The distinguished Mauritshuis is looking for new audiences
DATE
22 February 2023
TEXT
Herman Rosenberg
IMAGE
Brian Mul
Murals, modern photography, a great writer's book. The Mauritshuis is working on its image. A distinguished museum in search of new audiences.
Ze are still in party mood, Martine Gosselink and Kristel van der Linden. The Mauritshuis' two-century anniversary year has come to an end, but the museum's director and head of business development can't get enough of it. Not surprisingly, because the anniversary year was a success: lots of new activities, lots of audiences and also new audiences. "I think we reached a lot of people from The Hague and the region who have not been inside our doors before," says Gosselink.
Martine Gosselink (right) and Kristel van der Linden in front of artist Nadia van Luijk's mural on the corner of Smitstraat and Joubertplantsoen in the Transvaal Quarter.
She knows this because the museum is known to have attracted some 15 per cent fewer foreign visitors in 2022 due to the Covid pandemic and its aftermath. "Still, the number of visitors, 400,000 expected, is at 2019 levels. That means we have attracted more audiences from closer quarters. And that is also the intention. We want to be a museum for everyone. The threshold has to come down."
Mauritshuis
Van der Linden plays an important role in this. She is not an art expert, but knows all the more about marketing and branding. "I like to colour outside the lines and look for partners with other types of clients to activate target groups outside the museum together. Who steps into Minecraft with us for an educational game where you learn about art through play? The 'See the Mauritshuis with your ears' project is a great example. Pop musicians like Merol, Spinvis, Harry Jekkers and Eefje de Visser chose a work and made a song to go with it. We do this with our main partner NN Group to reach new audiences."
Frick Collection in New York
Of course, the museum on the Hofvijver remains first and foremost a treasure house of Dutch and Flemish art from the Golden Age. And one of the main activities of the anniversary year dovetailed seamlessly with this: the 'Manhattan Masters' exhibition featuring ten masterpieces (by Rembrandt, Vermeer and Hals, among others) from the Frick Collection in New York. Yet Martine Gosselink does not mention this cracker first, when we ask her about her favourite parts of the anniversary year. "Then I say: the little walls, the murals that is, which we have had installed in five places in the city by street artists in collaboration with the municipality and The Hague Street Art. With these, we want to show that art is for everyone and that everyone is allowed to have a say. It is also great to see how the street artists have handled our masterpieces."
'The photographers continued where the painters had stopped'
Gosselink also mentions 'Flash Back' (now ended), an exhibition of modern photographic art. "Top photographers like Anton Corbijn, Erwin Olaf and Rineke Dijkstra and young talents drew inspiration from masterpieces in our collection. It resulted in intriguing combinations. The photographers continued where the painters had stopped."
'Pens over Brushes'
One lasting result of the anniversary cannot go unmentioned and that is the fist-sized book 'Pens over Penselen', in which two hundred Dutch and foreign writers and poets write about a work from the collection. Gosselink: "I really love that book, because it contains fantastic stories. My favourites? Adriaan van Dis, who chose Potter's 'Bull', Isabel Allende about the Girl's Pearl and Hague-based Splinter Chabot who writes about Achilles dressing up as a woman, the subject of a painting by Gerard de Lairesse. All in all, I think we have made it very clear this year that everyone is welcome here."
'Mauritshuis needs to become even better known, nationally and internationally'
And what is Kristel van der Linden's goal? "The Mauritshuis needs to become even better known, nationally and internationally. Do you know what the most frequently asked question is at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam? Where is the 'Girl with the pearl earring' now? So that masterpiece belongs to us, the Mauritshuis in The Hague. So we still have some work to do." Incidentally, that iconic work is currently on display at the Rijksmuseum, as the Mauritshuis is lending it for the major Vermeer exhibition being held then. Gosselink: "Not for too long, mind you. She will be back in eight weeks and then we will build a party around it." During that period, there is the 'My girl with the pearl' project. Van der Linden: "Everyone can send in their version of the Girl and have a chance of that entry being displayed in a digital frame that will temporarily hang in the painting's place. The party just goes on at our place."
