Ruben Suykerbuyk, the new museum curator in charge of old masters collection at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen

BY KAZAD

ROTTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS– Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen has appointed Ruben Suykerbuyk as the new Curator of Old Masters. Suykerbuyk is a Belgian art historian and currently a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Ghent. His field of expertise is in old art from the Low Countries from the fifteenth to the seventeenth century.  Suykerbuyk’s tenure begins in April.

Suykerbuyk succeeds Friso Lammertse who moved to the Rijksmuseum in April 2020 after twenty years at Rotterdam.

New Museum Curator: Expectations

Expectations are that Suykerbuyk will have a smooth transition to his new position because he knows the Boijmans collection well.  In his new curatorial position, he will devote time to research and the stewardship of the Old Masters collection. He will also manage the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen depot.

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen has a world-class collection with 150,000 objects. It has a rich collection of works by famous Dutch and Flemish old masters, including Van Eyck, Bosch, Bruegel, Titian, Rembrandt, Carel Fabritius, Gabriel Metsu, Bartholomeus van der Helst, Pieter Jansz Saenredam, and Rubens. Also in the museum’s collection is a number of important works of French and German art. They include paintings by Barthélémy d’Eyck and a panel by Dürer. Among many others, the museum also has a modest but superb quality collection of Italian paintings from the fourteenth to the eighteenth century. Some of the artists include Fra Angelico, Veronese, Tiepolo, and Guardi.

Suykerbuyk is an enthusiastic curator and the museum is delighted to add him to its team. “We look forward to amazing exhibitions, research and love of the collection of old art,” notes Sjarel Ex and Ina Klaassen, directors of Boijmans.

On his part, Suykerbuyk cannot wait to start impact his world of knowledge:

 “I am enthusiastic about sharing my knowledge of art history and my passion with every museum visitor by combining a wide range of public communications with sound academic research. I look forward to the opening of the depot next year, and I’m honoured to be allowed to be part of the new Boijmans.”

About Ruben Suykerbuyk

 
Ruben Suykerbuyk comes to Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen with a great experience.  He was born in Antwerp and raised in Essen. Suykerbuyk has worked at Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna and the Royal Museums of Fine Arts in Brussels. He has won several prizes and scholarships, including the prestigious Rogier van der Weyden Prize (2012). In 2013, he won Dr. Alfred & Isabel Bader Prize and the James Loeb Fellowship at the Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte in Munich in 2018.  Additionally, he got a mandate from the Special Research Fund of the University of Ghent (2018-21).

Suykerbuyk co-edited the book Art after Iconoclasm: Painting in the Netherlands (1566-1585), and Turnhout (Brepols) 2012. In 2020, he published the monograph The Matter of Piety: Zoutleeuw’s Church of Saint Leonard and Religious Material Culture in the Low Countries (c.1450-1620), Leiden & Boston (Brill) 2020. Suykerbuyk is also a member of the editorial board of the art-historical magazine Simiolus and has published numerous academic articles. 

In his new role, Suykerbuyk will enhance the eclectic nature of this unusual museum in the heart of Rotterdam by introducing visitors to western art history from the Middle Ages to the present day.

Peter Paul Rubens began these paintings in 1633 and took about a year to complete. It is the result of a commission given by King Charles I of England (reigned 1625–49) for Ruben to decorate the ceiling of the Banqueting House of Whitehall Palace, in London. The vast canvases celebrate the Stuart monarchy and the reign of Charles’s father, King James VI of Scotland, who became James I of England and Ireland in 1603, succeeding Queen Elizabeth I.

Peter Paul Rubens, The Union of England and Scotland (Charles I as the Prince of Wales), 1633–34