Rijksmuseum expanding to Eindhoven with new outpost
- maxwell museums
- Jan 14
- 2 min read
The Rijksmuseum is expanding, and will open a new outpost museum in the Dutch city of Eindhoven. It’s expected to open in the early 2030s.
Eindhoven is in the south of the Netherlands, and is the fifth-largest city by population in the country. Bosses at the Rijksmuseum say expanding to the new site — the institution’s first satellite venue — will help them display more of their 1 million-strong world-class collection of artwork and historical objects.
The new building will cover more than 3,500 square metres, but detailed plans will only be developed over the coming year. It will be located along the Dommel River, in a new park that’s just a few minutes’ walk from Eindhoven Central Station.
The Mayor of Eindhoven Jeroen Dijsselbloem hailed the move, saying it was “an incredible opportunity” for his city.
“We are seizing it with both hands to make it a reality as quickly as possible” he said in a statement. “The Rijksmuseum in Eindhoven will be a valuable addition to the cultural landscape of Brabant and beyond, with art and history serving as a unifying force in our rapidly growing Brainport region.”
Rijksmuseum Director says new museum "an important step"
Taco Dibbits, the Rijksmuseum Director, said that the institution’s expansion “represents an important step in making the collection even more accessible in the south of the country.”
Observers will be keeping an eye on which, if any, of the greatest Rijksmuseum treasures will move to the new site. In Amsterdam, visitors can currently see masterpieces from the likes of Vermeer, Frans Hals and Van Gough and no doubt careful consideration will have to be made about how moving any of these may effect visitor numbers.
Construction will be financed with support from the city council and from Dutch multinational company ASML, which is one of the largest suppliers for the semiconductor industry in the world.
With this move, the Rijksmuseum becomes the latest major European museum to expand with additional outposts. In 2025 the V&A East Storehouse was unveiled in London, adding to the V&A’s family of museums. And although the Centre Pompidou in Paris is closed currently for major renovations, the popular contemporary art museum will unveil a new satellite venue — named the KANAL-Centre Pompidou — in the Belgium capital Brussels at the end of 2026.
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