“You want to play a role in 2018? Then you need to be convincing” – Alexander van Grevenstein, artistic director of the Bonnefanten Museum

“Is the museum a collection of mementoes of life or is it itself part of our lives?”
Aldo Rossi, architect

The Bonnefanten Museum – photo: Bonnefanten Museum

The Bonnefanten Museum is the leading institution dedicated to contemporary art and old masters in Maastricht. Located in the former industrial estate Céramique on the banks of the Meuse river, the museum also hosts a visitors shop, an auditorium and the Ipanema café.

Bonnefanten Museum – photo: Kim Zwarts

Bonnefanten Museum, museum shop – photo: Saramicol Viscardi

The Bonnefanten Museum has a special meaning for me: I can still remember when – as an Italian student preparing my Master thesis in Museology – I first stepped across the threshold of the building. The Bonnefanten surprised me with its elegant hall full of light and the naturalness of its construction materials: brick, wood, natural stone and zinc, around a skeleton of concrete and steel.

Then I found out that the designer of the building was no other than the well known Italian contemporary architect Aldo Rossi. Based in Milan, like me, his work is thoroughly studied in all the Italian Faculties of Arts and Architecture. “Destiny led me here”, I thought.

Bonnefanten Museum – photos Saramicol Viscardi 

Five long years later, I am once again living in Maastricht, and the Bonnefanten Museum still has a place in my heart.

“Sometimes I feel like a cowboy”
In 2009 the museum will celebrate the 125th anniversary of its foundation, although “the Bonnefanten became a professional museum only 20 years ago”, explains artistic director Alexander van Grevenstein. “As any other provincial town, Maastricht had a group of enthusiastic people who dealt mainly with old art and archaeology. Then, with time, the museum grew into the only art museum in the area, focusing both on old masters and contemporary art.”

Alexander van Grevenstein – photo: Kyra van Hulzen

“This means that the building is new and the collections – both of old and contemporary art –are new as well. So I am a pioneer… sometimes I feel like a cowboy,” jokes the director. “I worked on this building with the great architect Aldo Rossi – not only a compatriot of yours, but also someone from Milan – he was a profound, a very typical ‘Milanese’… It was great to work with him”, Van Grevenstein remembers.

Is there a connection between Italian culture and the spirit of this museum, I find myself wondering. An Italian architect, the current refined exhibition of early Italian art “Palazzo”. Are these simple coincidences?

Palazzo, Bonnefanten Museum – photo: Saramicol Viscardi

Palazzo, Bonnefanten Museum – photo: Harry Heuts, © Bonnefantenmuseum

“Well, there is no special connection between them”, says Van Grevenstein. “We started to collaborate with the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, which is the most impressive Dutch museum, in order to have the possibility to work on exhibitions together. The early Italian art show ‘Palazzo’ is actually a reflection about a perception. We wanted to show this private collection from Swiss Prof. Dr. Otto Lanz as it was originally conceived. This is why the display includes furniture, bronzes, and sculptures in addition to paintings.”

I am familiar with this type of set up, which reminds me of a number of small, private Italian museums. These precious museums, which resemble private houses, tell us the complex stories not only of the artworks on display but also of the people who collected them. The personalities and tastes of collectors become representative of specific historical periods.

The museum’s mission
Similarly, what does the Bonnefanten Museum tell foreign visitors about the culture of Limburg and the larger Meuse-Rhine Euroregion?

“We try to give our public an idea of the essence of the region, of its history,” says Van Grevenstein. “This region had its ‘golden century’ not in the XVII century, like the rest of Holland, but in the IX century. That’s a long time ago, in the deep, middle ages. Back then, Maastricht but also Liège and Hasselt were important cities…”.

The museum’s collection of ancient art mainly consists of mediaeval applied art and woodcarvings from the Meuse region, and the atelier practice in Southern Netherlands up to about 1650. “In our old masters collection we stress the aspect of the ‘studio practice’, which means that we focus not only on the single genius, but on the work of his team, his assistants and colleagues. During that period a masterpiece was created in big studios, with many people working on one piece.” This practice is also distinctive of the early Italian painting, which forms the other important section of the museum’s old masters collection.

“We also try to open people’s minds to what is happening in the international contemporary art scene,” continues Van Grevenstein.

Francis Alÿs, Shoeshine 2004, Bonnefanten Museum

The museum’s contemporary art collection encompasses a number of major and international artists, such as Joseph Beuys, Marcel Broodthaers, Luciano Fabro, Sol LeWitt, Bruce Naumann and Richard Serra. This admirable section is displayed side by side with works by younger artists, in order to highlight some form of continuity between the great masters and the younger generations.

The museum’s acquisition campaigns are focused both on young local and international artists. I particularly like the Belgian Francis Alÿs, one of the most up-and-coming artists on the international art scene, whose videos ‘Shoeshine’ and ‘Guards’, both from 2004 are currently on show.

The young generation’s production is presented through videos, large ensembles or even room-sized installations, like for example the entire room project ‘A Mon Seul Desir’ by Gijs Frieling.

Prospect Park IV, Gijs Frieling, A Mon Seul Désir, Bonnefanten Museum 2008 – photo: Saramicol Viscardi

“We strive to be an icon in Maastricht and in the region, although we will have some competition in the near future. When the ‘Gran Curtius’ museum opens in Liège, we won’t be the one and only location any more. But in fact, the new museum in Liège will focus only on contemporary art, whereas we also have a place for the ancient art field”, the director explains.

