Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum Launches AI “Art Explorer”

Back in 2012, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam made its entire art collection available online—the first major museum to do so. Now, the Dutch national museum is blazing another technological trail with the launch of an AI-powered “art explorer” designed to bring its historic collection “closer to the public than ever.”

The Rijksmuseum announced the launch of its new Collectie Online, a publicly accessible platform that is powered by artificial intelligence technology and functions as an “art explorer.” Museum director Taco Dibbits said, “The Rijksmuseum is a catalyst for scientific knowledge, but with 800,000 objects online, search was a challenge. We wanted to make them more accessible.” The new online collection offers access to 800,000 works of art in high-definition pixel format, 500,000 books, and other research and documentation. These span over 800 years of history and include world-famous masterpieces by Dutch masters like Rembrandt van Rijn, Johannes Vermeer, Frans Hals, and Judith Leyster.

The Rijksmuseum said the platform will set “a new standard for sharing heritage data” by allowing the public to search, download, and share images and information. It is also the first time a museum has made its holdings accessible at such a scale. “The collection of the Rijksmuseum belongs to all,” said Dibbits. “Whether you’re a scientist, an art lover, or simply curious, everyone is entitled to the most up-to-date information. That is why we decided to share as much knowledge and images as possible. Art and history will be brought closer to the public than ever.”

Art Explorer Designed to Share and Compare Art

The Rijksmuseum’s online art explorer, or kunstverkenner, is designed to ask questions that invite users to collect and compare objects in the collection. “We saw that a tool that makes comparisons—something art historians always thought was their domain—is very logical for people who want to compare one thing with another,” said Dibbits. “Because it is AI that learns, in the future, it can answer even better.” Alexander Klöpping, a Dutch internet entrepreneur who spoke at the Rijksmuseum’s presentation of the new platform, explained that the museum created algorithms that are based on sharing knowledge, as opposed to the “strange economic stimuli” of social media sites like TikTok.

The Rijksmuseum became the first major art institution to put its entire collection online in 2012. In that same year, the museum created an ultra-high-resolution scan of Rembrandt’s The Night Watch so researchers and casual viewers alike could pour over the details. “The Rijksmuseum was the first museum to throw its collection open to the world,” said Dibbits. “We wanted to digitize the whole collection, including scanning The Night Watch in the greatest resolution ever, but there was so much more.” Thus, the pioneering AI-powered art explorer was born.