Our European adventures of 2018 were not designed for their artistic opportunities, but during our three-month long journey in The Netherlands, France, Croatia, and Belgium,
we found an interesting variety of Art, nonetheless. Because, however,
it was such a long trip, I will try to be brief and keep this mainly
about the Art we saw. Here is my best attempt to present it to you.
We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to DEN HAAG - The Hague, in The
Netherlands. Car-free for a week, we were able to see much of the Art
the city had to offer. Let's start with sculpture:
The Sculpture Gallery is a display of sculptures, placed on pedestals,
placed every twenty-five meters in the pedestrian area of the Grote Markstraat, Kalvermarkt and Spui.
Forty Dutch sculptors have been or will be invited to produce a
sculpture for this area. The pedestal creates a bond, both literally and
figuratively, between the urban environment and sculpture. As each
artist is required to conform to the same dimensions, visual coherence
is maintained within the diversity of solutions on an urban scale. Here are a few of them:
Morgan-Wandeling (frog with umbrella) by Karel Appel, 2001
The timing of our visit was dictated by the World Championship Sand Sculpting competition which was held in Den Haag for the first time. We got to the site on Lange Voorhout just as the forms were being removed from the giant piles of damp river-sand, and the nine artists began their sculptures.
Then we visited just about every day after to check up on their progress:
Max Gazendam,The Netherlands
Thomas Koet, U.S.A.
Katsu Chaen, Japan
Baldrick Buckle, U.K.
Benjamin Probanza, Mexico
Ilya Filimonstsev, Russia
JOOng Tan, Singapore
Fergus Mulvany, Ireland
Radovan Zivny, Czech Republic.
The Gemeentemuseum is a modern palace of Art. The Art
Deco building opened on 29 May 1935. During the war, the Germans used
it for a warehouse, returning to its original purpose in 1946.
With 160,000 works of art, the Gemeentemuseum is one of Europe’s biggest
art museums. In addition to collections of international modern and
contemporary art, with more than 300 works by Piet Mondrian, this is the only museum where Mondrian’s life and progress towards abstract art unfold before your eyes. Here are a few:
Poppyfield by Vincent Van Gogh, 1890
Self portrait with hat and veil by Paula Modersohn-Becker, 1906-07
And while there are many other museums of Art in Den Haag from the Mauritschuis Royal Picture Galleryto the Escher Museum,
we chose to find the more obscure. Such as this jewel near the sea,
just outside the city limits, in WASSENAAR.
We took a bus to the end of the line, then followed someone who knew
where he was going, as we crossed the divided roadway, entering a
coastal park of sand dunes and scrub pines. Eventually we found
ourselves lost until a woman on a bicycle stopped to help. But she
didn't know the directions, so we continued walking through the wild
park. Soon, however, the woman, now with her partner, found us,
insisted that I ride her bike with Marie on the back, while she jumped
on her friend's bike and he led the way to the museum. She even left
her purse in the basket of the bike she lent me.
We found Museum Voorlinden not out among the dunes, but in
an elegant, pastoral setting. (After sharing a Coke, Monique and Peer
returned to their bikes and went on their way, having been to the museum
not so long ago.)
Founded by collector Joop van Caldenborgh on a forty-acre estate, the
museum was opened in 2016 by King Willem-Alexander of The Netherlands.
The collections are contemporary, but likeable.
Also in Wassenaar is Renbaan Duindigt where we caught a few races. Flats and harness.
The city of Den Haag also includes the seashore neighborhood of SCHEVENINGEN where, in addition to the Tom Otterness sculptures along the boardwalk:
and the artworks displayed in the dunes:
Light of the Moon by Igor Mitoraj
We find the Museum Beelen aan Zee, the only Dutch museum
of contemporary sculpture. Collectors Theo and Lida Scholten opened the
museum in 1994 and the collections now contain more than 2,000 works of
art.
