The Van Gogh Museum Foundation operates through a Board, consisting of the Director, the Managing Director and a Supervisory Board. The Director chairs the Board, which administers the Foundation and is responsible for its day-to-day operations.
The Board’s duties also include the implementation of programmes and activities. Everything the Board does is in keeping with the Foundation’s mission.
As of 1 February 2020, Emilie Gordenker is director of the Van Gogh Museum.
She is in charge of the Groups Collection: Collection and Research, Collection Management and Restoration, Registrar’s Office, Collection Information, Education & Presentation: Education & Interpretation, Exhibitions, Publications, The Mesdag Collection, Marketing & Communication: Digital Communication, Marketing, Press Office, Events, and Development.
Emilie has been Director of the Mauritshuis from 2008 until 2020. Before that, she was Senior Curator of Early Netherlandish, Dutch and Flemish Art at the National Gallery of Scotland. She holds a B.A. in Russian and East European Studies (Yale University) and a PhD in the History of Art, specialising in 17th-century Dutch and Flemish art (Institute of Fine Arts, New York University).
Ancillary activities:
Rob Groot (1967) has been appointed as the new Managing Director of the Van Gogh Museum as of 1 September 2021.
Groot was Financial Director at the Dutch Broadcasting Foundation (NPO), where he was responsible for financial administration, controlling and purchasing.
He studied Accountancy and subsequently IT Auditing (VU University, Amsterdam), before becoming Equity Partner at KPMG Nederland, responsible for Dutch and international clients.
From 2010 to 2014, he was Managing Partner at KPMG Nederland, responsible for HR. Groot later became CFO at Stage Entertainment and was a member of the Board at Stichting Videma.
Ancillary activities:
Vincent Willem van Gogh (1953) is the great-grandson of Theo van Gogh, the artist’s brother. Having made his career as a lawyer, Willem van Gogh joined the Van Gogh Museum in 1999. He was initially responsible for the museum’s shops, before becoming Advisor to the Board in 2009. In his current role, Willem van Gogh works as an ambassador to expand and strengthen the museum’s network.
Babette Meerdink-Schenau (1974) studied Dutch Law at Radboud University (Nijmegen) and International Trade Law at the University of London.
She began her legal career at Houthoff Buruma before working for many years as a (legislative) lawyer at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport. Babette also worked as a Clerk at the Enterprise Division of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal.
She became Secretary to the Board of the Van Gogh Museum in September 2017, providing the Board with policy and legal support.