The painting that lost its home

What we lost when we put paintings in museums

Art was made to be lived with. Not to be visited, or explained. It has always been part of the texture of life. Seen in the morning light, passed without thought in the afternoon, noticed anew at night.

Museums may have saved paintings from being lost, but in doing so, they destroyed the world that gave them meaning.

When art was removed from the home, its soul was severed from its body. What was once integrated into the rhythm of domestic life is now encased in glass, framed with context, and sold back to us on a tote bag. We preserved the object and obliterated its purpose. Even most churches nowadays are rather museums than actual places of worship.

Walk through any modern Dutch house and you will likely not find a single painting. You will find white walls, maybe a poster from a museum exhibition, purchased years ago and never reframed. But more l…