The name Museum De Reede is as much inspired by this historical background as the name of the building complex. It is, coincidence or not, a great sign of kinship to have another museum as a neighbour, the Eugeen Van Mieghem Museum, located in 'Het Redershuis', headquarters of the 'Royal Belgian Shipowners' Association'.
With the 16th-17th century in mind, the era of the rise of international shipping in the Low Countries, the writing of the time was chosen, the place where ships anchored to get ready for a journey usually full of adventure.
Get carried away at Museum De Reede in an adventure full of art.
Graphics collecting dates back to the 16th century, with one of the oldest examples being the Royal Collection of Graphic Arts in Copenhagen. A century later, Basel's Kupferstichkabinett emerged, followed not long after by similar initiatives in Dresden and other European capitals. In the 19th century, specialised graphic collections often emerged from educational institutions, such as the collections of the universities of Leiden, Princeton and Harvard.
Most of these graphic collections became part of larger museums from the 19th century onwards. In addition, several museums started collecting prints themselves. An example is the Stedelijk Prentenkabinet in Antwerp, which was founded from Museum Plantin- Moretus. The Rijksprentenkabinet as part of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is another example. Some graphic collections were housed in libraries. We find an example of this in the Royal Library of Belgium in Brussels.
Museum De Reede believes to be a worthy addition to the globally exhibited graphic arts collection for three reasons. Firstly, because of the exclusive nature of its objective, 'graphics', because of the nature of the composition of its collection and because the entire collection is directly visible to the public without restriction. The latter sets the museum apart from similar initiatives elsewhere, where many works almost always remain hidden from the mainstream public.
