Ida Peelen: Making the Museum ‘Fruitful’ for the Public

This article explores the career and intellectual development of Ida C.E. Peelen, the first female director of a Dutch national museum, and the influence of the museum-reform movement of the nineteen twenties on her curatorial practice. Beginning her career at the Rijksmuseum in 1907, Peelen engaged deeply in contemporary debates on the role of museums, the presentation of objects and museums’ potential contribution to society. Drawing on ideas propagated in Germany and the Netherlands, she applied these concepts during her tenure at Huis Lambert van Meerten in Delft, where she transformed the museum from an inward-looking, documentarian institution into one focussed on offering ‘aesthetic education’. In doing so, she aligned with the reformers’ vision that a museum should be ‘fruitful’ for a wide public audience.