Stedelijk Studies - Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam

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Stedelijk Studies

a budding platform for surfable research at Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam

The Stedelijk is continuously engaged in active research to improve its existing methods and to design new ways of dealing with the full breadth of museum practices: from registration, tracking, the depot, transportation, restoration, to presentation, among many other things related to the collection.

Exhibition Surinamese School

Painting from Paramaribo to Amsterdam

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Recently published

All 9 /Call for Papers 0 /Essays 3 /Let Textiles Talk 0 /News 0 /Research Logs 6 /Surinamese School 0 /Tomorrow is a different day 0

The Power of the Everyday: Reflections on The Surinamese School exhibition

Essay by Chandra Frank

July 8, 2021/by Nikolai

In the artist’s words: Barricade

by Esiri Erheriene-Essi

July 1, 2021/by Nikolai

In the artist’s words: The dream of a 1000 shipwrecks

by Patricia Kaersenhout

July 1, 2021/by Nikolai

Languages of Resistance and Protest in Dutch-Surinamese Painting

Essay by Oneika Russel

July 1, 2021/by Nikolai

The Start: Finding the Tapestries in the Collection

by Amanda Pinatih

July 1, 2021/by Nikolai

Surinamese School: Reflections on History, Art, Decolonization and Cultural Identity

Essay by Azu Nwagbogu

June 24, 2021/by Nikolai

Finding more tapestries acquired at the Fodor Museum

by Amanda Pinatih

June 16, 2021/by Nikolai

Checking the tapestries in the depot

by Amanda Pinatih

June 16, 2021/by Nikolai

Correspondance between Ramses Wissa Wassef and Willem Sandberg

by Amanda Pinatih

June 15, 2021/by Nikolai

Current Journal Issue

Issue #10: Imagining the Future of Digital Archives and Collections

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Have you heard about the very first museum audio t

Have you heard about the very first museum audio tour?Did you know that the Stedelijk Museum had the world premiere with these devices? In 1952, the Stedelijk was the first museum to present the so-called ‘wireless tour’ during the exhibition Valsch of echt? Visitors were given an explanation about the works of art via such a device through earplugs. Newspapers such as Le Monde and The New York Times wrote about it at the time, and several museums, including the prestigious New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, inquired about this invention.The idea came from Emile Meijer, scientific assistant at the Centraal Museum in Utrecht, who aroused the interest of Stedelijk director Willem Sandberg after his director dismissed it. Meijer was inspired by a similar device that was used as a hearing aid at a cinema he visited.Meijer would later become head of education at the Rijksmuseum and went on to become the first director of the Van Gogh Museum. To this day, audio tours plays an important role in museums around the world.- audio tour equipment of the Stedelijk Museum, 1952
- produced by Philips, Eindhoven
- commissioned by Willem Sandberg, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
- Visitors with audio tour in 1952 during the exhibition Valsch or real?Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSEqf_mqjCA#stedelijk #stedelijkmuseum #stedelijkmuseumamsterdam #audio #newyorktimes #themetropolitanmuseumofart #rijksmuseum #vangogh

This is one in a series of remarkable Stedelijk di

This is one in a series of remarkable Stedelijk did-you-knows! #smartereverydayGlyn Philpot, Le Manuelito (The Circus Lad), 1909, oil on canvas, 183 x 137 cmOne of the earliest works in the Stedelijk Museum's collection that may have been painted from a queer perspective is The Circus Lad (1909) by Glyn Philpot (London 1884 – London 1937).Some of Philpot's later works, who produced many society portraits, were considered controversial because of their discernible homosexual themes. When two pieces were withdrawn from the Royal Academy for this reason, it damaged the artist's reputation and income. The Circus Lad was purchased in 1912 from the 'International Municipal Exhibition of Works of Art by Living Masters' in the Stedelijk Museum. It was chosen by members of the VVHK, the association of wealthy Amsterdam citizens that built a collection of contemporary art. It seems unlikely that they associated this earlier work with queerness. The former owner was The Fine Art Society Ltd, who received the high sum of 3,000 guilders (circa 70,000 euros) for it.#glynphilpot #art #stedelijkmuseum #stedelijkmuseumamsterdam #stedelijkstudies #journal #artjournal #museum #museumplein #arthistory

