During the first few months that we were in the Netherlands we spent our weekends visiting various different towns and cities. Most of these trips were day trips and so we would try and use the limited time we had to get a feel for the town or city we were visiting. Whilst exploring we would often come across museums and other interesting places that we added to our list of 'must see places'. The idea always being that we would come back in the winter months when being outdoors was less appealing. Well, we are more than half way through winter (or at least we hope we are!) and had still not got round to visiting any of the museums on our list. So this past week while we were deciding what to do with our weekend we had two options we were considering:
1) Visit the town of Leeuwarden or
2) Visit some of the museums on our list.
The museums won! (Leeuwarden, which is 2.5 hours by train, will be a spring time trip)
The Hague has two museums that we have been wanting to visit for some time. Mauritshuis and the Escher Museum.
One of the main squares in the Hague
The Mauritshuis is a 17th century palace in the heart of the Hague and is a great venue for a museum. The museum will however be closed from April 1st 2012 until mid 2014 for renovations and so an added reason for visiting it now. Whilst the main pieces (approximately 100 out of the 800) from the museum will be on show during this time at a temporary location, we don't think it will be quiet the same as seeing the art in the Mauritshuis.
The 17th century palace that houses the Mauritshuis museum
The Mauritshuis museum boasts a number of well known artists, including Rembrandt, Rubens and Vermeer. The big attraction though is Vermeer's 'Girl with a Pearl Earring'. No photos are allowed in the museum, but here are some pics from the museum's website.
Rembrandt - self portrait (apparently he painted over 80 self portraits over the years)
Vermeer - Girl with a Pearl Earring (a Dutch favourite)
Avercamp – Winter scene (this one reminded us of the recent cold weather we had and seeing everybody out on the ice – a typically Dutch scene)
And then it was off to the M.C. Escher Museum (where they do allow photography). Escher’s work has a way of drawing you in and fascinating you with his mesmerizing works. Some of the items that we really enjoyed are shown below.
This picture of three spheres (a glass sphere on the left, a metallic sphere in the middle and a non-reflective sphere on the right) makes interesting use of reflections.
Bron looking at some of the patterns that Escher came up with.
Collection of pictures
Creatures that come alive and walk around and then return back to the page. But it is the reflections and the patterns that really make this picture amazing.
Day and night (and the Dutch landscape below)
Some more information on these interesting museums:
And while we are promoting art, the website of some very talented friends of ours:
Have a great week and until next time!
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