Het Tijdelijk Museum was founded in 1974 by the Belgian/Dutch visionary Dolf Nijman. As Nijmans parents were conscripted, they believed he would be safer with his grandfather in the Netherlands when the war broke out in 1914. Thus, Dolf grew up playing in his grandfathers tannery, located in the Delfshaven area of Rotterdam. In this period, he started making small pouches of the leather scraps in the tannery. These pouches soon developed into bags and later leather suitcases. At age 19, Dolf founded his own suitcase company which he named DONI. The following years he travelled throughout Europe to show his suitcases to possible clients and collaborators. It was during this time he discovered his passion for art, and slowly started collecting art-pieces along his travels. After the success of DONI, Dolf retired in 1974 and founded De Tijdelijk Museum - initially intended (as the name suggests) to be a temporary museum to display his collection. However, history wanted it differently, and in 2024 Het Tijdelijk celebrates its 50 year jubilee.