Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam intensifies focus on women artists:

Two acquisition funds for purchases of work by female artists

The Stedelijk Museum announces new acquisitions of work by Raquel van Haver, and Jacqueline de Jong. Both artists are currently featured in solo shows at the Stedelijk. The works were acquired with the generous support of the BankGiro Loterij. The museum also reveals that it has the backing of two special acquisition funds, established to help the museum enhance its holdings of work by female artists.

In the history of art, the work of female artists has been long overlooked. According to a recent study carried out by Mama Cash, women outnumber men at art schools and yet female artists are underrepresented in museum collections. At the Stedelijk Museum, the same disparity exists: in a collection that holds over 100,000 works of art, a mere 4% is by a woman artist or designer.

Interim director Jan Willem Sieburgh: “We are aware of this inequality and are committed to redressing the balance. As far as our historical collection is concerned this won’t be easy, but there are plenty of opportunities when it comes to contemporary art. In recent years we staged extraordinary exhibitions by, amongst others, Marlene Dumas, Isa Genzken, Magali Reus, Saskia Noor van Imhoff, Rineke Dijkstra and Zanele Muholi, and purchased work by those artists. We’ve also just purchased a number of works from the latest Municipal Art Acquisitions, half of which are by women artists. Now, we’re thrilled to add key works by Raquel van Haver and Jacqueline de Jong, Amsterdam artists from very different generations, to our collection. These artworks are a valuable addition to our holdings. Thanks in part to two funds that are linked closely with the Stedelijk, we are now able to focus even more on purchasing work by female artists.”

Acquisition of work by Raquel van Haver, and Jacqueline de Jong

The huge painting that Raquel van Haver (1989) created especially for the large corner gallery of the Stedelijk for her exhibition Spirits of the Soil (on view until 7 April), has now become part of the collection. We do Not sleep as we Parade all Through the Night... (2018) is a room-filling work measuring 4 by 9 meters—a colossal collage-like construct painted layer over layer on burlap with gypsum, oil paint, spray paint, plastics, charcoal, tar, paper, ashes, mobile phones, and hair. Some parts of the surface appear almost molded and transform into reliefs, while adjacent areas are marked by a sparseness very similar to drawing. Van Haver captures her experiences in the Bijlmermeer Amsterdam, where she lives and works, and reflects on her stay in the ‘barrios’ and ‘favelas’ of megacities such as those found in the Caribbean, Africa and Latin America. She refers to her work as ‘loud’ paintings in which she primarily accentuates the similarities between groups of people, with empathy for those on the fringes of society.

The Stedelijk has purchased the work Rencontre accidentel of 1964, part of her series Accidental Paintings by Jacqueline de Jong (1939), for its collection. The theme of cars and traffic accidents is an echo of the ‘dérives’, unplanned roamings through the city, and forms a crucial bridge between her conceptually-centered Situationist International practices and her painting. At the same time, the series reveals the artist’s predilection for monstrous figures, aggression and distortion. In France, Jacqueline de Jong was recently awarded the prestigious AWARE prize for her exceptional career and oeuvre; the award ceremony will take place on 18 March 2019 at the French Ministry for Culture in Paris, and is supported by the CHANEL Fund for Women in the Arts and Culture. The exhibition Pinball Wizard – The Work and Life of Jacqueline de Jong is on show at the Stedelijk Museum until 18 August.

Both works were acquired with the generous support of the BankGiro Loterij.

Note for the editors

For more information and press images you can contact the Press Office of the Stedelijk Museum, 020 - 573 2660 / 656 of pressoffice@stedelijk.nl