'Art Is Therapy' in Amsterdam

The event will be lasting since today (25 April) until 7 September.

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is renowned for its mesmerising exhibitions, but Art Is Therapy is something entirely new: this fascinating exhibition provides another look at the museum’s collections, as seen by British writers and philosophers Alain de Botton and John Armstrong.

The pair want to question what the purpose of art is and highlight the therapeutic effect that art has on visitors. They make comments on about 150 pieces of art through the Rijksmuseum’s galleries, but they will also speak their minds on items in the café, cloakroom and other curious spots.

Guest curators Alain de Botton and John Armstrong present Art as Therapy, a series of new captions for 150 works in the Rijksmuseum’s permanent collection that seek to confront the visitor with a set of deeply personal concerns: work, love, status, mortality and difficult relationships.

Art as Therapy aims to subvert the process of captioning paintings by showing not where art came from or who made it, but what it can do for the viewer. This ‘anti-blockbuster’ invites visitors to connect their personal concerns with the artworks on permanent display, throwing an entirely new light on the collection of the Rijksmuseum.

The exhibition will be accompanied by Alain De Botton’s new book, Art as Therapy.