#kroller-muller

Charley Toorop at the amazing Kroller-Muller museum in the Netherlands (Houtkampweg 6, 6731 AW Otterlo, Ede, The Netherlands). https://krollermuller.nl/visit 

Above are three self-portraits and group portrait of H.P. Bremmer and his wife with contemporary artists.

Those of you who know me (or read my last post) know that I love art in many forms. Up to this point in my life, I have visited many amazing art museums, including the Van Gogh Museum! So, I was thrilled when I got on the bus to travel to the Kröller-Müller Museum in Hoge Veluwe National Park. As the bus flew down the highway, the Dutch countryside revealed itself. We passed fields of cows, sheep, and horses, as well as both traditional and modern windmills (they are everywhere). The green grass and vast fields passed in a blur as lazy streams ran alongside them. The bus was fairly quiet, most people opted to nap during our hour-and-a-half-long journey. Eventually, the fields turned into trees as we entered the park.

Once we unloaded from the bus, we each received a lunch (and promptly ate the muffin). Then we all hopped on a bike and headed down the bike trail! The park was beautiful! Tall trees stood around us and cast unique shadows on the pathway. As we pedaled down the path, we saw a break in the trees up ahead. We flew out of the trees and into a plains/desert area. The juxtaposition between the forest and the plain was breathtaking! We came upon a large tree and stopped for lunch we sat on the tree, in the tree, on top of the large dead tree laying on the ground, and the sand to eat our packed lunch, complete with a juice box! It was reminiscent of field trips from elementary school and just as interesting. After a little exploring, we jumped back on our bikes and headed further into the plains. Eventually, we ended up back in the forest and out in front of the imposing structure that was the Kröller-Müller Museum.

A bright red sculpture stood in front of the building, with long metal poles sticking out eclectically from the center. The glass doors opened and a swirl of neon lights met us with the words “the true artist helps the world by revealing mystic truths.” Walking around with a group of people I don’t know particularly well I came to the conclusion that art reveals many mystic truths, and one of those truths is that people see the world differently. This seems an obvious truth, but reactions to art at the museum made this truth jump out at me. What one person considers art may not be what another considers art. And the artist sees the world differently from the viewer of the art. Art reveals how the artist sees and interprets parts of the world, but the viewers can also interpret the art differently from one another and the artist. I think that is why many people have a hard time with modern art. Many times, modern art is only “art” when put into the context of the artists intent. When Duchamp presented a toilet as art, the only reason it was considered art was because he said it was. In fact, his entire point was to be “anti-art” by challenging the definition of art. In a similar vein, much modern art looks like nothing extraordinary, but it is within the ideas of the artist that the creativity lies.

The galleries of the museum came from the

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personal collection of the Kröller-Müller Family, mostly collected by Helene Kröller-Müller. One thing Helene and I have in common, besides our general love of art, is a fierce love for the artist Van Gogh. She enjoyed his art so much that she amassed the second largest collection of his works in the world (next to the Van Gogh Museum). Her Van Gogh collection included a few of my favorite paintings, The Portrait of Joseph Roulin and Café Terrace at Night. It also showed how technical Van Gogh could be with some of his earlier paintings. The way the collection was laid out painted a picture of Van Gogh’s progression as an artist. Van Gogh was an extremely diverse artist with amazing talent, and it is sad the world did not appreciate him while he was alive.

In addition to the Van Gogh Gallery, there were many other paintings within the museum. Helene collected paintings from an extensive range of styles and movements. The collection includes Mondrian’s color blocking modernism, Picasso’s eclectic Cubism, Edouard Manet’s Realism, and so much more. In addition to the galleries of paintings and drawings, outside the museum sits a massive sculpture garden. A wonderful tour guide led us around the museum and into the sculpture garden. She explained how the sculpture garden started, and about the love for the connection between art and nature, which is why the museum sits in a National Park.

The sculptures were laid out along the paths through the forest, as well as in the initial field outside the museum. One of the first sculptures we came to sat on a small pond right outside the museum. It was a floating, white, organic form that floated around the pond (there were cables to keep it generally in the center of the pond), and the pond was shaped the same way as the base of the sculpture, as was the surrounding grass area. The sculpture was to represent the artist’s idea of the connection between nature and art. It was mesmerizing watching it float around the pond. After watching the white figure float around the pool for a bit, we moved further into the sculpture garden. My favorite piece in the garden was a tower of sorts. It was built using cables and poles, and the way the artist constructed it the tower looks much taller than it actually is. When you step in the center of the base of the tower you look up and see intersecting triangles (which look like stars of David though that was not the intent). It was such a cool combination of art and architecture. We explored the gardens for a bit longer, and eventually up ahead we saw a staircase. The middle of the forest seemed a strange place for a staircase, so naturally, I was intrigued. Our tour guide explained that the staircase was an art piece and that the intent was for visitors to climb it… so up the seemingly endless staircase, we went.

267 steps (and 2 breaks) later, we reached the top. And the view was breathtaking. The staircase was laid into the tallest hill in the park and then extended above the top of the hill. This provided us with a view of the entire park! At the end of the staircase, there was a pane of glass (about 2 inches thick), and that is all that lies between you and the world in front of you. It was amazing, and definitely worth the climb (though I think it made a few people realize they are scared of heights).

With Love,

Megan.