Dordrechts Museum — Local services in Dordrecht

Dordrechts is a beautiful historic city and has a fine art museum to match. In addition to a permanent collection focusing primarily on regional artists with many wonderful works well worth journeying to see, including Aelbert Cuyp's famous portrait of a duck, when we visited they had extensive special exhibitions featuring modern and contemporary works. They have a nice bookstore where we made a purchase and a lovely looking café which our schedule didn't permit us to enjoy. Speaking of food, however, we were struck that they were setting up tables and chairs with floral centerpieces for a densely seated event that was apparently to include dining in one of their most important standing exhibition galleries which included a large painting by Rembrandt on loan. In this day and age it was shocking that they would allow people to be seated so close to so many important, centuries-old canvases (who of us hasn't on occasion backed a chair into something even in our own homes?), let alone eat and...

I recommend the permanent collection. There is a room dedicated to Ary Schepper. There are paintings by Rembrandt and portraits of Max Liebermann and Israels. The collection spans several centuries.

The space is contemporary and there is a cafe, a garden and a large auditorium. They also have a youth program called TakePart. It is a paid internship for youth between 16 and 22.

The public education program allows people to learn about the special exhibits and also interact with artists.

The elevator makes the spaces accessible for those using wheelchairs and walkers, as well as baby carriages.

My visits were on a Friday and Saturday. I also took a summer course...

Larger than expected, allow at least 2 to 3 hours, well-presented art, neat and airy museum. Some rooms have permanent exhibitions, and some have temporary exhibits, making it worthwhile to visit again to see new exhibits. When we visited, the Liberte exhibition on French Romanticism was on. It even featured a Dordrecht-born artist Ary Scheffer who made a huge contribution to this art theme in the 1800s. You can use the free earphones for commentary or scan QR codes on some pieces with your mobile phone. The latter did not work for me due to my phone's security settings, so rather use the earphones, or maybe there is a secure dedicated app in the making?...