Den Haag - buildings and art...

Well the last two days I have seen a little of Den Haag. Already so much I could write...


Wednesday, my first full day after Lauren and Merel's departure, I decided to visit the Gemeentemuseum, the main art museum in the city. A tram and then bus ride from Rijswijk across Den Haag to this surprising building...

Het Gemeentemuseum

Surprising (to me) because, although it looks 'modern', it was in fact built in 1931-35, designed by the Dutch architect Berlage. (An aside - I am constantly surprised at how modern 'modernist architecture' still looks, as though we are yet to experience a real architectural sea-change). The museum houses the largest collection of Mondrian/De Stijl artworks in the world and I spent some time with this collection learning more about its philosophy and practices. It was interesting to see Mondrian's early and very conventional - though quite lovely - paintings and his progression towards abstraction. (There is also a strong De Stijl influence in the interior design of the building). 


Then to the 'old masters' rehoused from the Mauritshuis (the Royal Picture Gallery) as it undergoes restoration. Although it loses much in reproduction, the Holbein portrait below arrested me. Such a strong, verging on slightly cruel, face and such a gentle, protective gesture in relation to the bird.

Hans Holbein the Younger - Portrait of Robert Cheesman (1485 - 1547)

From the Gemeentemuseum, back into the city centre to find the tourist information area housed, I discovered, next to the library in this building (only a very small proportion of which is shown in the photo)...

Stadthuis, Den Haag, designed by American architect Richard Meier

While I'm not sure the building did much for me (and yes, I probably have to modify my previous statement about modernist architecture - this is qualitatively different from the Berlange), I love contrasts and surprises and as I ventured further into the interior of the Stadthuis (the equivalent of our City Council I think) I discovered an unexpected display about the work of Isaac Israels. I knew the name but no more, and have subsequently found that there is a city-wide exhibition of his paintings across five different locations. More of this in another post...


Despite the photo above, Den Haag is overwhelmingly a city of brown brick buildings. I don't recall being in a city of so much brick;  the brownstones in Boston come to mind, but here it is the monumental as well as the residential buildings that are in brick. I assume little wood or stone was available.


Another surprise - there seem to be few tourists. The museums are relatively quiet, and what one would expect to be tourist 'hotspots' aren't. Nice :-)