Kunstmuseum Den Haag

The Hague Art Museum (“Gemeentemuseum Den Haag” until 2019) is known for its large collection of modern art. Less well known is its extensive collection of applied arts, including objects that are many centuries old.

A key part of the applied arts section is the Lavino collection, built up by Meijer Lavino, which is one of the largest and most important private collections of Delftware in the world. It comprises over 1,000 objects produced by Delft potteries in the period 1660–1820 and possesses exceptional encylopedic value. Besides the Lavino collection, which is on long-term loan to the Art Museum, the museum itself also possesses a large quantity of Delftware.

Besides pottery, the applied arts section consists largely of silver from The Hague and Indonesia, porcelain from The Hague, European glass until 1880, and furniture until 1880. In the museum’s period rooms – the Gilt Leather Room, the Gobelin Room, the Louis XV Room, the Japanese Room, the Louis XVI Room, and the Dijsselhof Room – arts and crafts are exhibited in their “authentic” surroundings.

The Art Museum also possesses a large fashion collection, which gives an overview of the Dutch history of fashion since 1600. In addition to costumes, it also contains fashion accessories, items of jewelry, and fashion drawings and prints. These historical fashion prints can be dated to 1500–1699 and were compiled partly by the Flemish engraver Abraham de Bruyn in c.1580 and partly by Wenceslaus Hollar in the seventeenth century. The prints were published in costume books, some of which are in the possession of the Art Museum.

Finally, the museum owns a music collection, which tells the story of the history of traditional European musical instruments – primarily keyboard, wind and plucked instruments.