AMSTERDAM.- The Van Gogh Museum and Van Lanschot have announced today that they have entered into a sponsoring agreement. The agreement was signed today by Karl Guha, Chairman of the Board of Van Lanschot, and Axel Rüger, Managing Director of the Van Gogh Museum. This makes Van Lanschot a Partner of the new entrance building of the Van Gogh Museum and the bank will financially support the construction of the new entrance to the museum.

Signing the agreement took place in the museum. Next, all the Van Lanschot staff members involved in the agreement were taken on a tour across the building site where they could see how the work is progressing.

Axel Rüger about the agreement: “It is of great importance to us that Van Lanschot is prepared to support the realization of this iconic design and architecturally unique building. The extension of our museum building will enable us to receive more visitors in the future and to better guide them through our museum. This closely matches our mission to make the work and life of Van Gogh and his contemporaries accessible to as many people as possible, nationally as well as internationally”.

Karl Guha about the collaboration: “We feel close affinity with the mission of the Van Gogh Museum. Since it was established in 1737, Van Lanschot has always been committed to arts and culture: as a collector, but also as an organization that enables artists and museums to realize their initiatives. The Van Gogh Museum impressively meets the needs of an international audience to become acquainted with and to admire Vincent van Gogh's work. We are proud to be able to contribute to the realization of this mission.”

The construction of the new entrance building of the Van Gogh Museum is progressing favourably. Characteristic of the design is its transparency; the glazed house, the glass dome will not only be constructed with a curved glass facade, but the roof and the supporting structure will also consist of glass as well as steel. The main entrance will now be at the side of the Museumplein and is expected to be open to the public during the summer of 2015.

The financing of the new entrance building has been made possible thanks to the support of the government, individual sponsors, funds, organizations, companies and others. The agreement between the Van Gogh Museum and Van Lanschot as has been signed today will last for a period of 3 years and starts on 1 January 2015.