The Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen is the main art museum in Rotterdam

Rotterdam

Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...

, the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

. The museum began in 1847 with the collection of Frans Jacob Otto Boijmans (1767–1847). Much of the museum's original collection was destroyed in a disastrous 1864 fire. In 1958, the collection of businessman Daniël George van Beuningen

Daniël George van Beuningen

Daniël George van Beuningen was a Dutch businessman and icon for the city of Rotterdam.Born in Utrecht Van Beuningen had a typical character referring to people from Rotterdam. He was a hard working man in the port of the city, which was the largest port in the world in those days...

 (1877–1955) was added to the museum, and the museum acquired its current name.

Collection

The museum has a diverse collection ranging from medieval

Medieval art

The medieval art of the Western world covers a vast scope of time and place, over 1000 years of art history in Europe, and at times the Middle East and North Africa...

 to contemporary art

Contemporary art

Contemporary art can be defined variously as art produced at this present point in time or art produced since World War II. The definition of the word contemporary would support the first view, but museums of contemporary art commonly define their collections as consisting of art produced...

, with a focus on Dutch art

Dutch art

Dutch art describes the history of visual arts in the Netherlands, after the United Provinces separated from Flanders. Earlier painting in the area is covered in Early Netherlandish painting and Renaissance art.-Golden Age:...

. Much of the collection came to the museum through the two private collections mentioned above, but many others have contributed throughout the years. Among the best-known artists that are exhibited in the permanent exhibition of the museum are Hieronymus Bosch, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Rembrandt, Claude Monet

Claude Monet

Claude Monet was a founder of French impressionist painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein-air landscape painting. . Retrieved 6 January 2007...

, Wassily Kandinsky

Wassily Kandinsky

Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky was an influential Russian painter and art theorist. He is credited with painting the first purely-abstract works. Born in Moscow, Kandinsky spent his childhood in Odessa. He enrolled at the University of Moscow, studying law and economics...

, Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh

Vincent Willem van Gogh , and used Brabant dialect in his writing; it is therefore likely that he himself pronounced his name with a Brabant accent: , with a voiced V and palatalized G and gh. In France, where much of his work was produced, it is...

, Maurizio Cattelan

Maurizio Cattelan

Maurizio Cattelan is an Italian artist based in New York. He is known for his satirical sculptures, particularly La Nona Ora , depicting the Pope John Paul II struck down by a meteorite....

, René Magritte

René Magritte

René François Ghislain Magritte[p] was a Belgian surrealist artist. He became well known for a number of witty and thought-provoking images...

 and Salvador Dalí

Salvador Dalí

Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol , commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres,Spain....

.

Prominent works

Title	Artist	Year
Nest of Owls	Hieronymus Bosch
Hut of the Douaniers with Varengeville	Claude Monet Claude Monet Claude Monet was a founder of French impressionist painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein-air landscape painting. . Retrieved 6 January 2007...	1882
Impressions of Africa	Salvador Dalí Salvador Dalí Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol , commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres,Spain....	1938
Not to be Reproduced Not to be Reproduced Not to be Reproduced is a painting by the Belgian surrealist René Magritte. It currently is owned by the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam....	René Magritte René Magritte René François Ghislain Magritte[p] was a Belgian surrealist artist. He became well known for a number of witty and thought-provoking images...	1937
On the Threshold of Liberty On the Threshold of Liberty On the Threshold of Liberty refers to two oil on canvas paintings by the Belgian surrealist René Magritte. The work depicts a large room with the walls paneled with different scenes or windows...	René Magritte René Magritte René François Ghislain Magritte[p] was a Belgian surrealist artist. He became well known for a number of witty and thought-provoking images...	1929
Shirley Temple, The Youngest, Most Sacred Monster of the Cinema in Her Time Shirley Temple, The Youngest, Most Sacred Monster of the Cinema in Her Time Shirley Temple, The Youngest, Most Sacred Monster of the Cinema in Her Time , also known as the Barcelona Sphinx is a 1939 artwork in gouache, pastel and collage on cardboard, by surrealist painter Salvador Dalí. It measures 75 cm x 100 cm...	Salvador Dalí Salvador Dalí Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol , commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres,Spain....	1939
The Face of War The Face of War The Face of War is a painting by the Spanish surrealist Salvador Dalí. It was painted during a brief period when the artist lived in California....	Salvador Dalí Salvador Dalí Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol , commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres,Spain....	1940
The "Little" Tower of Babel The Tower of Babel (Brueghel) The Tower of Babel is the subject of three oil paintings by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. The first, a miniature painted on ivory, was painted while Bruegel was in Rome and is now lost...	Pieter Bruegel the Elder	1563
The Wayfarer The Wayfarer The Wayfarer is a Hieronymus Bosch painting. It is currently in Museum Boymans-van Beuningen in Rotterdam. This painting is round and is 71.5 cm in diameter....	Hieronymus Bosch	1493 (ca.)
Titus at Lectern	Rembrandt	1655

Activities

The Education Department of the Museum organises childrens' activities, courses, lectures and tours.

ArtTube

ArtTube is a website with videos about art and design. ArtTube is produced by Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. ArtTube features videos that have something to do with the museum and its collection. The videos are directed by talented filmmakers. ArtTube was launched on October 9 2009.

Television

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen produces, together with TV Rijnmond, a television series on art. Boijmans TV is based on an idea by Wilfried de Jong. Boijmans TV is created by a team of creative specialists in different disciplines. It is more than an art magazine; apart from the artists, the museum visitor, the attendant and the employee of technical services appear on the series.
Each episode of Boijmans TV can be viewed on ArtTube after it has been broadcast.

External links

• Museum website (information in Dutch and English)