Exhibitions
DSM’s headquarters in Heerlen, The Netherlands, regularly hosts exhibitions of contemporary art and is open to DSM employees and general public interested in art.
History of our collection
The beginning
First Limburg, now the world
Our collection is one of the oldest company art collection in the Netherlands. The oldest work has the title of ‘Genius Labor’ and was created by the Limburg-based stained-glass artist and painter Henri Jonas. This work dates back to 1927, the year in which DSM celebrated its 25th anniversary.
Employees gave Jonas the task of creating a stained-glass panel on the concept of the mining industry, DSM’s core business at the time. This piece focuses on the two driving forces behind the success of the mining company: genius and labor.
Limburg art
In 1952, the year of DSM’s 50th anniversary, the Association of Limburg Municipalities made a monetary donation to enable works to be purchased from artists living and working in Limburg. This gift meant that, for many years, the collection focused almost exclusively on Limburg art. Works from this period related directly to Limburg’s mining landscape and the mining industry. Painter and stained-glass artist Daan Wildschut created pieces with titles such as ‘Lente’ [spring] and ‘Herfst’ [autumn], in which he acknowledged the integration and acceptance of the mining company in Limburg’s agricultural landscape.
At the same time, a small collection of abstract paintings was acquired from artists belonging to the ‘Amsterdamse Limburgers’ group. During the Second World War, this group of young painters moved to Amsterdam to be taught at the National Academy for the Arts by Heinrich van Campendonk, a German expressionist painter who had fled the Nazi regime.
Lei Molin, Pierre van Soest, Marianne van der Heijden, Pieter Defesche, Jef Diederen, and Ger Lataster formed a new generation that restored freedom and expression to art and had a major impact on the young generation of artists in the province. The abstract expressionist piece Icarus Atlanticus (1954) by Ger Lataster and the lyrical abstract painting Landschap met hooimijten [landscape with haystacks] (1955) by Jef Diederen are among the masterpieces in the historic collection.
Limburg art
In 1952, the year of DSM’s 50th anniversary, the Association of Limburg Municipalities made a monetary donation to enable works to be purchased from artists living and working in Limburg. This gift meant that, for many years, the collection focused almost exclusively on Limburg art. Works from this period related directly to Limburg’s mining landscape and the mining industry. Painter and stained-glass artist Daan Wildschut created pieces with titles such as ‘Lente’ [spring] and ‘Herfst’ [autumn], in which he acknowledged the integration and acceptance of the mining company in Limburg’s agricultural landscape.
At the same time, a small collection of abstract paintings was acquired from artists belonging to the ‘Amsterdamse Limburgers’ group. During the Second World War, this group of young painters moved to Amsterdam to be taught at the National Academy for the Arts by Heinrich van Campendonk, a German expressionist painter who had fled the Nazi regime.
Lei Molin, Pierre van Soest, Marianne van der Heijden, Pieter Defesche, Jef Diederen, and Ger Lataster formed a new generation that restored freedom and expression to art and had a major impact on the young generation of artists in the province. The abstract expressionist piece Icarus Atlanticus (1954) by Ger Lataster and the lyrical abstract painting Landschap met hooimijten [landscape with haystacks] (1955) by Jef Diederen are among the masterpieces in the historic collection.
Limburg art
In 1952, the year of DSM’s 50th anniversary, the Association of Limburg Municipalities made a monetary donation to enable works to be purchased from artists living and working in Limburg. This gift meant that, for many years, the collection focused almost exclusively on Limburg art. Works from this period related directly to Limburg’s mining landscape and the mining industry. Painter and stained-glass artist Daan Wildschut created pieces with titles such as ‘Lente’ [spring] and ‘Herfst’ [autumn], in which he acknowledged the integration and acceptance of the mining company in Limburg’s agricultural landscape.
At the same time, a small collection of abstract paintings was acquired from artists belonging to the ‘Amsterdamse Limburgers’ group. During the Second World War, this group of young painters moved to Amsterdam to be taught at the National Academy for the Arts by Heinrich van Campendonk, a German expressionist painter who had fled the Nazi regime.
Lei Molin, Pierre van Soest, Marianne van der Heijden, Pieter Defesche, Jef Diederen, and Ger Lataster formed a new generation that restored freedom and expression to art and had a major impact on the young generation of artists in the province. The abstract expressionist piece Icarus Atlanticus (1954) by Ger Lataster and the lyrical abstract painting Landschap met hooimijten [landscape with haystacks] (1955) by Jef Diederen are among the masterpieces in the historic collection.
More national and international focus
Since 2003, the art policy has been more nationally and internationally focused, in line with DSM’s ever-changing company profile.
One of the commissions since this shift in focus is the 'Beatrixkamer', named after the former Queen, a room that was restyled in 2006 by designer Maurice Mentjens. Mentjens created a unique wallpaper that completely covered the office walls. In 2007, Mentjens was presented with the Dutch Design Award for his 'Beatrixkamer'.
Together with art purchases, projects such as these form the heart of the art program of the DSM Art Collection.
Projects
Lucy + Jorge Orta
In 2012 DSM teamed up with the internationally renowned artist duo Lucy + Jorge Orta, who both are based in Paris. The global water shortage, the migration issue, and the living conditions of migrants throughout the world are central in their work. Their pieces were exhibited in DSM’s offices in Heerlen and Sittard. The exhibitions took center stage during the annual presentation of DSM’s “Triple P” report (People, Planet, Profit); this established a strong relationship between modern art and DSM’s sustainability goals.
Niké Dolman
DSM’s art collection often includes works by young artists straight out of art school. One example of such an artist is Niké Dolman, who is fascinated by the relationship between people and nature, climate change, and our ecological footprint on the planet. “Welcoming, Recognizing, Also recognizing, Acknowledging, Also acknowledging, Emphasizing, Also emphasizing, Stressing, Recognizing, Emphasizing, Acknowledging, Agreeing” is the title of her thesis that helped her to graduate from Rotterdam’s Willem de Kooning Academy in 2017. These words are all taken from the start of one of the twelve primary objectives of the Paris Climate Agreement. Her photography is a free poetic translation of these objectives.
Maarten van den Eynde
But also works of artists like Maarten van den Eynde are on show at DSM. The Belgian artist has spent the last few years navigating the world’s oceans for his Plastic Reef project in order to fish material out of the water in the five gyres where our plastic garbage dump is circulating. He melts this material down into vibrant sculptures with titles such as Continental Drift from 2017, a vintage globe covered in plastic waste.
Melanie Bonajo
Or the up-and-coming artist Melanie Bonajo with her Daisy, Last Child of the Woods. Using videos, performances, photos, and installations, she studies subjects such as the changing relationships between people and nature, technological progress, our consumer society and the feelings of alienation and spiritual emptiness that these developments evoke in people of her generation.
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Collection
The DSM Art Collection currently includes more than 750 works by around 400 artists. Here's a small selection from the core collection.