The budding artist that painted these self-portrai

The budding artist that painted these self-portraits was soon to become a central figure of modern art.
Jan Toorop is the first artist of color to have their work in the Stedelijk’s collection. He donated the first piece in 1909, which, after some struggle because of its highly modern character, was accepted. In 1929 and 1932 more acquisitions followed. Toorop’s father was a Javanese-Norwegian administrator, and his mother’s parents were of Chinese and British-Indian descent. Toorop was only 11 years old when he left Java for his education in the Netherlands. He would never see his country of birth and parents again.
Toorop gave his own distinctive twist to several modern art movements. This poster (swipe) from 1894 would cement his role as one of the leaders of the art nouveau movement, in the Netherlands also referred to as the “sla-oliestijl”.
Image 1. Jan Toorop, Self-portrait, 1884, oil on canvas, 58 x 39.5 cm, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, gift of N.V. Koninklijke Kunstzaal Kleykamp, The Hague (NL), 1931
Image 2. Jan Toorop, Zelfportret in studio, 1883, oil on canvas, 50.8 x 36.2 cm, Credits: Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
Image 3. Jan Toorop, Delftsche slaolie, 1894, poster, lithography, 98.1 x 67.2 cm, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, anonymous gift

Did you know that the artist brothers Agus and Ott

Did you know that the artist brothers Agus and Otto Djaya exhibited their work at the Stedelijk while spying on behalf of the Indonesian independence movement?
Agus and Otto Djaya arrived in Amsterdam 1947, officially as part of a diplomatic Indonesian-Dutch ‘cultural exchange’ program. It was no coincidence however that during their exhibition at the Stedelijk at the end of 1947, in Indonesia liberation groups were in the midst of violent conflict with Dutch colonial forces.
This painting shows Revolution, as seen through the eyes of Otto Djaya at the time. It is a cartoon-like depiction of a group of freedom fighters, conveying Indonesian resistance in fast, angular contours. This expressive style is informed by the Indonesian cultural debates that were ongoing since around 1935, discussions about modernism and the ambition to develop a visual language that frees itself from the picturesque ‘beautiful Indonesia’ colonial painting tradition. The painting is currently on view as part of the Base collection display at the Stedelijk Museum.
Otto Djaya, Revolution, 1947, oil on canvas, 45 x 61 cm, donated by the artist.

This is most likely the first ever presentation of

This is most likely the first ever presentation of the women’s football painting genre—at the Stedelijk Museum in 1928.
To mark the Olympic Summer Games in Amsterdam, a sports-themed exhibition was organized at the Stedelijk. All the paintings seen here were made by Ángel Zárraga, the husband of Jeannette Ivanoff, who was the coach of the women’s football team Les sportives de Paris.
Newspaper articles from the time indicate that these paintings caused quite a stir, especially the depiction of the players strong, muscular legs. Some sources even suggest Zarraga made some minor changes in response to such criticism, adding an earring to one of the players and a delicate watch to another.
From WWI onwards, women’s football matches started to draw large audiences. However, a call for further professionalization leads to a ban from training and competition facilities, first in the UK in 1921, followed closely by its neighbors. These bans weren’t lifted in countries such as the Netherlands, the UK, and France until the 1970’s.
Image 1. Ángel Zárraga’s football paintings at the art-Olympiade (Concours et exposition d’art olympique) in the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1928. Photo: Spaarnestad.
Image 2. Ángel Zárraga’s football and rugby paintings at the art-Olympiade (Concours et exposition d’art olympique) in the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1928. Photo: Spaarnestad.

Washing hands with Bruce Nauman: beyond hygiene…

Washing hands with Bruce Nauman: beyond hygiene…
Played upside down with a constantly shifting color filter. The sound is a little too loud, and the channels are not-quite synchronized: this video-installation is designed to be an uncomfortable experience.
What do you see? A fear of contamination? Pontius Pilate washing his hands in innocence? Tantalus and eternal damnation?
This work, and many others by Nauman, can be enjoyed from tomorrow onwards at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam.
Bruce Nauman, Washing Hands Abnormal, 1996, video installation, color, sound, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, acquired with the generous support of the Vereniging Rembrandt (Rembrandt Society) and the Mondriaan Foundation.