The museum is devoted to presenting and preserving the collection of the American artist William Henry Singer Jr. (1868–1943) and his wife Anna (1878–1962).

His seascapes sold well, however, and together with the artist Martin Borgord, the couple traveled to Paris where they studied art at the Académie Julian in 1901.

Other close friends were the painters Walter Griffin, Henri Le Sidaner and Jacob & Willem Dooijewaard.

The final design was prepared by Oomen Ontwerpt, Oscar Vos and Thomas Dieben (denieuwegeneratie, later KRFT) in collaboration with VDNDP architecten.

On the morning of 30 March 2020,[4] a painting, The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen by Vincent van Gogh, on loan from the Groninger Museum, was stolen while the institution was closed to the public during the COVID-19 pandemic.