Tête de femme by Ossip Zadkine, 1922
Boer met blauwe muts by Karel Appel, 1975
Kopf I by Martin Matschinsky, 1974
While they recently had a show of Anish Kapoor, we saw Johan Creten's Naked Roots display.
While there, we ran into Monique and Peer, also enjoying the museum.
The Herring by Johan Creten, 2018
Another interesting museum we found down by the shore was the Panorama Mesdag, not really a museum after all. But a tourist attraction painted by Hendrik Willem Mesdag
in 1881. It is a 360-degree vista of the sea, the dunes and the
fishing village of Scheveningen as it was at the time. Now, it is the
oldest panorama still at its original location.
For no extra charge, we got to see the artwork of Mesdag's wife, Sientje Mesdag van Houten.
Sientje Mesdag van Houten
She, like her husband, not only received instruction from Willem Roelofs but also from Hendrik’s cousin the professional artist, Laurens Alma-Tadema.
Chinese Cloisonne Blue Vase by Sientje Mesdag-Van Houten, c 1900
Pile of Stones by Hendrik Willem Mesdag, 1868
And a show of work by Jan Giesen:
Construction of a Breakwater by Jan Giesen, 1926
We were delighted to find the first-ever DuneArt festival,
where else, but in the dunes. There, after our long trek, we found
white tents filled with demonstrating artists creating with a variety of
natural media and/or subjects. There were watercolorists, sculptors,
textile artists, and many others. Here are a few shots:
Annaloes Groot
Jacqueline Louz
Gregory Dubus
Angeline and Rennie have been friends since their teens, though they
each went to a different art school. They were doing this project
together.
Rennie Buenting & Angeline Donk
There was a special workshop for Seniors held on Friday that we attended and had a good time making decoupage and friends.
We were being serenaded by a trio of jazz musicians who played very
well, but we had to stop making art in order to clap.
Inside the Water Tower itself, was an exhibit of work by the
participating artists, some quite nice and fitting the space well. But
the space was cold and I was eager to get out.
Back in the city, another special art event was taking place. Something called Festival Holaa!
Billed as "an intimate, small-scale art festival" there were maps to
help find contemporary art in unexpected places. We did a lot of
walking all over Den Haag. Some we were able to locate, others we did
not. Some were open, some not. Some were good, some much less.
Among the interesting was one where the door was locked, so Marie rang
the bell. Eventually a bare-chested man opened up and explained that
they were closed, but he opened up the show for us anyway. Our host, Denis Oudenjijk,
is an architect of tiny houses during the day. But here, he explores.
Basically, he has this strange long, tall space between two block walls
less than three feet wide. He has offered a variety of exhibitions in
this space over the years. Now the walls are lined with stick lights
around two feet long, red, green, white. Part of the space is inside,
some is outside
Since we had transportation passes, we took advantage. We took a bus to KIJKDUIN and found James Turrell's Celestial Vault, which he did in 1996. At thirty by forty meters, it was difficult to photograph, so I used an aerial view I found online:
Took the tram out to the Hoek of Holland, a piece of Rotterdam jutting out into the North Sea. Some vehicles were lining up for the ferry to England, but we opted for a tour around the harbor:
We took a train to DELFT, home of Johannes Vermeer. There were no museums that appealed to us, so we opted for a walkabout.
So many other things to point out, such as these couches, which we found wherever we went in The Netherlands.
Het Melkmeisie by Wim T. Schippers
There was another event not strictly about Art. The Kinderboekenmuseum is not one we would typically visit, but the Kinderboekenmuseum Parade gave us an excuse to go in. What we found, besides kids getting their faces painted, were walls filled with portraits of Dutch children's book authors. And usually exceptional, personal artworks.
