The Rijksmuseum Research Library is the largest and oldest public

art history Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today, ...

research library A research library is a library which contains an in-depth collection of material on one or several subjects.(Young, 1983; p. 188) A research library will generally include an in-depth selection of materials on a particular topic or set of to ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. The library is part of the

Rijksmuseum The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

. The profile of the library collection parallels that of the museum. The online catalogue contains over 400,000

monograph A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monogra ...

s, 3,400

periodicals A periodical literature (also called a periodical publication or simply a periodical) is a published work that appears in a new edition on a regular schedule. The most familiar example is a newspaper, but a magazine or a journal are also exampl ...

and 90,000 art sales catalogues. About 50,000 art sales catalogues published before 1989 are not yet entered in the online catalogue. The collection grows, on average, by 10,000 to 15,000 books, auction catalogues, and periodicals every year.

History

The library, also known as the Cuypers Library, opened in 1885 jointly with the rest of the

. It was the largest of its kind in the Netherlands at its completion and remains as such today. It was designed by

Pierre Cuypers Petrus Josephus Hubertus "Pierre" Cuypers (16 May 1827 – 3 March 1921) was a Dutch architect. His name is most frequently associated with the Amsterdam Central Station (1881–1889) and the Rijksmuseum (1876–1885), both in Amsterdam. ...

, a Dutch architect famous for his

neo-gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style. When designing the library, Cuypers strived to create “a space with a sense of grandeur, which appears larger than it is.” The reduced size of the support points at the top and the bottom create the illusion of greater height and grant the entire space a loftier appearance, thus achieving Cuypers' objective. Since its creation, the library has undergone considerable renovations to restore and improve the building.

Visitors

After the renovation which started in 2004, the library transformed into a classical reading room, with information about the collections of the museum. An extensive collection of reference books and journals is available in the reading room. Since April 14, 2013 the library has been housed in the main Rijksmuseum building, Museumstraat 1, Amsterdam. The library is open Monday to Saturday, 10 AM until 5 PM, closed on Sundays and on public holidays.

References

External links

Rijksmuseum Research Library
official website and catalogue
OCLC video about the library and the Art Discovery Group Catalogue
Arts in the Netherlands Libraries in Amsterdam Research libraries in the Netherlands Rijksmuseum Amsterdam Libraries established in 1885 1885 establishments in the Netherlands 19th-century architecture in the Netherlands {{art-org-stub

History

Visitors

See also

References

External links