In 1984 Adriaan van der Have opened TORCH Gallery on Lauriergracht, at a time when photography was hardly taken seriously in the Dutch art world. He saw it differently. That early choice for the medium turned out to be not a gamble but a vision: two of the artists who took their first steps here are now of international repute. Anton Corbijn and Inez van Lamsweerde started at TORCH. You don't really need more proof.
Mo van der Have, the founder's son, has been running the gallery since 2009. It is a family business with a clear lineage: both established names and younger artists pushing boundaries. The current programming shows this well. The group exhibition Salon Amsterdam 2026 brings together work by Thomas Ruff, Gerhard Richter, David LaChapelle, KAWS, Takashi Murakami and Damien Hirst, among others. Those are no small names. In addition, Larry Clark, Edward Burtynsky and Ellen von Unwerth are represented in the same exhibition.
The gallery sits in a building on Lauriergracht, surrounded by seventeenth-century canal houses. There really is no better neighborhood for a gallery with that history. The Jordaan has had a reputation as an art district for decades, and TORCH fits right in. The space is open on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. No extended hours, no fuss. You know what to expect.
Anton Corbijn and Inez van Lamsweerde started at TORCH, and that says enough about the eye that has been brought here all these years.
TORCH is not only active in the Jordaan. The gallery is present every year at Art Basel, Paris Photo, the Armory Show, Art Dubai and Pulse. These are the most important art fairs in the world, and not every gallery from the Netherlands makes it to all of them. Anton Corbijn and Inez van Lamsweerde started at TORCH, and that says enough about the eye that has been brought here all these years. The gallery also operates in accordance with the Gallery Fair Practice Code. Forty years later, the door is simply open on Thursdays.