The museum is named after the family Van Loon that lived in the house from the 19th century.

The canal house where the museum resides was built in 1672, and served as the home of artist Ferdinand Bol.

[1] The house was designed in 1672 by Adriaan Dortsman, the famous Dutch architect known for having created the Ronde Lutherse Kerk.

[2] The interior of the house has been renovated, and appears reminiscent of its look in the 18th-century, with wood paneling and stucco work.

[1] The museum regularly organizes contemporary art exhibitions: Immersion (2011), Foam in Van Loon III : Daniëlle van Ark (2012), Suspended Histories (2013), Presentations by Asian contemporary art dealers (2013), AIR in Museum Van Loon with Quirine Racké & Helena Muskens (2014), Something Thrown in Way of the Observer (2015), AIR in Museum Van Loon with Jasmijn Visser (2015), Foam in Van Loon IV (2016), Turkish Tulips : Gavin Turk (2017), Presentation Thérèse Schwartze Award (2017), Güler Ates : Unfold (2017), Ronit Porat : Sophiornithidae (2017), Julien Spiewak : Corps de style (2018),[3] Marijn Bax : Mores (2018), Stéphanie Saadé : The Travels of Here and Now (2019), Says Who?