The Design Collection - From ceramics, furniture, glassware to De Stijl and Dutch Design

Since 2012, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen presents the permanent design collection in a new arrangement on the ground floor of the Van der Steur building. The museum will be using seven rooms to exhibit some thirty themes from the history of design, illustrated by objects from the Middle Ages until now: from a 17th century tulip chest to an Eames chair, from ceramics from the middle ages to china by Hella Jongerius. The first room was opened in July 2012, the other six rooms of ‘The Design Collection’ in subsequent months.

In The Design Collection, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen presents objects from the collection in separate groups. Each group illustrates a specific theme in the history of design from 1500 to the present day. We see, for instance, the results of the quest for a satisfactory imitation of Oriental porcelain in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The outcome of the search for a door handle that feels right in the hand, and the experiments in bending wood to create a comfortable and affordable chair are also presented as individual themes in this display.

Hand Made

From 9 March to 23 May 2013, several objects from the permanent exhibition are on view in the exhibition 'Hand Made: Long Live Crafts':

• the 17th century cabinet from Herman Doomer from The Design Collection will be replaced by the cardboard cabinet by Couzijn van Leeuwen;
  
• the 15th century bronze crab and turtle from hall 15 from The Collection Enriched will be replaced by the waxen Rivergod by Michelangelo.

Design in Boijmans

This exhibition is part of the ‘Design in Boijmans’ programme. This autumn design has been spotlighted in Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. With the renewed arrangement of the museum collection and several design exhibitions, in 2013 a lot of attention is paid to design in the museum.