Museum De Lakenhal receives private donation of one million euro.

28 October 2015

A private source has generously donated one million euro to Museum De Lakenhal. The donation will partly be used for the purchase of a painting from the seventeenth century, while the rest of the funds will go to the extensive restoration and expansion programme of the museum over the period 2016-2018. This recent donation is the most remarkable one in a series of gifts that Museum De Lakenhal has received over the past year. More and more private sources are connecting themselves to the museum in this fashion.

A one million euro donation

This donation has come from a private source, with whom the museum has maintained a special relationship for years. The exact purpose of the gift has been determined through consultation with the source. Museum Director Meta Knol: “We are immensely happy with, and honoured by, this generous gesture. Through consultation with the source, we found a suitable purpose for these funds, which will be used to sustainably enrich the museum’s collection. Part of the donation will also be used for the new educational area for young visitors, to ensure that our collection will continue to inspire subsequent generations.’ The source has requested to stay anonymous. Museum De Lakenhal’s Friends Foundation VBL has played a mediating role in the donating process.

A series of donations

Over the last few years, Museum De Lakenhal has received a growing number of large and small donations. Else Valk, daughter of artist Hendrik Valk (1897-1987), recently donated more than twenty works from her father’s oeuvre to the museum. These can be seen in a special exhibition until 29 November 2015. The museum also received €50,000 from the estate of Mr. Wijnand Goppel, to be spent on the restoration of collection pieces. The Lucas van Leyden Mecenaat also received €45,000 from the estate of Mrs. Aty van der Drift earlier this year. This donation will be used for the extensive restoration and expansion programme of the museum. At the initiative of Geert Crielaard, a group of twelve private sources from Leiden gathered the funds to purchase an extraordinary stained glass window from the eighteenth century. This remarkable piece features the description ‘HAEC LIBERTATIS ERGO’ and has been added to the museum’s collection. The late Conny van Hoeken also left the museum €907,56. After consultation with her heirs, it has been determined that this money will be spent on restoring three sample books from the museum’s collection.

Mecenaat and friends

The Friends Foundation VBL has played an important role in a number of donations. In 2014, for instance, the foundation gathered €60,000 for the restoration of the monumental triptych ‘The Crucifixion’ (circa. 1517) by Cornelis Engebrechtsz. ‘Planned giving’ is also becoming increasingly common. In this process, private sources discuss a potential inheritance with the museum while they are still in good health. The Lucas van Leyden Mecenaat, which was founded in 2011 and includes fifty members, is also remarkably successful. This inspiring and active network surrounding Museum De Lakenhal is chaired by Elco Brinkman. Numerous private persons and companies who care about Leiden in general and about Museum De Lakenhal in particular, can be found among its members. The related American Friends of Museum De Lakenhal was founded in 2014.

Restoration and expansion

Between 2016 and 2018 the monumental heart of the museum, the ‘Laecken-Halle’ from 1640, will be thoroughly restored. The museum will be simultaneously expanded with new structures, creating more room for public functions and exhibition halls. Approximately 75% of the necessary building budget of 22 million euro has been made available by the municipality of Leiden. Museum De Lakenhal has also gathered 3,2 million euro through contributions from the BankGiro Loterij, the province of Zuid-Holland and a number of (private) funds, foundations and private sources. The museum is aiming to raise an additional 1 million euro, to ensure that the expansion and restoration plans are optimally implemented.

editors' note

Museum De Lakenhal is a museum of the arts, of artistry and of the history of Leiden. Among the highlights of our collection you can find works by many old masters, including Lucas van Leyden, Rembrandt van Rijn and Jan Steen, but also pieces by modern artists such as Theo van Doesburg, Jan Wolkers and Erwin Olaf. Museum De Lakenhal develops high-quality exhibitions of (inter)national importance using Leiden as its source. The museum sees itself a renewing network museum that ties the past and present together and seeks to inspire its visitors through old and new interpretations.

For more information, please contact:

Public Affairs department at Museum De Lakenhal

Minke Schat Tel. 071 5165 360 / 06 11 01 88 31 or through pr@lakenhal.nl

Museum De Lakenhal, Oude Singel 28-32, Leiden