Amsterdam Museum buys 1889 painting of orphanage girls

The Amsterdam Museum has bought an 1889 painting of girls singing in the red-and-black dresses worn by residents of the city’s former Burgerweeshuis orphanage. The work will take a central place in the museum’s renovated building when it reopens in 2030.

The painting, *Musicerende Amsterdamse Burgerweeshuismeisjes* (Singing Amsterdam Orphanage Girls), is by Thérèse Schwartze. The museum acquired it at the PAN art fair. Its former Burgerweeshuis on Kalverstraat is the museum’s main site, and the museum said the artwork brings “a piece of the history of its own building” into its collection.

The two-metre-wide painting was offered for €250,000. The museum secured a €50,000 discount from its owner, New York art dealer Lawrence Steigrad, who believed it belonged at the museum, ANP reported.

The purchase was funded through the museum’s own resources, crowdfunding and a major donation from the Judith Leyster Fund, a new fund established by the Vereniging Rembrandt to increase the visibility of women artists. The museum said it shares that aim. It is marking its centenary this year.

Conservator Norbert Middelkoop called the painting an “exceptional acquisition” for the museum.