Laurie Cosmo: ‘Dutch museums have a very contemporary exhibition practice’
image: Elif Kırankaya
University lecturer Laurie Cosmo came to The Hague from New York, where she fell under the spell of the Kunstmuseum. ‘I loved the building even before I worked here.’
How did you get interested in art history?
‘I remember three visits I made with my mother to three amazing museums when I was a young child. One is the Cloisters, the medieval annex of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where I loved the images of unicorns in the Cluny tapestries. We also went to the Frick Collection, which is a house museum. When I think back on that visit, I have this image of my mother living there somehow. We had a nice house, but we definitely didn’t have a mansion! It does show though how formative this visit was. The last visit that comes to mind was the private collection of Dr Barnes, who built a museum for his collection of European modern art in Philadelphia. It was a big deal for me to get there because we came from New York and it was hard to get tickets. It all seemed a big adventure.’
You grew up in New York, surrounded by the most famous museums in the world. Why did you decide to come to the Netherlands?
‘Our son studied at Leiden University College in the Hague. When I visited him, I would also visit the Kunstmuseum. I immediately loved the Berlage building. It has even been on my screensaver since then. Just before COVID, I saw an announcement to join a research group in Museums, Collections and Society at Leiden University. I thought, that’s exactly what I do! Having an undergraduate background in anthropology and as a former museum curator, I was very interested in the culture of museums. Since then I combine my job as a lecturer at an American university in Rome with my research at Leiden.’
What do you like about Dutch museums?
‘They have a very contemporary museology, a very current approach to exhibiting that I find extremely stimulating. In fact, I’m doing a book project on the emergence of five modern museums in the Netherlands that were all established between 1935 and 1940, namely the Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam, the Stedelijk in Amsterdam, the Kröller-Müller, the Van Abbe in Eindhoven and, of course, the Kunstmuseum The Hague. They are all internationally known for their collections and their early exhibiting practices, which included famous artists like Van Gogh and Mondriaan, but their story deserves a bigger audience. I hope to present some of it at a big conference I’m working on in Leiden for the Museum lab, that will be called “Why Museums Matter”.’
What does a perfect weekend for you look like?
‘When I’m in Italy, I like gardening and learning about flora and fauna. I also have a dog, but I have to say I’m very busy with work projects that are very fulfilling for me, so, if there’s an opportunity to go to a museum at a weekend, I will go. Is that work or leisure? I don’t actually know.’
What’s your favourite spot in The Hague?
‘The Hague is like a fairy tale. It has urban pleasures, it has nature. I love the bike rides through the parks and I like going to the beach.’
What’s your favourite museum?
‘I knew you were going to ask that! I love many of them, that’s really true. What I also love, is the TEFAF, the art fair in Maastricht. It was at the top of my bucket list when I lived in the States and now I’m going for the third time. It’s such a joy, as is the town of Maastricht. But regarding museums, the Kunstmuseum is the one I studied the hardest and it feels special because of the connection with my family.’
Have you ever received a brilliant advice?
‘Actually, I’ve got two. When I was in my mid-twenties, I was working as an intern at a museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico, when I was offered two positions. I panicked and went to my PhD adviser, who looked at me and said, “You have the whole future ahead of you, you can make mistakes, and still keep going forward.” That was really helpful and reassuring. The other one was when my father turned 90. He gave me a bracelet with a line of a poem by Robert Frost inscribed in it. “And Miles to Go before I Sleep.” It was before I moved to Europe, before I moved to the Netherlands, so it has always felt prophetic to me.’