The crucial promises surrounding the maintenance of the museum would have been agreed in the 1962 founding contract. After the death of Vincent van Gogh, a large part of his art was kept within the family and in ’62 the collection was handed over to the museum through a unique agreement. For example, ir. Van Gogh handed over the entire collection of more than two hundred paintings, five hundred drawings and nine hundred letters to the foundation founded for the artist. Moreover, the collection has collected works by Van Gogh contemporaries.
The museum emphasizes in a statement that it cannot pay for the renovation itself. “The solution is simple: the government must make sufficient resources available for renovations, sustainability and save for major maintenance. Because an agreement is agreement, also for a government.”
Poor condition
After more than fifty years of intensive use, the museum is in poor condition. Substantial investments are needed to renew most of technical installations. “These are conceptually outdated and weigh an increasing lack of spare parts to maintain more difficult to maintain. Furthermore, maintenance with maintenance is no longer feasible and replacement of the installations is required,” said the Van Gogh Museum.
“In addition, sustainability from 2024 is a mandatory task, and this requires radical and expensive adjustments to the buildings.” Large -scale maintenance would also be a requirement to comply with ‘legal and contractual obligations’. The so -called ‘Master Plan’ for large -scale maintenance – which is around 104 million euros – should start in 2028. In total, the work would last approximately three years. In that period, part of the museum will remain open to the public.