Huis Marseille: photography in two canal houses

Huis Marseille presents photography on Amsterdam’s Keizersgracht. Its exhibitions are spread across two seventeenth-century canal houses, with painted ceilings, marble and a red period room among their features. The museum opened in 1999 and expanded into the neighbouring house at number 399 in 2013. The photographs accompanying this profile show a room in February 2026 and the canal garden in April 2025; the room pictured does not show a current exhibition.

According to Huis Marseille, its collection contains about 800 works of contemporary photography. It began with around fifty photographs from the De Pont family’s private collection, including works by Andreas Gursky, Thomas Ruff and Thomas Struth. Deana Lawson and Viviane Sassen are among the artists whose work was added later. This does not mean their photographs are always on view: the museum explicitly has no permanent collection display. Photographs are sensitive to light, so they are not kept on display for long periods.

Instead, the exhibition programme changes about three times a year. The collection and new exhibitions influence one another: an exhibition can prompt acquisitions, while works already in the collection can form the basis for a new project. The museum has roughly fourteen exhibition spaces, including the light court in the second building. Between the galleries are a library, a photobook shop and a garden.

On 16 October 2026, Martine Gutierrez’s Wunderkind is still on view. The exhibition runs from 27 June through 18 October. Gutierrez uses photography, video, music and performance to explore how identity is shaped and presented. Self-portraits, childhood memories and toys recur in her work. After Friday 16 October, only a short window remains to visit this exhibition.

Three new exhibitions are listed from 24 October: De essentie van een Venetiaanse droom by Adolphe de Meyer, Hier by Andrzej Steinbach and Belongings by Maya Inès Touam. They are announced through 7 February 2027. The visitor page says Huis Marseille closes in the days before an opening while a new exhibition is being installed. It does not specify the exact closure dates between these programmes.

The address is Keizersgracht 401, 1016 EK Amsterdam. Huis Marseille is normally open daily from 10 am to 6 pm and until 9 pm on Thursdays. Regular admission is listed at €12.50; students, visitors aged 65 and over, and CJP cardholders pay €6.50. Children under eighteen and Museumkaart holders, among others, enter free. According to the museum, a ticket covers the exhibitions in both buildings, the library, garden and garden house. The bookshop can also be visited without a museum ticket.

Trams 2, 17 and 24 stop at Keizersgracht, about a four-minute walk from the museum. The canal houses have many stairs and are not fully wheelchair accessible; the galleries are difficult to navigate with a wheelchair or walker. An essential companion may enter free. Contact the museum in advance if you have questions about the route or accessibility. That way, you can plan a visit around what is actually possible in these historic spaces.