An exhibition of recently discovered animal drawings by Frans Post was the inspiration for The 2016 Big Draw at The Rijksmuseum.       

The building and its galleries were animated by a magnificent collection of stuffed animals, given on loan from the Naturalis Biodiversity Center.  By placing these in the main atrium and setting up easels as a drawing space, the Rijksmuseum invited everyone to draw through seeing.   

Workshops and masterclasses were given to teach the starting principals of scientific drawing and teacher-led drawing tours were hosted for adults.  In the picnic area visitors were given the opportunity to look at shells, skulls and minerals through a magnifying glass, and to draw using pencil types from across the graphite scale.  

In the Great Hall children came together to make the largest drawing in The Rijksmuseum.  

The imaginative take on the Big Draw theme of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) is evidence that The Rijksmuseum continue to curate exhibitions accessible to all.  

Taco Dibbits, the Director of the Rijksmuseum said:

“Drawing is about looking at what you are going to put on paper. You will notice details you have never seen before”.

The Big Draw at the Rijksmuseum took place on Saturday 8 October and Sunday 9 October. Visit The Rijksmuseum on Twitter.

Written by Nancy O’Brien