The Van Gogh Museum (photo courtesy of Bruno Rijsman)
The Vincent van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam states that it may be forced to close if it does not receive additional funding from the Dutch government.
The Van Gogh Museum receives approximately 1.8 million visitors per year, and is said to undergo an extensive renovation process between 2028 and 2031. The main building is over fifty years old and was designed to welcome only 500,000 visitors annually. While the other buildings are newer, much of the museum, regardless, needs updates to its climate control system and elevators. The museum also seeks to improve its security and fire safety systems, as well as make the building more sustainable. The museum has been in negotiations with the Dutch government over funding these renovations for the past two years, which the museum estimates will cost around €104 million. However, the museum plans to remain open during the upgrades, keeping one of the two main buildings open at a time to accommodate visitors. Due to the constraints on available space, the Van Gogh plans to focus on selections from their permanent collection instead of curating temporary exhibitions. In addition to the cost of the renovations, the museum estimates that the inability to welcome the number of visitors they’re accustomed to will cause the museum to lose approximately €50 million.
The Van Gogh Museum is one of the most financially sustainable cultural institutions in the Netherlands. The museum itself is responsible for generating approximately 85% of its annual revenue. The remainder comes from government subsidies, totaling approximately €8.5 million per year. The museum estimates that the Dutch state will need to increase that amount to €11 million to remain operational during the three-year renovations. The museum states that it is simply asking the Dutch government to “fulfil its legally established obligations” in accordance with an agreement made in 1962 with the Van Gogh family and the Vincent van Gogh Foundation, where the government agreed to fund the construction and maintenance of a museum dedicated to Vincent van Gogh. Since negotiations between the museum and the state have broken down after two years, the museum has filed a complaint alleging that the Dutch government is now in violation of the 1962 agreement. In response, the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science has stated that its current subsidy is sufficient to maintain museum operations during its renovations. The Van Gogh Museum, however, disagrees, saying that without the slight increase in its government subsidy, the museum “will not be able to guarantee the safety of the collection, visitors and staff” while the renovations are underway.
Should the government and the Van Gogh Museum fail to reach a compromise, the legal complaint brought by the museum is scheduled to be heard in court in February 2026. However, Government action may be delayed due to the ongoing situation in the Dutch parliament. In June 2025, the governing coalition fell apart after one of its parties withdrew. New elections are scheduled for late October, meaning it may be two months before any progress is made in negotiations.