Research Log
Rethinking collections:
from a vitrine in use to a museum object
by Rosemarie Kramer
from a vitrine in use to a museum object
by Rosemarie Kramer
July 18, 2024
In this research log by Rosemarie Kramer, Curatorial Practice and Research intern, she discusses a vitrine designed by architect F.A. Eschauzier (1889–1957). Following the object’s acquisition proposal, she delves into the history of the Stedelijk Museum’s exhibition design and the role of Eschauzier’s vitrine within it.
When looking at modern and contemporary art, how does the design of the exhibition influence our senses? In the beginning of May, my internship supervisor, Ingeborg de Roode, came to me with a query for an acquisition proposal for the Stedelijk Museum’s collection. She sent me a picture of a metal vitrine designed by F.A. Eschauzier and asked me to find the earliest exhibition in which it had been used. The aim of the acquisition proposal was to see if the vitrine could be housed in the industrial design collection, instead of the museum’s exhibition project department, which had managed its use up until now. When filling in the acquisition form, I was asked to answer the question: Why is this object of importance for the museum and its collection?
Fig. 1: The vitrine in preparation for the acquisition proposal. Photograph taken by Ingeborg de Roode in 2024.
To begin my research, I started by conducting visual research into the museum’s past exhibitions in search of the vitrine in use. The case consists of four sheets of glass placed against each other and held together by a narrow aluminum frame, all supported by four narrow iron legs and stabilized by diagonal wires. Throughout the years we see several variations on this design, which Eschauzier utilized in all his museum interiors.[1] This particular version was probably designed around 1952. In that same year we see the rectangular version photographed at the former Gemeentemuseum Arnhem (now Museum Arnhem), and in 1953 at the Arta Wiener exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum.[2] The square variant, the object of the acquisition, is clearly photographed in the English Ceramics exhibition the same year. The vitrine proved to be extremely suitable for exhibiting design objects and applied art, as it has continued to be utilized in various collection presentations up to the present day, for example as recently as 2015.
Fig.2: Collection presentation at the Stedelijk Museum. Photograph taken by G.J. van Rooij in 2015. Fig. 3: The vitrine in the Engelse Ceramiek, weefsels en vlechtwerk exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum in 1953.
Frits Adolf Eschauzier (1889, The Hague – 1957, ’s-Graveland) was an architect best known for designing country houses, the interior of the Dutch Pavilion at the World Exhibition in Paris (1937), and the interior of luxury passenger ships on the Holland-America Line.[3] He studied in England at the Architectural Association and later in Vienna at the Kunstgewerbeschule, where he met architect and designer Josef Frank, among others.[4] Willem Sandberg, after being appointed curator at the Stedelijk in 1937, introduced Eschauzier to director David Röell.[5] From then, Eschauzier was responsible for the modernization of the museum’s entrance, the exhibition halls, and the new auditorium. He became the most important museum architect of the 1940s and 1950s, working for the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Gemeentemuseum Arnhem, and the Stedelijk Museum, to name a few.[6]
Eschauzier was described as a moderate modernist, with an appreciation for traditional materials (wood, reed, and brick) and craft as well as open spaces and glass surfaces, befitting to the twentieth century.[7] According to Eschauzier, the museum had to be a place where the visitor could be confronted with modern art. This ideal is reflected in Eschauzier’s design, where the vitrine serves the object. It had to provide the opportunity for concentrated contemplation; the visitor was not to be distracted, nor become bored.
Fig.4: Upper landing of the Stedelijk Museum in 1930. Fig. 5: Exhibition space of the Stedelijk Museum. Photograph ca. 1895–1900.
Sandberg and Eschauzier seemingly recognized themselves in each other’s ideas, as Eschauzier was involved in multiple renovations at the Stedelijk from 1937 until his passing in 1957.[8] The interior of the old building, designed by Adriaan Willem Weissman in 1895, was slowly stripped of its nineteenth-century characteristics.[9] In 1938, with Röell’s agreement, Sandberg’s iconoclasm took place: Weismann’s decorations in the entrance, stairwell, and adjoining spaces were painted over in white.[10] The red brick and yellow and green tile pattern were the first to go, and gradually the nineteenth-century period rooms were dismantled. In the exhibition spaces the paneling was removed and the walls were painted white and strung with light-colored burlap. By reducing the size of the entryways, more space was created for art to be displayed.[11] Sandberg became an archetype of the modern museum director, and the Stedelijk gradually became part of the phenomenon we now know as the white cube.[12]
Fig. 6: Upper landing of the Stedelijk Museum. Photograph taken by Peter Tijhuis in 2024. Fig. 7: Exhibition design by Eschauzier for the Rondom Rodin exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum in 1939.
