Two Dutch museums share a winter painting for the first time
Two of the Netherlands' largest museums have bought a painting together for the first time.
The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and the Mauritshuis in The Hague have jointly acquired Colf Players on the Ice by Hendrick Avercamp, a winter scene early reports called Winter Landscape. Joint ownership means the two museums share the purchase and the work itself. It is the first time they have purchased an artwork together, the Mauritshuis said in its announcement. Mauritshuis
The painting shows a game most readers will not know. It is the earliest known depiction of colf, according to the museums. Colf was one of the oldest ball games played in the Low Countries and a forerunner of golf. Players used a club to hit a ball over land and ice.
That makes it a sports picture as well as a winter picture. Think frozen canal, wrapped-up figures, sticks and balls in play.
The artist fits the subject. Hendrick Avercamp lived from 1585 to 1634, was born in Amsterdam and worked in Kampen, a city in the eastern Netherlands. He is regarded as the father of Dutch ice scenes, a term for paintings of people skating, sledging and working on frozen waterways. ARTnews
Most people will not have to travel to Amsterdam or The Hague to see it first. The painting goes on display on 3 October at the Stedelijk Museum Kampen, the town museum in Kampen, as part of a programme organised as Avercamp Year 2026. After that run, it will be shown alternately at the Mauritshuis and the Rijksmuseum.
What makes this stand out is the sharing. For fans, this means one painting with two homes. It will move between collections rather than sitting in one place.
