De Pont Museum of Contemporary Art

Museum De Pont is a contemporary art museum in Tilburg, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands. The founder and namesake of the museum is the lawyer and entrepreneur, Jan de Pont (1915-1987). Before his death, he decided that a portion of his assets would be used to stimulate the contemporary visual arts. This resulted in the opening of the museum in 1992. The collection includes works by more than six hundred seventy nationally- and internationally-known artists, including Marlene Dumas, Bill Viola and Anish Kapoor.HistoryIn 1988, the estate of Jan de Pont established a foundation, which would give substance to the desire of its namesake. At the start of the search for suitable housing, it was not clear how big an ambition it was. The size estimation for a building was difficult because there was no collection. In addition, the price of the policy was still being discussed at that time. Instead of new creation, the foundation in old factory buildings had soon shown itself more suitable for the museum function.Eventually a building was found in Tilburg. Jan de Pont was, not coincidentally, born in Tilburg and he dedicated himself to the vanishing textile industry. He had helped the Thomas de Beer wool mill back on their feet after bankruptcy in the sixties. However, in 1989, the company discontinued its operations and it came into the picture as the possible housing of the foundation. The property was acquired for a symbolic amount and four of the six remaining employees of the mill were employed by the foundation, which Hendrik Driessen became director of at the beginning of that year.