Former director of the Rijksmuseum, Henk van Os, passed away on Saturday evening in his hometown of Amsterdam. His family announced this to ANP. Van Os was 87 years old.
Van Os was the director of the Rijksmuseum between 1989 and 1997.
He gained fame with the general public through the TV programs Museumschatten (VARA) and Beeldenstorm (AVRO). Van Os was an art historian and specialized in Italian medieval art.
Van Os received several domestic and foreign awards for his work. He received the rare Medal of Honor for Art and Science, which belongs to the House Order of Orange.
According to his family, Van Os continued to “visit museums and churches until the last weeks of his life, and even took grandchildren and friends to places and works of art he wanted to tell them about”.