Five researchers join Women of the Rijksmuseum project

The Rijksmuseum has appointed five new researchers to the Women of the Rijksmuseum research project with the support of private donors and partner CHANEL. Women of the Rijksmuseum was launched in 2022 to permanently increase the visibility of women in the Rijksmuseum’s collection, exhibitions and displays. The aim of the research team in the coming years is to gather new information about female portrait subjects, artists and donors, and review and refresh existing stories from a female perspective. The research project is also the organiser of the Women in the Museum symposium in the Rijksmuseum.

Symposium titled Women in the Museum: Reclaiming & Reframing
The Rijksmuseum hosts the annual Women in the Museum symposium to address the latest developments in the museum field. This year’s keynote speakers are Janina Ramirez, the award-winning author of Femina; and Estrella de Diego, author of The Sexed Androgyne: Eternal Ideals, New Gender Strategies. Other speakers include the curators of the cutting-edge exhibitions Making her Mark (Baltimore, 2023), Ingenious Women (Hamburg, 2023) and It’s Pablo-matic! (Brooklyn, 2023). For more information, please click here.

Women of the Rijksmuseum in 2024
A total of six researchers will be working on the Women of the Rijksmuseum research project for the coming years. Their areas of focus will include female benefactors to the museum, the female narrative in the decorative arts of the 18th century, and the work of the artist Bramine Hubrecht. Their findings will be incorporated in label texts in the galleries, published in The Rijksmuseum Bulletin and shared online.

The project has enriched 150 gallery texts with stories about female artists, portrait subjects, benefactors and artists’ models, and increased attention for previously neglected stories about women. Some of these stories have been included in the new audio tour which the Rijksmuseum is launching on 4 March 2024 with the support of ING.

7 May 2024 sees the release of the book Geesje & Anna, in which Jenny Reynaerts presents her quest to uncover the life stories of George Hendrik Breitner’s models for his famous paintings of a young woman wearing a kimono.

Acquisitions and loaned works
In 2023 and 2024 the Rijksmuseum received a number of works on long-term loan by female artists, including Judith Leyster’s Two Children with a Cat, c. 1630 and three paintings by Charley Toorop. The Rijksmuseum has also acquired several works, including a 1692 papercut by Joanna Koerten and an early self-portrait (c. 1885) by Thérèse Schwartze that was discovered when a member of the public brought it in to the Dutch antique valuation show Tussen Kunst & Kitsch. The Rijksmuseum also acquired an 1885 marble bust portrait of Francesca Rozzi by Thérèse Schwartze’s sister Georgina, and a circa 1919 portrait of Gesina Antonia ‘Tonia’ Milgens by Jan Sluijters. Moreover, several objects from the Rijksmuseum collection have been added to the museum galleries, such as the painting Airs and Graces (ca. 1872-1909) by Lady Laura Theresa Alma Tadema.

Contributing funds and partners
Upon stepping down as the director of the Rijksmuseum’s Media & Development department on 1 March 2024, Hendrikje Crebolder established a fund, the Hendrikje Crebolder Fund, to support the Women of the Rijksmuseum research project. The other funds and partners supporting the research project are CHANEL, the Susi Zijderveld Fund, the Familie Krouwels Fund, the Machteld Vos & Willem Sijthoff Fund, the Heleen Dura van Oord Fund, the Kind Courage Monique Maarsen Fund, the Familie Staal Fund, the Karin van Leeuwen Fund, the Dreesmann-Beerkens Fund, Sofronie Foundation, the Linne & Marijn Pijnenborg Fund, the Jolanda Degen Fund, the Lara Timmerman Fund, the Antoinette Rolloos Hueber Fund, Amy Novogratz & Mike Velings, and the ‘Women of the Rijksmuseum’ Fund.