In 1922 Abraham Bredius left Holland to live in Monaco.
The House at Prinsengracht number 6 in The Hague, which he occupied since 1895, was sold to the municipality. At the same time he gave his art collection on loan to the municipality with the promise that he would donate it to them after his death. In advance he already presented them “The Satyr” by Jan Steen”. From that moment the “Bredius Museum” came into existence. Upon Bredius death in 1946 the municipality of The Hague became the owner of the collection.

In 1985 the old museum was closed for economic reasons.
Shortly afterwards the foundation “Stichting Bredius Genootschap” was established, with the intention of making the collection again available to the public. Thanks to the efforts of the foundation several sponsors were attracted, which enabled them to acquire the 18^th century house at Lange Vijverberg 14. After a huge restoration,
the new Bredius Museum was opened in November 1990. 

Abraham Bredius was mainly known as a Rembrandt expert,
a collector, director of the Royal Picture Gallery "Mauritshuis"
in The Hague and as a scientific investigator of historical archives.
Not only these activities contributed to his fame, also his enthusiasm and his headstrong character generated a lot of publicity.

Bredius, born in Amsterdam lived from 1855 until 1946.
After unsuccessfully becoming a concert pianist, he devoted himself to the visual arts. On advice of his father he made an artistic "grand tour" through Europe, visiting all the great museums.
He came in contact with Wilhelm von Bode, director of the Berlin museum. On his advice, Bredius enthusiastically embarked on the study of the almost virgin area of 17^th century Dutch painting.
As no education facilities in this field were available in the Netherlands until 1907, Bredius acquired his knowledge by reading a few handbooks and by traveling around and visiting collections.

Open Tuesday through Sunday from 11am until 5pm.
Entrance fee Euro 4,50 per person. www.museumbredius.nl