An exceptional private donation will allow Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum to develop a new public sculpture garden featuring works by Louise Bourgeois and Alexander Calder. The Don Quixote Foundation committed €60 million ($69.89 million) to support the creation of the garden and place a number of sculptures with the museum on a long-term loan. The new garden is slated to open in fall 2026.
The new site, known as the Don Quixote Pavilion and Garden at the Rijksmuseum, is intended to serve as a permanent exhibition space for modern and contemporary sculpture. “Local residents, city dwellers, and art lovers will soon be enjoying the tranquil natural surroundings and artistic beauty,” Femke Halsema, Mayor of Amsterdam, said in a statement.
Works on view will also include those by Alberto Giacometti, Jean Arp, Roni Horn, and Henry Moore. The garden will also be used for temporary programming; however, exact details have yet to be announced.
The garden will incorporate the three nearby pavilions with the Carel Willinkplantsoen park, next door to the museum. The exhibition structures will be built by the London firm Foster + Partners, while the garden will be designed by the Belgian landscape architect Piet Blanckaert.
“This is a donation of historic significance, and a historic moment for the Rijksmuseum,” Taco Dibbits, General Director of the Rijksmuseum, said in a statement. “It will give modern sculpture the visibility it deserves. It also marks an unprecedented enhancement of the Rijksmuseum’s collection of 20th-century art.”
The Don Quixote Foundation has supported the museum’s annual sculpture exhibition since 2013. The organization’s donation ensures that visitors can visit the show free of charge. The forthcoming sculpture garden will also be free and open to the public every day.
