Permanent collection of glass art

The core of the collection was assembled by Jan van der Togt. Over the years, the collection has been further expanded under the leadership of former museum director Jan Verschoor. The focus of the collection is on modern sculptural glass art from the 20th and 21st centuries.

The cast and cut glass objects from countries such as the Czech Republic and Slovakia—by artists such as Stanislav Libenský and Jaroslava Brychtová, Václav Cigler, and Bohumil Eliáš—form an important part of the collection. In addition to these techniques, various other disciplines are also on display, including blown glass.

Studio Glass

Special attention is paid to the remarkable development of studio glass: an international movement in which glass artists were no longer dependent on glass factories. The use of their own kilns gave them the freedom to create autonomous work. In the Netherlands, this led to the establishment of the glass department at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam (now The Large Glass Department) and studios such as the Oude Horn in Aquoy. Many of the Dutch glass objects in the collection originated here, including works by Sybren Valkema, Andries Copier, Richard Meitner, Mieke Groot, Bert Frijns, and William and Bernard Heesen.

Paintings & sculptures

The works of Sam Francis, an American abstract expressionist painter, form an essential part of the museum collection. His canvases combine beautifully with the glass objects; this interplay is the museum's calling card. The museum also displays a series of surrealist paintings by the Amsterdam fine painter Hans Kanters.

Another part of the collection consists of bronze and marble sculptures, including two remarkable sculptures by Harry Bertoia and Ossip Zadkine. Thanks to his friendship with Jan van der Togt, Jan Verschoor's sculptures are well represented.