Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam

The Stedelijk Museum (Municipal Museum) in Amsterdam, Netherlands is a museum for contemporary and modern art and design. The museum can be found next to the Van Gogh Museum on the Museumplein square. Book Stedelijk Museum tickets here.

The original red brick and stone Stedelijk building dates back to 1895 having been designed by Dutch architect A. W. Weissman. Its bell tower and gable ends were inspired by 16th century Dutch Renaissance architecture.

The modern annex designed by Benthem Crouwel is attached to the old building like a giant white bathtub. Completed in 2012 at a cost of over €125m, the new wing provides the museum with a combined total of 8,000m² exhibition space.

The main entrance faces Museumplein and the hall has large glass windows giving plenty of natural light. Since 2024 this is known as the Don Quixote Sculpture Hall and is freely open to the public.

The Sculpture Hall (Beeldentuin) displays art from the likes of Alexander Calder, Anne Imhof and Henry Moore with the standout piece being Damien Hirst’s Zebra.

The Stedelijk itself has an important collection of contemporary and modern art – works include those from pre-war masters Cézanne, Chagal, Malevich, Matisse and Picasso; examples of the Dutch De Stijl Movement such as Pieter Mondriaan’s colour abstracts and Gerrit Rietveld’s chair and bedroom designs can be seen.

Also paintings by Karel Appel and others from the avant-garde CoBrA art movement; a collection of pop-art from the likes of Lichtenstein, Polke and Warhol; minimalist art from Judd, Newman and Stella.

Stedelijk also features a collection of 20th century industrial design, graphic design and applied arts – including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glassware and a comprehensive collection of rare posters; cutting-edge installations and sculptures, video and photographic presentations.

The Stedelijk Museum is spread over 3 levels – ground floor, lower level and upper level

The permanent collection features around 500 diverse works from the late 19th century to the present day. It is sorted as follows:

• 1980-present: Tomorrow is a Different Day with international artists such as Marlene Dumas, Anne Imhof, Jeff Koons and Steve McQueen.
• 1950-1980: Everyday, Someday and Other Stories looks at art and design during the era of pop culturwe and consumerism. Artist works by Sheila Hicks, Jackson Pollock, Claudio Parmiggiani and more.
• 1880-1950: Yesterday Today with 300 works from movements such as Amsterdam School, CoBrA, De Stijl and includes works from Piet Mondriaan, Kazimir Malevich, Gerrit Rietveld and others.

In addition to the collection, Stedelijk runs a number of special temporary exhibitions.

There is a free hand-held audio tour which is available in Dutch and English – this covers the main collection and temporary exhibitions.

Those who want to do more in depth research on the collection can access the Stedelijk Museum library reading room in the basement of the new wing (below the shop). It is open 11:00-16:00 (Tue-Thu) by appointment only.

The museum shop can be found in the main foyer run by book sellers Walther König. A cloakroom with lockers is located down the stairs from the main hall.

In terms of food and drink there are 3 venues: Fonda Café, Fonda Coffee Bar, and Café Restaurant Sandberg.

For fans of modern art the Stedelijk will make for an interesting visit.

Nearby is the smaller MOCO Museum for contemporary art; COBRA Museum in Amstelveen features the avant-garde 20th century art movement.

Stedelijk Museum Essential Info

This article was first published in 2013. Last checked and updated 18 June 2026.

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