Recently on a trip to the Netherlands I went to the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo. When I mention this to people I almost always get a reaction on the lines of..”Eh - where? Which museum?” Most people have not heard of it despite the fact that it houses the second largest collection of works by Van Gogh in the world.
I forgot how I came to know about it. All I can say is that it has been on my museum bucket list for a while. Like the Guggenheim in Bilbao it is a small museum, located far away from any metropolis. It is rather difficult to reach by public transport due to its location right in the middle of Holland’s biggest national park, the Hoge Veluwe.
The people we have to thank for this amazing museum are Helene Müller and her husband Anton Kröller. Helene’s drive to establish an art collection was facilitated by her husband’s money and guided by her art teacher and advisor Henk Bremmer. From 1907 to 1922 she acquired close to 11.500 works of art. In April 1912 alone, on an ‘art shopping spree’ in Paris, she bought 15 Van Goghs and, as a sort of an afterthought, a Seurac and a Seurat.
Her dream had always been to create a ‘museum-house’ but contrary to her quick decision-making when it came to buying art, finding the right place to display it all took her 25 years.
In the end, she handed over her collection to the Dutch government on the condition to exhibit it in a purpose built museum in the grounds of her husband’s hunting estate in the South-Eastern part of Holland. And finally in 1938 the museum opened its doors to the public in this unique location.
Although there is the possibility to enter the park by car, most people opt for the traditional Dutch means of transport, the bike, to get around the park. There are hundreds of them available for free at several points at the gates and within the park. It is the ideal way to experience this - inspired as well as inspiring - amalgamation of nature, architecture and art.
I entered the park from the village of Otterlo and after a brisk bike ride of about 15 minutes arrived at the museum's entrance. The area immediately surrounding the museum building is more of a formal landscaped garden than a nature reserve. Approaching the main entrance you are greeted by the first artworks which appear scattered on the front lawn. Immediately noticeable is a vibrant red, monumental metal sculpture called K-Piece by Mark di Suvero. And from the many others my favourite in this area is ‘Cubic construction’ by Andre Volten.
Once you enter the building you have the choice of either going on a tour of the sculpture garden (where you will be greeted by a floating sculpture by Marta Pan and discover 160 more sculptures spread out over 25 hectares of ‘cultivated green galleries’ or of heading straight for the indoor exhibition with its display of modern masters. The pièce de résistance here is the Van Gogh Gallery .The display spans his career from its dark beginnings to the very end, when he painted in his dynamic trademark style, influenced by Impressionism, but always and forever unmistakably ‘Vincent’ in brushstrokes and luminance.
I will not bore you with the long list of artists whose works hang in the adjacent rooms of the Van Gogh Gallery. Just look at the picture gallery below and check out the complete collection on the website, and you will realise that it is like a walk-in “Who is Who” of modern art.
The sculpture garden is a similar experience. There are works by the great masters of sculpture like Rodin, Henry Moore and Lipchitz. There is an array of Barbara Hepworth works displayed in and around the architectural gem of a Riedveld pavilion. You can have a picnic sitting at the foot of eye-catching pieces like the ‘Needle Tower’ by Kenneth Snelson or ‘Palisade’ by Evert Strobos, or you can simply walk for hours trying to take it all in. You might just come to the conclusion, like I did, that you will have to come back another time. It is not a place that can be digested in just one visit. Have a look at the pictures I took in the sculpture garden and see if you aren’t compelled to agree.
In a book that was published on the 50th anniversary of the museum’s opening one of its former directors says “collecting is choosing”. And I think it is safe to say that Helene has chosen extremely well. We often talk of avant garde artists; Helene though is an avant garde collector. She bought modern art when others were still shying away from it. As she herself said, she started her journey in realism and ended up with works about what she called ‘idealism’ - and what nowadays we would label 'abstraction'. That is how Mrs. Kroeller found and understood not only Vincent Van Gogh but also artists like Mondrian and Van der Leck, proving in the process to be a true visionary.
It is just like Helene wrote - what is ugly in reality can become beautiful in art: “for as art, as the spiritual Self, everything is beautiful.”
If you want to know more about this museum in a nature reserve do visit their website. You might find that on your next visit to the Netherlands you will give Amsterdam a miss and head South instead.
As always I suggest you click on the first image and then enjoy the photographs in the bigger view including captions.