The Van Abbemuseum

Henri van Abbe made his money in cigars, paid for a museum and handed it to Eindhoven in 1936. What began as a local gift grew into one of the better European holdings of twentieth-century art, with a substantial group of works by El Lissitzky alongside Kandinsky, Picasso, Chagall, Beuys and a serious contemporary programme. In 2003 a tall grey tower and wing by Abel Cahen were added on the water. The museum is better known now for arguing with itself: it rehangs its own collection to question who decided what belongs in a museum, and the wall texts push that point hard.

History

The cigar manufacturer Henri van Abbe sold his collection to the city of Eindhoven in 1934, and his firm paid for the museum building, designed by Alexander Kropholler, which opened on the Dommel in 1936. An extension with a 27-metre tower by Abel Cahen was inaugurated by Queen Beatrix in 2003 (Wikipedia, Van Abbemuseum).

Highlights

• The El Lissitzky holdings - constructivist work in unusual depth for a regional museum.
• The old and new wings - the 1930s building against Cahen's grey tower on the water.
• The rehangs - the collection re-presented to argue about its own selection.
• The contemporary programme - commissions and installations that take over whole floors.

When to go

Year-round and indoors, which makes it the obvious wet-day stop in a region short of them. Weekday afternoons are quiet. Check what is hanging first, because the collection rotates constantly and a specific painting is never guaranteed to be on the wall when you arrive.

What to expect

The curatorial framing is heavy, and if you came to look at paintings quietly the running commentary is a lot to push past. Because the collection rotates, well-known works are frequently in storage. The layout across two linked buildings is confusing. Eindhoven's centre is modern and plain, so the museum has to carry the visit alone.

Nearby

Eindhoven's design district; the Brabant brewing villages are a short ride out.

Key facts