Willem de Rooij — Valkenburg
Centraal Museum•Sep 13, 2025 — Jan 25, 2026
Artist
Guestbook
Press Release
On 13 September, the Centraal Museum in Utrecht opens the first institutional solo exhibition in the Netherlands by Willem de Rooij in nearly a decade. In Valkenburg, the artist explores how 18th-century Dutch elites used visual culture to promote colonial ideology. Through an expansive installation – bringing together thirty paintings by Dirk Valkenburg (1675 – 1721) for the first time – De Rooij examines how visual culture was strategically deployed to legitimise power structures.
Willem de Rooij:
“I am fascinated by the function of images within systems of power. By isolating, regrouping and interrogating them, I aim to reveal the underlying structures.”
Bart Rutten, Artistic Director of the Centraal Museum:
“The Centraal Museum works transhistorically: by viewing historical art through a contemporary lens, we connect it to current issues. Valkenburg is a striking example of this – the installation marks a new step in Willem de Rooij’s distinctive oeuvre while shedding new light…
Exhibition Space
Willem de Rooij — Valkenburg
Centraal Museum•Sep 13, 2025 — Jan 25, 2026
Press Release
On 13 September, the Centraal Museum in Utrecht opens the first institutional solo exhibition in the Netherlands by Willem de Rooij in nearly a decade. In Valkenburg, the artist explores how 18th-century Dutch elites used visual culture to promote colonial ideology. Through an expansive installation – bringing together thirty paintings by Dirk Valkenburg (1675 – 1721) for the first time – De Rooij examines how visual culture was strategically deployed to legitimise power structures.
Willem de Rooij:
“I am fascinated by the function of images within systems of power. By isolating, regrouping and interrogating them, I aim to reveal the underlying structures.”
Bart Rutten, Artistic Director of the Centraal Museum:
“The Centraal Museum works transhistorically: by viewing historical art through a contemporary lens, we connect it to current issues. Valkenburg is a striking example of this – the installation marks a new step in Willem de Rooij’s distinctive oeuvre while shedding new light…
Exhibition Space
Artist
Guestbook
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