Strandbeests in The Hague

Tuesday 2022/09/27

The Hague is an art city. And the Kunstmuseum Den Haag, formerly known as Gemeentemuseum, is an institution in the field of (modern) art, fashion, and design. 

The museum has the world's largest Mondrian collection, including the famous work Victory Boogie Woogie. Just as spectacular as the collection itself is the impressive Art Deco building designed by H.P. Berlage, which has been the museum's home since its completion in 1935.

We would have liked to see more paintings by Piet Mondrian, but the current exhibition in connection with the artist, designer, and architect group De Stijl was extremely interesting. And of course, seeing Victory Boogie Woogie in its original form is amazing.

The Kunstmuseum Den Haag also owns many other works by renowned artists, from Claude Monet to Pablo Picasso, Egon Schiele, Wassily Kandinsky, Louise Bourgeois, Francis Bacon, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Bruce Nauman, and many others. 

It's great that a real "Strandbeest" by Theo Jansen can be admired in the covered atrium. It would be even more impressive in motion, but it's still a magnificent object. Strandbeests are kinetic art objects. The name is Dutch and means "beach animal" or "beach creature". They have been developed since 1990 by Theo Jansen, and the main theme of the Strandbeests is evolution. Jansen often describes his work and solutions with analogies from biology.

Also worth seeing is the first solo exhibition in the Netherlands by German mixed media artist Wiebke Siem (1954, Kiel). And finally, the current special exhibition "Balenciaga in Black" has a magnetic effect on fashion professionals. Unique designs by the legendary Spanish fashion designer Cristóbal Balenciaga are featured.

After visiting the Kunstmuseum, we also made a quick detour to the nearby Fotomuseum, which currently has an exhibition on the theme of "Parents".