the museum was founded by the couple maarten and reina van bommel-van dam, who started collecting modern art after the second world war. maarten van bommel was a banker and artlover. in 1969, the house in amsterdam, belonging to the couple became too small. for this reason they decided to donate the entire collection of about 1,200 paintings, drawings, etchings and lithographs to the municipality of venlo, under one condition, which consisted of the creation of a museum in a building connected to a private house, where the couple could live. this museum named after them was opened in 1971.