Six must-see exhibitions in the Netherlands in 2024

It’s a hugely busy year for exhibitions in the Netherlands in 2024, with major shows planned on everything from fine art to fashion.

And while there are many very exciting Amsterdam exhibitions coming up, your eyes shouldn’t solely be on what’s on in the capital. There are blockbusters scheduled in towns and cities right across the country.

So here are six stand-out Netherlands exhibitions you should see this year.

An artist you’ve likely not heard of paired with an artist you definitely have, makes for an exciting and unexpected exhibition.

This is the very first retrospective in Europe of Matthew Wong, whose colourful and expressive work has an undeniable artistic and personal connection with Vincent van Gogh. Wong’s expressive use of colour, the thickly-applied paint, and the personal themes show an unmistakable connection to the Dutch master. Both artists made their first work at the age of 27. And both struggled with their mental health, resulting in their tragic, untimely deaths.

This Amsterdam show includes more than 60 works made by Wong over his prolific but short eight-year career, and shown alongside a small group of Van Gogh works including Wheatfield (1888), The Bedroom (1888), and Garden of the Asylum (1889).

Textile art is having a moment, and so the Stedelijk Museum has timed this exhibition perfectly to capitalise on its renewed interest.

47 international contemporary artists — with renowned names like Louise Bourgeois, Tracey Emin and Sheila Hicks seen alongside younger generations — will be displayed in a show that promises to tell stories about power, resistance and survival, but also about resilience, love and hope.

Over 100 works will be seen in total from intimate handmade pieces to large-scale sculptures. Displayed across six themes, visitors can expect to hear both personal histories and current socio-political issues. With a full exploration of the history of textiles in art offered here, it will surely only ensure the art form gains even more interest by the time the run finishes.

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The biggest collaboration the Rijksmuseum has ever embarked on with museums from Asia, this major show sees four centuries of stunning art cast in bronze go on show.

Visitors will discover the rich legacy of Asian bronze artistry and the unique qualities of bronze that have been embraced throughout the continent’s history. From the prehistoric period to the present day, the 75 treasures on show all originate from countries including India, China, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan, Nepal and Korea.

Nearly all of the items are being shown in the Netherlands for the very first time. 15 of them have in fact never been seen in Europe before either. Highlights include the National Museum in Bangkok’s Buddha under Naga’s hood, which is leaving Thailand for the first time since it was cast in the 12th or 13th century.

Ceramics are uber trendy again, as this exhibition hosted in one the world’s most famous cities for the medium will show.

Delft’s striking blue-and-white ceramics might be 400 years old, but they are still globally recognised. The Museum Prinsenhof Delft holds a huge collection of items spanning the past four centuries, and in this show their masterpieces will be displayed side-by-side with the work of radical makers working in the Netherlands today. There’ll be around 100 items on show in total.

The premise is that while the formula for ceramics has remained the same, the world to which makers are responding has changed profoundly. Pioneering Ceramics will therefore present multiple points of view and narratives, and will invite visitors to look at the past from a contemporary perspective.

One of the most important private art collections in the Netherlands is shown for the first time as a fully-formed museum exhibition. This huge show gives an impressive overview of the developments in contemporary sculpture in the twenty-first century, through 70 works and installations.

The exhibition will feature some of the biggest and most important artists of recent years, including global names such as Sarah Lucas, Donald Judd, Phyllida Barlow, Tracey Emin, Antony Gormley, Jenny Holzer, Steve McQueen, and Kara Walker. Together, the displayed artworks will demonstrate the diversity, originality and quality of sculpture produced since the turn of the century, and how Max Vorst’s collection represents that full spectrum.

This show is billed as a totally new examination of the French fashion house, and so fully distinct from the hugely successful Dior: Designer of Dreams exhibition that has toured the world in recent years.

Here in the Hague, the focus is on the fashion house’s unique DNA. The common thread will be how Christian Dior’s successors have always respected the label’s ‘founding father’ including through the continued use of motifs such as flowers, strong women and the so-called ‘Dior Dream.’ A specific focus will be the dialogue between Christian Dior and Dior’s current creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri. This will be the first time that her work is given such a central role in a Dior exhibition.

Other highlights will be a focus on costume jewellery, fashion drawings and iconic images by famous photographers. The exhibition will feature works from the collection of Kunstmuseum Den Haag, alongside loans from Dior Héritage and public and private collections in Europe and the United States.