The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam has received a donation of €60 million from the Don Quixote foundation, set up by the co-founder of venture capital company CVC and billionaire Rolly van Rappard.
The garden, which is scheduled to open later this year, will be designed by British architect Norman Foster and cost some €10 million. The rest will be invested and used to finance other activities by the museum.
The donation comes on top of a gift of €12.5 million from the foundation in May 2023 and is to be used to make a sculpture garden of the green spaces opposite the museum.
London architects Foster + Partners will transform the existing three Amsterdamse Stijl pavilions into exhibition spaces, while the garden itself will be designed by Belgian landscape architect Piet Blanckaert.
The garden will contain works by international artists, including Alberto Giacometti, Louise Bourgeois, Alexander Calder, Jean Arp, Roni Horn and Henry Moore. Van Rappard is also handing over part of his collection of 20th century sculptures on a long-term loan.
Dibbits called the garden, which is free, “a wonderful gift to Amsterdammers where everyone can enjoy nature and art in peace”.
Van Rappard is a member of one of the richest aristocratic families in the Netherlands. His fortune was estimated at €1.5 billion by Quote magazine in 2024.
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