Huis Marseille, Museum for Photography is the oldest photographymuseum in Amsterdam. The museum is housed in a monumental canal house at Keizersgracht 401. Since 1999, it has served as the first museum in the Netherlands fully dedicated to photography as an art form, also known as Huis Marseille.
The museum offers a diverse exhibition program and stands out for the unique historical ambiance of its two seventeenth-century canal houses. Many original details have been meticulously preserved, including richly decorated ceiling paintings, elegant stucco work, marble finishes, and a distinctive Louis XIV-style room featuring a striking red interior; the building was restored and the museum extended into the adjacent building in 2007–2013.[3][4]
Huis Marseille deviates from the traditional "white cube" layout. Its authentic, light-filled spaces enhance the presentation and experience of the photographic works. In addition, the museum features a photography library, a specialized photobook store, and a canal garden with a historic garden house. The artistic nature of photography is a central theme at Huis Marseille. In an era where photography is an omnipresent and accessible (mass) medium, the art form continues to evolve. Huis Marseille focuses on photography that emphasizes an artistic visual language, characterized by a passionate spirit of inquiry and avant-garde innovation. Additionally, photography at Huis Marseille holds societal relevance, offering numerous connections to the shifting spirit of the times.
The museum Huis Marseille takes its name from the building in which it is housed. The monumental canal house is built around 1665 for the French merchantIsaac Focquier. On the building's impressive, classical façade, Focquier placed a stone depicting the layout of the French port city of Marseille. The ship he had outfitted in Marseille, which brought him to Amsterdam, made him a wealthy man.
For several years, he was a member of Amsterdam's College van Commercie (College of Commerce), where his experience as a successful merchant allowed him to influence trade matters. His involvement with the commission coincided with the construction of his house on the Keizersgracht, underscoring his status as a respectable figure. Focquier had distinguished himself and risen to the highest circles of Amsterdam, an elite class of affluent, self-assured men immortalized in group portraits such as Rembrandt’s Syndics of the Drapers' Guild (De Staalmeesters).
The houses
Three hundred years later, the original seventeenth-century layout of the house—consisting of a 'front' segment, a courtyard, a 'back' segment and garden—is still largely intact.[5]
In the current garden room hangs an original ceiling painting from 1730, specially created for the house by Jacob de Wit, the leading decorator of the 18th century. The work depicts Apollo, seated on the clouds, flanked by Minerva and the nine Muses. The ceiling piece was housed in the Rijksmuseum for many years but returned to its original location in 2004, after a thorough restoration, on loan from the Royal Archaeological Society (Koninklijk Oudheidkundig Genootschap).
In September 2013, the museum was expanded to include the neighboring building at Keizersgracht 399, providing the museum with more exhibition space, a larger library, and its own collection storage. The first exhibition in the expanded Huis Marseille took place in September 2013. Since the expansion in 2013, Huis Marseille, Museum for Photography, consists of two connected buildings. Both buildings have five floors accessible to visitors, with a total of fourteen different exhibition rooms.
The most striking feature of the extension is a Louis XIV-style room from the early 18th century. Over the decades, the room has featured various colors. Beneath the last cream-colored layer of paint, olive green, earth-toned, and scarlet pigments were found. This particular shade of red is almost unique in the Netherlands in a reference room. In consultation with the Bureau for Monuments and Archaeology (Bureau Monumenten en Archeologie), it was decided to restore the detailed red wall and ceiling moldings to their original state.
Exhibitions
Some of the exhibitions that have taken place at Huis Marseille:[6]
