprises a series of pavilions around a central courtyard. Wandering around the museum it's soon apparent that this building is a labyrinth!

represented artists

Albert Bitran      George Hendrik Breitner      Gustave Courbet      Giorgio de Chirico      William Degouve de Nuncques      Charles Dufresne      Jean-Louis Forain      Auguste Herbin      Maximilien Luce      Jan Mankes      Jean-Francois Millet

Piet Mondrian      Julius Pinkas Pascin      John Rädecker      Gerrit Rietveld      Gino Severini      Paul Signac      Charley Toorop      Vincent van Gogh      Carel Willink