A'dam art council advises Stedelijk Museum to not compete with 'jet set'

The Amsterdam Art Council advised the Stedelijk Museum to focus on its own comprehensive collection instead of trying to compete with a "jet set" of super rich art collectors and museums with much higher budgets, NU.nl reports.

In December the then Amsterdam mayor and aldermen asked the Art Council to advise the Stedelijk Museum on the future positioning of the museum. Focusing on its own collection was the main part of that advice, according to the newspaper.

The Art Council called the Stedelijk Museum's current collection of more than 95 thousand objects from all over the world "comprehensive, richly varied and of great value". This collection earns the Stedelijk Museum a great deal of respect in the international museum world. The museum's own collection should therefore be more prominent, according to the Art Council.

In the year 2018, modern art museums with limited purchase budgets can no longer compete with wealthy art collectors. The Art Council therefore advices against purchasing any further jet set art. Instead the Stedelijk Museum should look at works by forgotten, new, and undervalued artists. 

Late last year the municipality of Amsterdam launched an investigation into the transparency and ancillary functions of now-resigned Stedelijk Museum director Beatrix Ruf. To avoid any hit of conflicts of interest in the future, the Amsterdam Art Council proposes that the new artistic director be fully honored and that income from additional positions be banned.