De Stadshof Collection returns to the Netherlands

Internationally renowned outsider art collection finds new home in Haarlem and will collaborate closely with Museum van de Geest / Museum of the Mind.

After 25 years, the De Stadshof Collection has returned to the Netherlands. This extensive collection of outsider art has been relocated from Museum Dr. Guislain in Ghent to Museum van de Geest / Museum of the Mind in Haarlem. This fulfills a long-cherished wish of the De Stadshof Collection Foundation: the collection is back in the country where it originated and is finding a new, permanent home there.

The De Stadshof collection ranks among the most important and coherent international collections of outsider art. Comprising approximately 10,000 works by more than 500 artists, the collection -which De Stadshof prefers to call “Solitary Creations” due to the works’ elusive nature and distinct differences- includes renowned figures such as Willem van Genk, Carlo Zinelli, Nek Chand, Davood Koochaki, Rosemarie Koczÿ, Siebe Wiemer Glastra and Hans Langner. Artistic quality has been the guiding principle since the collection’s inception; it focuses on natural artistic talents with exceptional, highly individual visual languages ​​who generally work outside the conventional training systems, networks, and institutions of the art world.

De Stadshof has actively worked to raise its profile in the Netherlands -including through a major exhibition at Kunstmuseum Den Haag in 2015- and sought a sustainable partnership within the Dutch museum landscape. It has found that partner in Museum van de Geest.

Museum van de Geest contributes its museum infrastructure, audience reach, and a distinctive profile centered on art and mental health, while De Stadshof brings the internationally recognized collection it has built up over more than forty years. Together, they harness the power of art to strengthen mental resilience and broaden the conversation around mental health and diversity.

The return of a collection of this magnitude, along with the necessary registration and collection care, constitutes a major undertaking. The De Stadshof Collection Foundation is therefore deeply grateful for the support of the Cultuurfonds, Dioraphte, VSBfonds, the Hendrik Muller Fonds, and the Gilles Hondius Foundation. Their contributions helped make this return to the Netherlands possible.

The move marks a significant milestone, but above all, it signals the start of a new phase. After 25 years in Ghent, the De Stadshof Collection is back home in the Netherlands—ready to be viewed, studied, loaned out, and, most importantly, exhibited.