In the new presentation a deliberate choice has been made not to categorize the exhibits
according to geographical area - China, Japan, India, Indonesia - but to divide the whole
collection into sculpture, painting, and decorative art. The objects of the various cultures are
shown together according to art form. This new division has major advantages: the three
categories fit in well with the new interior and it is exciting to be able to see and compare the
same art forms from various countries. The new presentation is accompanied by comprehensive
texts - English as well as Dutch - describing the art-historical significance and function of the
objects.
The rooms on the ground-floor is also the largest and highest in the South Wing. It is designed
for the sculpture collection. In the centre, set against architect Wim Quist's glass wall, is
Shiva, Lord of the Dance. All around are Hindu and Buddhist deities from the Indian
Subcontinent, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan and China, as well as Chinese tomb figures.
Shown in a separate room are paintings dating from the 12th to 20th century, from China,
Korea, and Japan. In the Far East painting is considered the supreme art form, much as it is in
Europe. Painters have always signed their works and many have achieved fame. On view are
scroll paintings and album pages by professional artists and men of letters: amateurs at home in
music, literature, calligraphy and painting. Because these delicate works cannot be exposed to
light for too long the exhibits will be regularly replaced. This room will be used for
presentations of Indian miniatures, Japanese prints, and paintings from Nepal and Tibet.
All kinds of decorative arts are displayed in five successive rooms: superb and extremely rare Chinese and Japanese lacquer, in particular a lacquer box in the form of a crane from Japan and Japanese ware for the tea ceremony, each item a work of art in shape, colour and the structure of the material. Other exhibits include Chinese bronze vessels made around 1000 BC for use in ancestor worship and given as grave gifts, blue and white pottery from China, celadon from Korea, stoneware from Vietnam, and objects from Thailand's famous Ban Chiang culture, a prehistoric culture renowned for its earthenware pottery decorated with curved lines and spirals. Part of the last room is devoted to objects from India and Indonesia. One of the highlights is the collection of three ensembles of Indian jewels made around 1750 and collected by a VOC (East India Company) official posted in India.
Friends of Asiatic Art
Asiatic art has always played a role in Dutch collections. However, Oriental objects were
generally collected out of historical or ethnographical interest. Only in 1918, with the foundation
of the Society of Friends of Asiatic Art, did art become the focus; it was then that objects began
to be collected for their aesthetic value. The Society was the initiative of a group of Dutch
collectors, chief among them H.K. Westendorp and his wife, and H.F.E. Visser, first curator
of the collection.
In 1919 the Stedelijk Museum organized an exhibition of Art from the Far East.
Objects were contributed by members of the Society and borrowed from various public
collections in the country. Even more successful shows -- Chinese art and Indian sculpture --
followed regularly including items on loan from foreign museums.
Meanwhile the collection grew: board members travelled the globe purchasing objects for the
Society. In 1932 one of the Society's principal aims was achieved: a Museum of Asiatic Art,
housed in a series of rooms in the Stedelijk Museum. In 1935 the Society purchased its own
Night Watch - the Shiva, Lord of the Dance - a massive Indian bronze
dating from the 12th century. It was an immediate success. The statue is considered one of the
most impressive bronzes of its kind in the world. The Society's successful acquisition policy in
the 1930s culminated in 1939 with the purchase of Guanyin, a wooden statue with polychrome,
exceptionally elegant in form, made during the Jin period (1115-1234) in China.
After the war, in 1947 negotiations began with the Rijksmuseum. The collection had outgrown its Stedelijk Museum rooms and the Rijksmuseum South Wing appeared to present the answer. On July 19 1952 the new rooms opened. In 1968 the Society received an enormous bequest from one of its founders, Westendorp. Later, in 1972, the Society was forced to abandon the onerous financial responsibility of maintaining the collection and the exhibits were given to the Rijksmuseum in long-term loan. Since that year the Rijksmuseum has had its own Asiatic Art department.
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
Hobbemastraat 22
Postbus 74888
1070 DN Amsterdam
Tel: +31-20-6732121
Fax: +31-20-6798146
Opened daily: 10am - 5pm