Strolling through the airy exhibition rooms, I notice few visitors, who, like me, are spending their time quietly – it is a week day, early in the afternoon. Among the current exhibitions, I would like to recommend the section dedicated to the Swiss artist Roman Signer (1938), which presents an extensive selection of the artist’s works from the museum’s collection, such as remarkable Super8 films and photo sequences, but also sculptures and installations.

Roman Signer, Nachtfahrt 1999, Bonnefanten Museum 2008

How to attract more visitors
“We welcome visitors from Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Brussels, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Liège… sometimes Paris, too. Most of them are spending a holiday in South Limburg and come to visit the museum from their holiday address,” says Van Grevenstein. “But we want more visitors coming specifically for the exhibitions themselves,” he continues, and you can only attract a wide international public if your shows are well regarded and extensive enough”.

This remark seems to clash with a recent report (pdf, in Dutch) commissioned by the Province of Limburg which called upon the Bonnefanten museum to increase its focus on the city of Maastricht itself and to better target the interests of the local public, by organising short term exhibitions on a more regular basis.

“Well, we were advised to offer more small exhibitions… On this point we don’t entirely agree with the report. Nowadays we are doing less shows, but bigger. The problem is that Maastricht is a city of more or less 100.000 inhabitants. About 50 percent of our visitors come from Amsterdam, and only 10 percent come from abroad, let’s say Belgium and Germany, which is not enough”, Van Grevenstein explains. “If we want to attract this group, if we want more visitors, we need to do bigger shows. Otherwise it would be all too small. Why would you come from far away to see only one project room? You don’t. We are – in our area – the cultural institution for visual art. So, we’re aiming at the highest level possible: for instance, we have a show by John Baldessari, who is a highly considered American artist. So, everybody here and in the surrounding area can discover his rich production”.

John Baldessari, Bonnefanten Museum 2008 – photo: Saramicol Viscardi

As one of the main protagonists of Minimal and Conceptual Art, John Baldessari usually combines black and white photos with coloured sections; he uses his own photos as well as images from unsuccessful B movies, portraits, everyday snapshots and even advertising pictures.

In recognition of his influence on the younger generation of artists, Baldessari was elected the BACA (Biennial Award for Contemporary Art) Laureate for 2008 by a jury composed of Bice Curiger, Robert Storr and Alexander van Grevenstein. Part of Baldessari’s exhibition is dedicated to the works of six young post-graduate artists from the Jan van Eyck Academy in Maastricht under the title “Chanting Baldessari”. Also noteworthy is a show called ‘This an Example of That’ by Koen van den Broek, an artist with whom Baldessari recently collaborated.

These various presentations are very intriguing and quite remarkable, with the artworks well disposed through the large and modern rooms of the second floor.

John Baldessari, BACA Laureate 2008, photo: Bonnefanten Museum

I believe that this mission is very important for the artistic tissue of the city – as well as the entire area. Young artists – who can find in art galleries and local institutions careful and helpful interlocutors – need to compare themselves with masters and international protagonists. It is difficult – quite impossible – for a small or medium-sized institution to organize a exhibition by an international, renowned artist. In my view, a big museum must take on a teaching role towards young generations, and an international frame is at least necessary.

In addition to the lasting collaboration with Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum, the Bonnefanten Museum cooperates with many European and American museums on temporary shows. “Not with Chinese or Indian museums yet, but they will come,” the director says confidently. This profile could prove useful to Maastricht in its run up for the title of European Capital of Culture in 2018.

“You want to play a role in 2018? Then you need to be convincing,” says Van Grevenstein. “What is positive is that up until now every inspecting commission has said: ‘Yes, you are doing well. You are doing it right’.”

“Our ‘raison d’être’ leads us to offer what is at the peak of contemporary art – all art – in our time, not focusing only on popular famous artists.”

Exile on main St. exhibtion preview: John Tweddle Poem 1971, Acryl on canvas, private collection – photo: Peter Cox

The Rolling Stones in Maastricht?
Certainly the next big exhibition on the agenda seems to fit well with this objective. Its name, ‘Exile on main St.’, refers to the famous Rolling Stones album from the 70’s. “I will show nine American artists who belong to the older generation: some are already dead, others are old. They all preferred to be isolated instead of part of a group, and their work has been really important in the development of Pop Art, Minimal Art and Conceptual Art, although they are still not known. Outsiders and underground artists, with a clear, stiff humour… I got them out of anonymity. We will present a big, big show, which will be on display with more than 200 works on the entire second floor,” the director announces.

Exile on main St. exhibition preview: Peter Saul, Mona Lisa Throws Up Pizza 1995, private collection Montreuil, France

“‘Exile on Main St.’ is the most famous LP by the Rolling Stones, so we’ll try to have them for the opening…” Van Grevenstein finally reveals, winking at me.

As I leave the museum, I try to visualise the cult rock band performing at the Bonnefanten Museum… it’s only a possibility for now, but just imagine that they would come!

By Saramicol Viscardi

Saramicol Viscardi is an Italian art critic and writer. She lives in Maastricht since July, enjoying arts and cultural events.

More information:
Bonnefanten Museum website