With these changes, the Stedelijk would become a place where the visitors were indeed confronted with modern art, and Eschauzier’s vitrines can be read as a culmination of this idea.[13] The design serves the presentation of the object, and the construction or shape should not distract the visitor; the object and its contemplation by the visitor take center stage. In addition, Eschauzier took great interest in lighting design and the visitor’s experience of his designs, both coming to a crescendo with the construction of the New Wing (also known as the Sandberg wing), built in 1954. The interior design of the New Wing was left to Eschauzier, who made use of the natural light coming through the big side windows.[14] The art was hung or placed in front of freestanding white partitions in the space, where a natural walkthrough of the visitor was supported, reminiscent of flowing pathways in English gardens.[15]
Fig. 8: Exterior of the Stedelijk Museum in 1956, with the New Wing on the right. Fig. 9: Exhibition design by Eschauzier for the Julio Gonzalez exhibition in the New Wing in 1955.
The windows through which natural light could shimmer, the green grass outside that could almost be felt, and most importantly the spatial effect made the New Wing the manifestation of Sandberg’s modern exhibition ideals.[16] The public’s opinions about the renovations from the 1940s and ’50s, as well as the New Wing, varied but set an inspiring example for the new generation of museum directors, according to French criticus Pierre Restany (1966).[17] Eschauzier passed away in 1957 and a retrospective exhibition was held at the Stedelijk in 1958, where the inaugural speech was given by Gerrit Rietveld. In 2006 the New Wing was demolished to make way for the iconic white “bathtub” designed by Benthem Crouwel Architects in 2004, which opened in 2012. Sandberg and Eschauzier’s legacy can still be strongly seen today. For example, in the white finishing of the landing or the wide walls where sole artworks are given enough space to, figuratively speaking, “stretch their arms.” It is a legacy which has spanned over 75 years, which made me wonder, how will the exhibition design continue to change in the future?
Fig. 10: The vitrine appears in the Jean Dubuffet exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum. Photograph taken by G.J. van Rooij in 2017. Fig. 11: The rectangular vitrines in white at the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen during Snakken naar Boijmans. Photograph taken by Rosemarie Kramer in 2024.
To this day, the museum’s objects continue to take center stage in Eschauzier’s vitrine. Not only at the Stedelijk, but at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen as well, where I stumbled upon the vitrine during a recent visit in June this year. The vitrine adds to the Stedelijk’s historical collection and creates space to reflect on the modes of design and exhibition ideals from the directorship of David Röell (1936–1945) and later Willem Sandberg (1945–1963). With the vitrine’s transfer from the Stedelijk’s exhibition project department to the industrial design collection, its status changes from solely utilitarian to a museum object in use. The acquisition also means that Eschauzier’s vitrine can continue to reappear on the museum floor, allowing visitors now and in the future to experience a small taste of his design philosophy. Now, the vitrine, as a physical manifestation of ideals, will be preserved, even if our views on exhibition design shift.
Rosemarie Kramer is a master student in Art History, specializing in Modern and Contemporary Art, at the University of Amsterdam. Prior to this, she studied Cultural Heritage at the Reinwardt Academy, with a focus on collection management. Through her studies and work, she gained experience in preventative conservation and research at Museum Het Schip and the National Glass Museum. Her research interests are mainly focused on the interplay between art, design, architecture, and the audience.
[1] Jouke van der Werf, F.A. Eschauzier. Een orde voor de zintuigen (Rotterdam: 010, 1999), 103.
[2] Ibid., 103.
[3] Paul Kempers, Binnen was buiten (Amsterdam: Valiz, 2010), 76.
[4] Van der Werf, F.A. Eschauzier, 13.
[5] Ibid., 99.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Kempers, Binnen was buiten, 76.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, “Gebouw & Geschiedenis,” consulted on June 11, 2024,
[10] Jan van Adrichem and Adi Martis, eds., Stedelijk collectie reflecties: reflecties op de collectie van Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (Rotterdam: nai010 uitgevers, 2012), 449.
[11] Kempers, Binnen was buiten, 36–37.
[12] Van der Werf, F.A. Eschauzier, 102; Kempers, Binnen was buiten, 36.
[13] Van der Werf, F.A. Eschauzier, 102.
[14] Kempers, Binnen was buiten, 73.
[15] Van der Werf, F.A. Eschauzier, 102.
[16] Kempers, Binnen was buiten, 87, 89.
[17] Van der Werf, F.A. Eschauzier, 100; Kempers, Binnen was buiten, 89.
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