NOW SHOWING
COBRA: THE WRITTEN IMAGE
September 26, 2026 – February 28, 2027
After the Second World War, the international avant-garde movement CoBrA unleashed a true revolution in the art world. This group of visual artists and poets from the Netherlands, Belgium, and Denmark made a radical break with academic conventions, advocating instead for an artistic climate characterized by freedom, spontaneity, and accessibility. Today, we recognize their experimental approach as the quintessential CoBrA style: spontaneous lines, expressive colors, and seemingly childlike figures.
A key aspect of the CoBrA movement was the experimental collaboration between visual artists and the poets known as De Vijftigers (The Fifties Generation). These encounters gave rise to remarkable peintures-mots (word-paintings) and rare collaborative portfolios and booklets, in which text and image merge into a single visual language. Graphic techniques—lithography in particular—played an intriguing role in this process; the lithographic stone provided an ideal surface for these free and spontaneous collaborations. The freedom and immediacy of printmaking fostered works filled with pure, uninhibited expression by key figures such as Pierre Alechinsky, Karel Appel, Constant, Corneille, Christian Dotremont, and Asger Jorn.
The exhibition CoBrA: The Written Image reveals a new side of CoBrA—one previously unfamiliar to the general public. With its unique focus on collaborations and printmaking, the exhibition presents—for the first time—extraordinary works from institutions such as the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, and the Kunstmuseum Den Haag; pieces that had long remained unseen within their collections. Discover how word and image come together masterfully on the lithographic stone.
PLAN YOUR VISIT
Explore the world of stone printing at the Dutch Museum of Lithography! Plan your visit and book your tickets online.
From stone
to chip
Alois Senefelder invented stone printing and lithography in 1798. He provided the world with the ultimate technique for producing images quickly, massively and cheaply (and from 1837, also in colour). This centuries-old craft is still alive and kicking: today’s offset printing and even the microchip would not have come about without Senefelder’s invention!
The Dutch Museum of Lithography in Valkenswaard not only shows all kinds of lithographic printing, but also the technique that made it possible. You are more than welcome to come and discover all the historical, artistic and technical aspects of lithography in our museum and workshop.
Support us!
Do you care about the Dutch Museum of Lithography and want to support us? Become a friend of the museum, sponsor or contributor! With your support, we can keep lithography alive.
Collection
The collection of the Dutch Museum of Lithography includes book illustrations, cartography, advertising panels and lithography of famous artists such as Kees van Dongen, Alphonse Mucha, Adolphe Willette and Jan Sluyters, but also playing cards, labels, postcards, prints, caricatures and (satirical) magazines. In addition to the permanent collection, the Dutch Museum of Lithography regularly presents a new exhibition highlighting a special artist or a specific theme.
The Dutch Museum of Lithography safeguards an impressive collection of over 10,000 works, chronicling more than 200 years of lithographic history. We are digitizing our collection to share it with the world. To mark the museum’s 25th anniversary, the first selection of works is now available online for everyone to enjoy.
EXPRESS YOUR CREATIVITY
ON STONE
Get creative in our workshop! Lithography is a surface printing technique, which is based on the repelling effect of grease and water. During our lithography workshops, you will learn the basics of this age-old craft at entry-level. Create your own design in our workshop, enjoy a delicious lunch and print (with our help) your own drawing on a traditional stone printing press.
LECTURES
Our curator will introduce you to the world of lithography and lithographic art during lectures. These lectures are an absolute must for every art lover!
PLAN YOUR VISIT
Explore the world of stone printing at the Dutch Museum of Lithography! Plan your visit and book your tickets online.