Samsung is expanding its Art Store digital gallery with a new partnership that brings European modernist masterpieces into living rooms. The electronics giant announced today it's adding curated works from Amsterdam's Stedelijk Museum to its growing art platform, which now spans OLED models for the first time in 2026. The move signals Samsung's continued push to position TVs as ambient art displays, not just entertainment screens.
Samsung is betting that the future of home décor involves a lot more Matisse. The company just announced a partnership with Amsterdam's Stedelijk Museum to bring a curated selection of modern European masterpieces to its Art Store platform, expanding its strategy of turning TVs into rotating digital galleries.
The collaboration adds notable works including Matisse's "The Parakeet and the Mermaid" (1952-1953), alongside pieces by Kazimir Malevich, Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cézanne, Claude Monet, and Jan Toorop. It's the kind of collection that reflects the Stedelijk's focus on De Stijl movement aesthetics - bold geometric forms, strong colors, and compositions that have influenced modern design for decades.
"The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam aims to introduce modern art and design to the widest possible audience," Rein Wolfs, Director of the Stedelijk Museum, said in a statement from Samsung. "It's a significant development, allowing people around the world to explore our collection in detail from home."
The timing coincides with Samsung's 2026 expansion of Art Store to select OLED models - specifically the S95H globally and S99H in Europe. Previously, the art-centric experience was largely confined to The Frame and Neo QLED lineups. The OLED addition gives the platform access to screens with deeper blacks and more vibrant colors, which theoretically makes digital reproductions of paintings more faithful to the originals.
Samsung has been methodically building out its institutional partnerships for Art Store since the feature launched. The Stedelijk now joins heavy hitters like The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, and London's Tate, alongside what Samsung describes as "a broader mix of editorial, photographic and design-led brands." It's a content strategy that mirrors how streaming platforms court prestige content - except here, the content is static images meant to disappear into your interior design.
"At Samsung, we see the home as a key space for experiencing art," said Marta Di Gioia, Curator for Samsung Art Store Europe. "By featuring works like Matisse's 'The Parakeet and the Mermaid' on Samsung Art Store, we enable people to live with art that has shaped modern culture."
The pitch is straightforward: instead of a black rectangle dominating your wall when the TV's off, why not display a Van Gogh? It's part of a broader trend where consumer tech companies are trying to solve the "TV as eyesore" problem. Samsung's Art Store approach leans into curation and partnerships with legitimate cultural institutions, differentiating it from generic screensaver modes.
For museums, the calculus is different. Digital partnerships like this offer global reach and new revenue streams through licensing, even if they can't replicate the experience of standing in front of the actual canvas. The Stedelijk's collection is now viewable in homes across continents, which aligns with its stated mission of democratizing access to modern art.
What remains to be seen is whether consumers actually use these features long-term, or if Art Store becomes another underutilized smart TV feature. Samsung hasn't released usage data, but the continued expansion of partnerships and hardware support suggests the company sees enough traction to justify the investment.
Samsung's Stedelijk partnership is another incremental step in its strategy to reposition TVs as lifestyle objects rather than purely functional screens. By adding European modernist masters to a platform already featuring works from The Met and MoMA, Samsung is building a digital gallery that rivals what you'd find in major museums - just scaled to fit your living room wall. Whether that translates to sustained consumer engagement or simply serves as a marketing differentiator for premium TV models will depend on how seriously people take the idea of their OLED as an art frame. For now, Samsung keeps adding content and expanding hardware support, suggesting the bet is far from over.
