by Tom Gurney
Tom Gurney BSc (Hons) is an art history expert with over 20 years experience
Published on July 14, 2026 / Updated on July 16, 2026
Email: tomgurney1@gmail.com / Phone: +447429011000
North facade of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam (4).jpg by Vasyatka1; CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped for TheHistoryOfArt.org. · Image source
Current and upcoming exhibitions
These exhibitions are placed high on the page because they are the clearest reason to plan a visit around this museum now.
About Rijksmuseum
Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, NL, is a useful starting point for dutch art and history anchored by Rembrandt and Vermeer, but broader than highlights and strengthened by women-focused collection research and works-on-paper scholarship. The 3 attached exhibitions help the page work both as a collection guide and as a practical route into what is on now.
For a first visit, build the route around Dutch Golden Age, decorative arts, national history, works on paper, women artists, collection research, Dutch social history and early modern drawing. Artists especially worth slowing down for include Rembrandt, Johannes Vermeer, Frans Hals, Hendrick Goltzius, Jacques de Gheyn II, Abraham Bloemaert, Rachel Ruysch, Judith Leyster, Thérèse Schwartze and Willem de Kooning. Current and upcoming exhibitions can then help decide what deserves priority on the day.
Collection highlights to prioritise
These works are not a complete top-ten list. They are strong anchors for a first visit: objects that help explain the museum’s identity, support deeper interpretation and connect naturally to artists or artworks elsewhere on the site.
- The Night Watch by Rembrandt, 1642. Core Rijksmuseum highlight and key internal artwork link
- The Milkmaid by Johannes Vermeer, c.1660. Vermeer highlight and high-search Dutch Golden Age anchor
- Self-portrait as the Apostle Paul by Rembrandt, 1661. Useful for showing Rembrandt beyond The Night Watch
- The Merry Family by Jan Steen, 1668. Genre-painting route into Dutch domestic and moral imagery
- A Winter Landscape with Ice Skaters by Hendrick Avercamp, c.1608. Distinctive Dutch landscape and seasonal-life highlight
Use these highlights as a route, not a checklist. The most rewarding visit will usually come from slowing down in front of fewer works and noticing how chronology, patronage, material, national school and display sequence change the way each object reads.
Plan around current exhibitions
Current and upcoming exhibitions are one of the clearest reasons to visit or revisit the museum now. A visitor may arrive here from the museum name, from an artist search, or from the exhibitions table; either way, the page should make the live programme easy to understand before sending readers to official venue details.
Sources and further reading
Use these official museum pages, object records and exhibition sources to check details and keep exploring.
- Collection
Core collection and search source - Art Explorer
Visitor-oriented discovery source - The Night Watch
Priority object record - The Milkmaid
Priority object record - Programme 2026
Upcoming exhibition source
How to use this guide
Before travelling, check Rijksmuseum directly for opening hours, temporary closures, access arrangements and ticketing. This page avoids precise pricing by design, because prices and discounts change more often than the art-historical content. The stable value is route planning: what to see, why it matters, and which related pages are worth opening next.
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