Objectives

The Dutch Collection De Stadshof Foundation has been collector and keeper of outsider art, ever since 1985. The collection is unique for the Netherlands and counted among the top five of its kind in Europe. During the 1990s the collection was on show in the city of Zwolle. Since 2002 it is on loan for exhibition at the Museum Dr Guislain in Ghent, Belgium.

Outsider Art is the name given to works of art that are created outside the realms of mainstream art and encompasses a wide range of creative expression, from naive art to art brut. Outsider Art bespeaks, on the one hand, of the dreams, fears and fascinations of extraordinary people, and on the other of the irrepressible creative urge of the homo ludens.

Collection De Stadshof comprises more than 6.000 works of art, including works by artists belonging to the international canon of Outsider Art, such as Willem van Genk, Siebe Wiemer Glastra, Nek Chand Saini, Bertus Jonkers, Nikifor, Madge Gill, Carlo Zinelli, Anna Zemánková, Pavel Leonov, Michel Nedjar and Theo, as well as works by artists that De Stadshof discovered itself, such as Truus Kardol, Roy Wenzel, Bonaria Manca, Reuben Lake, Markus Meurer, Herman Bossert, Aaltje Dammer, Luiz Figueiredo and Adama Diakhaté.

Collection De Stadshof gives selections of its collection on loan for exhibitions elsewhere and also organises exhibitions itself.

Collection De Stadshof strives for realisation of a new museum or a platform for Outsider Art in the Netherlands.

Collection De Stadshof is keen on enriching its collection and welcomes suggestions to this end.