Master’s programme: Arts of the Netherlands

Collaboration

Arts of the Netherlands is an active collaboration of the University of Amsterdam with the Rijksmuseum and other museums and cultural institutions in the Netherlands and Belgium, such as the Van Gogh Museum, the Mauritshuis, the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Frans Hals Museum, the Dutch Royal Collections, the Catharijneconvent, the RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History, the Royal Museum of Fine Arts and the Rubenianum in Antwerp, and other leading institutions in the field of Netherlandish art. This commitment to the complementary practices of scholarship and curatorship is essential to the programme’s mission to train future custodians of Netherlandish art.

Programme

The 2-year specialisation track Arts of the Netherlands is part of the Dual Master Curating Arts and Cultures at the University of Amsterdam. Arts of the Netherlands is dedicated to the study of the artistic tradition of the Low Countries from circa 1400-1900 and comprises the fields of Early Netherlandish Art, Dutch and Flemish Art of the Golden Age and modern art from the 19th and early 20th Centuries. This research driven programme will accommodate a maximum of 15 outstanding students per year, who will be selected on the basis of merit.

Academic research offers a broad historical and theoretical horizon that exceeds the practical boundaries imposed by any museum’s collection, while the museum’s take on research provides unmatched opportunities for examining and investigating the physical objects of our studies. The programme’s curriculum embraces both perspectives and combines them to stimulate intellectual freedom and a deep knowledge of singular works of art. In practice, this means that excursions and on-site training are integral components of the programme’s courses; that the study of objects is always motivated by and approached with an intellectual drive; that the student’s time will be divided equally between the seminar room and the museum gallery; and that academics and curators will be involved at all stages of the programme.

Arts of the Netherlands is committed to an international perspective and will be taught in English. The programme is targeted primarily towards students who aspire to an academic or museum career.

Application and admission

Please review the University of Amsterdam website for further information on the programme and the entry requirements.

For questions about this programme, please contact: Dr. Elmer Kolfin, University of Amsterdam via e.e.p.kolfin@uva.nl.