AMSTERDAM.- From 5 December 2012, the Rijksmuseum Schiphol is celebrating its ten-year anniversary with an exhibition of paintings showcasing typical Dutch scenes: the Dutch countryside, Dutch waters, Dutch towns, Dutch royalty, Dutch people and their families. This is the Holland that everyone knows, as seen through the eyes of artists like Frans Hals, Johan Barthold Jongkind, Jan Toorop and Karel Appel. Together, these works present a foretaste of the renovated Rijksmuseum, which is set to reopen in its full glory on 13 April 2013 with a collection of more than 8,000 objects – showing the best that the Netherlands has to offer in art and history, from the Middle Ages to today.

One of a kind
On 9 December 2002, His Royal Highness Prince Willem-Alexander opened the Rijksmuseum Schiphol. As a joint initiative of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, this one of a kind venture is the first art museum at an airport located beyond the passport control. This satellite of the Rijksmuseum occupies a suspended, enclosed golden space with a 160m2 floor area conceived by Benthem Crouwel Architects, who also designed the expansion at the recently reopened Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. Since its opening, the Rijksmuseum Schiphol has attracted an annual 150,000 to 200,000 visitors and hosted two to three new exhibitions each year. All of the works on view come from the Rijksmuseum collection, and present appealing Dutch themes and paintings by the famous old masters.

Dutch art for a wide international public
At the Rijksmuseum Schiphol, the millions of passengers passing through Amsterdam Airport Schiphol can enjoy an opportunity to see original artworks of exceptional quality. The museum is also accessible to the millions of passengers who only transfer at the airport without entering the Netherlands, thereby still allowing them a glimpse of the country’s cultural heritage. For the Rijksmuseum, this is a wonderful opportunity to share its collection with a wide international public.

The exhibition Typically Dutch is on view from 5 December through mid 2013 at the Rijksmuseum Schiphol, located beyond passport control between Piers E and F. The museum is open daily from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. and admission is free of charge upon presentation of a valid boarding pass. There is also a Museum Shop selling contemporary Dutch Design items and Rijksmuseum souvenirs.