Call to action For those wishing to collaborate with the Mauritshuis: k.vanderlinden@mauritshuis.nl
text Herman Rosenberg / image Brian Mul
Murals, modern photography, a great writer's book. The Mauritshuis is working on its image. A distinguished museum in search of new audiences.
Ze are still in party mood, Martine Gosselink and Kristel van der Linden. The Mauritshuis' two-century anniversary year has come to an end, but the museum's director and head of business development can't get enough of it. Not surprisingly, because the anniversary year was a success: lots of new activities, lots of audiences and also new audiences. "I think we reached a lot of people from The Hague and the region who have not been inside our doors before," says Gosselink.
Martine Gosselink (right) and Kristel van der Linden in front of artist Nadia van Luijk's mural on the corner of Smitstraat and Joubertplantsoen in the Transvaal Quarter.
She knows this because the museum is known to have attracted some 15 per cent fewer foreign visitors in 2022 due to the Covid pandemic and its aftermath. "Still, the number of visitors, 400,000 expected, is at 2019 levels. That means we have attracted more audiences from closer quarters. And that is also the intention. We want to be a museum for everyone. The threshold has to come down."
Mauritshuis
Van der Linden plays an important role in this. She is not an art expert, but knows all the more about marketing and branding. "I like to colour outside the lines and look for partners with other types of clients to activate target groups outside the museum together. Who steps into Minecraft with us for an educational game where you learn about art through play? The 'See the Mauritshuis with your ears' project is a great example. Pop musicians like Merol, Spinvis, Harry Jekkers and Eefje de Visser chose a work and made a song to go with it. We do this with our main partner NN Group to reach new audiences."
Frick Collection in New York
Of course, the museum on the Hofvijver remains first and foremost a treasure house of Dutch and Flemish art from the Golden Age. And one of the main activities of the anniversary year dovetailed seamlessly with this: the 'Manhattan Masters' exhibition featuring ten masterpieces (by Rembrandt, Vermeer and Hals, among others) from the Frick Collection in New York. Yet Martine Gosselink does not mention this cracker first, when we ask her about her favourite parts of the anniversary year. "Then I say: the little walls, the murals that is, which we have had installed in five places in the city by street artists in collaboration with the municipality and The Hague Street Art. With these, we want to show that art is for everyone and that everyone is allowed to have a say. It is also great to see how the street artists have handled our masterpieces."
'The photographers continued where the painters had stopped'
Gosselink also mentions 'Flash Back' (now ended), an exhibition of modern photographic art. "Top photographers like Anton Corbijn, Erwin Olaf and Rineke Dijkstra and young talents drew inspiration from masterpieces in our collection. It resulted in intriguing combinations. The photographers continued where the painters had stopped."
'Pens over Brushes'
One lasting result of the anniversary cannot go unmentioned and that is the fist-sized book 'Pens over Penselen', in which two hundred Dutch and foreign writers and poets write about a work from the collection. Gosselink: "I really love that book, because it contains fantastic stories. My favourites? Adriaan van Dis, who chose Potter's 'Bull', Isabel Allende about the Girl's Pearl and Hague-based Splinter Chabot who writes about Achilles dressing up as a woman, the subject of a painting by Gerard de Lairesse. All in all, I think we have made it very clear this year that everyone is welcome here."
'Mauritshuis needs to become even better known, nationally and internationally'
And what is Kristel van der Linden's goal? "The Mauritshuis needs to become even better known, nationally and internationally. Do you know what the most frequently asked question is at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam? Where is the 'Girl with the pearl earring' now? So that masterpiece belongs to us, the Mauritshuis in The Hague. So we still have some work to do." Incidentally, that iconic work is currently on display at the Rijksmuseum, as the Mauritshuis is lending it for the major Vermeer exhibition being held then. Gosselink: "Not for too long, mind you. She will be back in eight weeks and then we will build a party around it." During that period, there is the 'My girl with the pearl' project. Van der Linden: "Everyone can send in their version of the Girl and have a chance of that entry being displayed in a digital frame that will temporarily hang in the painting's place. The party just goes on at our place."
Call to action For those wishing to collaborate with the Mauritshuis: k.vanderlinden@mauritshuis.nl
