The long anticipated grand opening of Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum will take place on Saturday 13 April 2013, with the public opening on the following day, Sunday 14 April 2013.
The museum’s renovation project, which took almost ten years to complete was one of the most significant ever undertaken on by a museum. The entire museum has been renewed – and the historic building has been restored with new public facilities having been created to include a new Asian pavilion and a renovated garden.
Rembrandt’s most celebrated painting The Night Watch will now be returned to its original setting. The reopening also provides an opportunity for a major representation of the museum’s world-famous collection, much of which has not been accessible to the public for a decade. The new display will tell the story of the Netherlands from the Middle Ages to the present day. The new Rijksmuseum will be the first national museum in the world which will open 365 days of the year from 9 am to 5 pm each day. The museum is currently busy moving 8,000 works of art and historical objects into the new building. The last work to be moved will beThe Night Watch.
The relaunch will commence with the eagerly awaited ‘Masterpieces of the Dutch Golden Age’ an exhibition which will continue to be shown in the Philips Wing until spring 2013.
Meanwhile, the Museum has been re-branded with a new logo. The logo forms part of the new house style for the Rijksmuseum, which has been designed by the internationally known Dutch designer Irma Boom. With this the Rijksmuseum bids a fond farewell to the old logo that was designed 32 years ago. The presentation of the new house style is taking place as a prelude to the reopening of the Rijksmuseum in April 2013.
Irma Boom: ‘My starting point was the fact that the Rijksmuseum is a national museum with international appeal. The design is clear and powerful and anchors the museum in the present.’
In addition to the new logo, the new Rijksmuseum house style incorporates a newly designed typeface and colour palette. The new typeface, named de Rijksmuseum, was specially developed for the Rijksmuseum by typographic designer Paul van der Laan of the Bold Monday font foundry. The colour palette, the DNA of the Rijksmuseum, is based on the highlights of the collection and is used in a variety of different visual manifestations.