Longing for Egmond

From inspiration to artists' village

June 28 to November 2, 2025

Longing for Egmond
From inspiration to artists' village

Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar pays tribute to Egmond - a village that inspired artists for centuries. For the first time, seventeenth- and nineteenth-century masterpieces are brought together in the region where they were created. The exhibition shows how this special place managed to enchant generations of artists - from the Dutch masters to the American painters who made Egmond internationally famous. 

In the seventeenth century, artists such as Jacob van Ruysdael, Aelbert Cuyp and Jan van Goyen went to Egmond to capture the landscape, the seas the famous ruins of the abbey and the castle. Two centuries later, George Hitchcock and Gari Melchers settled in the village. Their paintings, focusing on Egmond and its inhabitants, achieved worldwide success. 

The first room displays paintings from the seventeenth century, illustrating the power of Egmond as a rich source of inspiration for artists of the time. The main exhibition hall is devoted to American painters, with loans from international collections. This makes the exhibition a rare opportunity to see these works of art in the Netherlands. In the Art Summer School studio, visitors, young and old, can get to work on the Egmond landscape of today and the future. 

Visitors can also participate in free guided tours and there will be a walking and biking tour map of locations immortalized by artists. A publication will accompany the exhibition. Both the tour map and the publication are available in the museum store.

Practical information 
The exhibition opens June 28, 2025, at 11 a.m. The last day to view this exhibition at Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar is November 2, 2025.