One of Europe's leading museums for modern and contemporary art, opened in 1936. The collection of over 2,700 works includes pieces by Picasso, Chagall, Kandinsky, El Lissitzky, Mondrian, and Appel. A striking new wing by Abel Cahen was added in 2003. Open Tuesday to Sunday, 11:00 to 17:00 (Thursday until 21:00). Bilderdijklaan 10.
Van Abbemuseum
Leading modern art museum with Picasso and Kandinsky
A story
The museum was founded in 1936 with a bequest from Henri van Abbe, a tobacco manufacturer, who donated his collection and money for a building on the condition that it would be free to visit. For decades it remained one of the more radical institutions in Dutch art: director Jan Leering commissioned works directly from artists in the 1960s and 1970s, building deep relationships with figures like El Lissitzky, whose archive is held here in one of the most important collections of Russian avant-garde work outside Russia.