Dream caused by the flight of a bee by Ilya Filimonstsev
Guernica-Picasso Reviewed by Radovan Zivny
Celebrate Dutch Tolerance by Fergus Mulvany
Exploring New Dimensions by Thomas Koet
Past and Future by Max Gazendam
Bijinga...Japonisme by Katsu Chaen
Next, we flew to BORDEAUX for Le Fête du Vin. Where the
previous festival we attended here heavily involved the big art museums,
this year, there was no such relationship and there was either nothing
we wished to see in the museums or had already seen the exhibits. But
there is always more to see in Bordeaux. For starters, we found another
festival called "Chahut" which was explained to us as an unbirthday
party for the city. There were all kinds of "events" around the city,
in addition to the winefest.
There was also the Bernard Magrez Cultural Institute. An
historic Château converted to house the institute in the spring of 2011
houses the Institute's artists in residence and exhibitions of modern
and contemporary art.
Street Artists were featured throughout the Château and on the grounds:
Tigre et papillons by Mosko, 2017
Haras by Mosko, 2017
Art is Life by Speedy Graphio, 2013
Oh yes, the wine festival was just fine. Not as nice as the last one,
but the wine was delicious.
and there was a lot to see and hear:
The big attraction, this year, were the Tall Ships:
Here are just a few more pictures from around town:
After the tall ships departed into the mist, down the Garonne to the
sea, we drove our rented car across the river to see the cave drawings
of Grotte de Pair-non-Pair. Our reservation was not until 3:30, so we spent some time in Bourg and dropped into a gallery.
There were less than a dozen others on our tour, Grotte de Pair-non-Pair
which is good, because the entire cave is only about 20-30 feet deep.
The front part of the cave filled in eons ago. This cave was discovered
in 1881when a cow's foot got lodged in a hole. It is known for
remarkable prehistoric engravings - petroglyphs of horses, ibexes,
bovines and mammoths. Dating to between 30,000 and 25,000 B.C.E., they "rank among the most ancient examples of art made by prehistoric" humans.
Next stop Croatia. The Island of VIR, to be more precise. Less than
thirty km up the coast from the city of Zadar. While Vir was a nice
place to stay and perhaps watch a World Cup game with the locals, there
wasn't much to do on Vir.
Nearby was NIN, the oldest of Croatian Royal cities, founded in the
ninth century B.C.E. It is a round near-island, surrounded by water
with a causeway leading to the mainland. There are Roman ruins and old
churches.
We discovered a statue of Grgur Ninski by the great Yugoslavian sculptor
Ivan Meštrović.
But that was about it for Art. It was the day of the Summer Solstice, so there was a celebration at the Church of the Holy Cross (9th century C.E.)
We continued on to ZADAR. Overlooking the Adriatic Sea, it is oldest
continuously inhabited city in Croatia. Before crossing over to the old
city, we found the KvartArt Festival. We were surprised
to see so few people there and the lack of activities. The Art Market
was a half-dozen tables with women artists selling their wares. We were
delighted, however to meet some of the ladies and bought a few pieces.
Silvijana Dražovic sold us three small pieces for 200 kuna
($31). I later learned that Silvijana, besides being a well-known
artist, is a language teacher, politician, tour guide, and has appeared
on television as an amateur chef.)
Silvijana Dražovic
You cross over on a causeway to reach the gates to the old city:
Or take a taxi:
The sidewalks, like Dubrovnic, are made of marble worn so smooth that
kids are always trying to slide on it. There was a show of Warhol that we did not visit opting instead to walk the streets.
The biggest attraction in ancient Zadar was constructed in 2005. Architect Nikola Bašic's
"Sea Organ" uses the action of the waves to trigger tubes installed
under the long marble steps to play musical tones. When a boat came near
causing bigger waves, the notes and volume increased.
We later purchased a cd from Alen Pračić who explained that it starts with a minute of sea organ, then he plays his guitar along with it adding some klapa voices (traditional Dalmatian singing), then finishing with church bells. A very nice recording.
There were side trips to PAG and SKRADIN, but that's about it for Art in Croatia. Here are a few shots from our stay:
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