The name of the museum is derived from its two most important donors, Frans Jacob Otto Boijmans and Daniël George van Beuningen.

[3] In the collection, ranging from medieval to contemporary art, are works of Rembrandt, Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, and Salvador Dalí and specific masterpieces such as the ‘Achilles series’ by Peter Paul Rubens[4] and ‘A Cornfield, in the Background the Zuiderzee’ by Jacob van Ruisdael.

The collection started to be rebuilt and with time the Schielandshuis became small to fit the growing number of artworks and visitors of Museum Boijmans.

A representative of the Dutch Jewish community, Ronny Naftaniel, demanded - without success - the removal of Van Beuningen's name.

It was alleged that acquisitions in Van Beuningen's collection has been illegally taken from Jewish owners during the period of Nazi occupation in the Netherlands.

Within a few months the 35 year old Alexander Van der Steur would be commissioned to design the building, in cooperation with the museum director Dirk Hannema.

Van der Steur believed a museum should serve as a backdrop for art, prioritizing the display and appreciation of the collection.

He saw his architecture as a means to enhance, not overshadow, the art it housed: "When I was able to say: This museum is a background for the artworks, I knew for myself that I had succeeded.

He designed unobtrusive stairwells and incorporated subtle level changes to minimise visitor fatigue: "Museums are tiring...

His innovative approach to museum lighting was praised by critics and influenced later projects, including the renovation of the Rijksmuseum in 1952.

The museum's design, with its interconnected courtyards, towers, and interplay of materials, revealed Van der Steur's attention to architectural harmony and symbolism.

He justified the tower – a controversial element – as an architectural necessity that draws the eye upward, creating a sense of rhythm and grandeur.

Van der Steur's choice of materials, such as the contrasting sandstone and brick, aimed to create a timeless aesthetic that would age gracefully: "...to reinforce the colour effect with the contrast between the two types of stone: from pure grey via yellow-grey to deep red, topped with a copper gutter."

The construction of Depot Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen was started in 2017 and was officially opened by king Willem-Alexander on November 5, 2021.

[12] The depot was commissioned to give the visitors a sense of the great size of the collections which can be seen from the central staircase and landings.

[13] The ground floor of the depot consists of a welcoming entrance area with coffee corner, also is used for art handlings.

The depot facade is covered by different types of glass with different color code to make the building flexible with the natural lightings.

[15] Among the best-known artists that are exhibited permanently in the museum are Hieronymus Bosch, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Rembrandt, Claude Monet, Wassily Kandinsky, Vincent van Gogh, Maurizio Cattelan, Paul Cézanne, René Magritte, Salvador Dalí, Mark Rothko, Edvard Munch, Willem de Kooning, and Yayoi Kusama.

The Mondial chair, (c. 1957–1958) by Wim Rietveld, is the design manufactured during industrial which been created with sheet metal structure and fibre-glass seat reinforced with plastic.

This development made everyone to think the purpose and meaning of each objects in their surroundings in transition of modernism art deco designs.

Dirk Hannema, the director of the Boijmans from 1921 to 1945, acquired for the museum artworks that had been looted from Jewish collectors who were deported and murdered in the Holocaust during the German occupation of the Netherlands.

[23] In 2018 the Boijmans mounted an exhibition around its history during World War II and its possession of Nazi looted art.