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Dutch art gets royal treatment
The affordable shows in Amsterdam and The Hague are part of a Queen Beatrix anniversary celebration.
By JEFF CORYDON
Published August 7, 2005
A number of museums in Amsterdam and The Hague are commemorating the 25th anniversary of Queen Beatrix's ascending to the throne of the Netherlands by staging a monthslong cultural arts celebration.
Until October you can savor works by the Dutch masters as well as more recent artists; many shows are free and admission for others is relatively inexpensive.
The cities, less than an hour apart by train, could not be more different: Amsterdam is Holland's largest city and its commercial center, but it has long been known for luring tourists with its devil-may-care attitude. The Hague is the buttoned-down capital, home to the World Court.
The Hague's Lange Voorhout has what can be considered the jubilee's centerpiece. There, a Palace Garden has a free exhibition of more than 40 works profiling the past quarter-century of Dutch sculpture.
This downtown garden stretches from the U.S. Embassy's front door toward the Binnenhof, where Holland's Parliament meets. Artists represented in the display, which continues through Sept. 4, include Karel Appel, Peer Veneman and Andre Volten.
The Hague's premier museum, the Mauritshuis Royal Art Gallery, is a short walk from the Garden. The Gallery is considered to have the best works for tracing 17th century Dutch art's development.
Built in the 1640s as the home of Prince Maurits, the Gallery is home to the masterpiece by Vermeer, Girl With a Pearl Earring, which was the subject of the Oscar-nominated, 2003 film of that name.
Among the museum's other renowned paintings are 11 Rembrandts, including his acclaimed Anatomy Lesson; three Vermeers; Jordaens' Adoration of the Shepherds; Rubens' and Brueghel's collaborative Garden of Eden With the Fall of Man; and Steen's Oyster-eater. Near the U.S. Embassy on Lange Voorhout is the Palace Garden's 1760-vintage palace, which Queen Beatrix gave to the state in the 1990s. In 2002, a huge collection of litho and woodcut drawings of late Dutch artist M.C. Escher was placed there. Escher was noted for his ingenious optical illusions, involving mirror images, replicated designs and other eye-teasers.
In this Palace Museum are some of his best-known works, including Day and Night and Ascending and Descending. The museum itself glitters with 15 evocative crystal chandeliers inspired by Escher's work and designed by Dutch sculptor Hans van Bentem. Their forms range from a bow and a bell to a skull and crossbones.
The Hague's Gemeentemuseum, or Municipal Museum, has an array of works by abstract painter Piet Mondrian, arguably Holland's leading 20th century artist. The most famous is the diamond-shaped Victory Boogie Woogie, unfinished when he died in 1944.
This museum is also a principal conservator of works by "Hague School" realists, who influenced Van Gogh when their popularity peaked in the late 1800s. Simultaneous exhibitions of almost all the museum's 80 Mondrians and the Hague School will continue until late September.
Offerings in Amsterdam
Among the projects in Amsterdam is the acclaimed Rijksmuseum, the national museum of art.
Although the huge facility is undergoing a multiyear makeover at the cost of more than $330-million, museum officials agreed on the continuing exhibit of 428 particularly notable items.
Among them are Rembrandt's Night Watch, Vermeer's Kitchen Maid, Royal Delft porcelain exemplars and dazzling 17th century silver pieces.
These highlight items are no longer spread around acres of exhibit space but concentrated in a specially designed, two-story building. Audio tapes guide visitors on the at-your-own-pace survey of this Golden Age bonanza. But you can see it all within a couple of hours.
The plush Amsterdam residence of Rembrandt's heyday is today the Rembrandthuis Museum. It has recently been restored to 17th century form in anticipation of celebration of the painter's 400th birthday in 2006. Authentic retro furnishings are based on the painter's own household inventory of 1658 - taken when he went bankrupt, sold everything and vacated.
To arrange a private tour, phone ahead and ask for vivacious Katalina "Kat" Eisses. Besides historical savvy and infectious enthusiasm, Kat acted out historical scenes and dished up deadpan humor. Rembrandtesque paintings dotted the walls, but only one early portrait is his work.
Amsterdam's famed Van Gogh Museum, barely a block form the Rijksmuseum, has a superb new exhibition: "Van Gogh Draughtsman, The Masterpieces".
More than 100 of his pencil, pen, watercolor and gouache drawings and lithos are on display until Sept. 18. Rendered between 1880 and 1890 in a striking array of colors and styles, they illuminate a less-celebrated facet of Van Gogh's genius.
The museum's chief of collections, Sjraar van Heugten, conducted a lengthy study while creating this exhibit and learned that Van Gogh demonstrated innate drawing talent long before he became a good painter.
"When his painting got dramatically better toward 1887," van Heugten said, "it was partly because he'd done both drawings and paintings all along, sort of competing between the two media."
If you can get to Schiphol Airport about 30 minutes before the required check-in time, you can visit the terminal's unique Rijksmuseum branch. A score of precious pieces currently exhibited spotlight Mondrian's work. There's also a sizable gift shop for that one last souvenir.
- Jeff Corydon is a freelance writer living in Tampa.
IF YOU GO
GETTING THERE: There is no direct air service between Tampa Bay and Amsterdam. But there is nonstop service from Orlando to Amsterdam via KLM's low-cost subsidiary Martinair, during the summer. Delta, United and Continental offer daily nonstops from gateways including Atlanta, Washington and Cincinnati.
Amsterdam and The Hague are served by Schiphol Airport, one of the world's most user-friendly airports. Via escalator from the arrival hall, Schiphol has direct train connections to both cities.
Round trip train fare to Amsterdam is just 6 euros, about $7.25 at current exchange rates, and 12.70 euros, or about $15.40, to The Hague. An Amsterdam-Hague round trip train ticket is 17.40 euros, or about $21, and the ride takes about an hour. Train station personnel speak English and can provide route numbers and stop locations for trolley and bus travel from the stations.
GETTING AROUND: Amsterdam Cards are a must for the visitor. They offer unlimited travel on trolleys, buses and the metro (subway), free admission to many museums and other attractions, and a 25 percent discount in specified restaurants and shops.
The Amsterdam Card can be bought for 24, 48 or 72 hours' use beginning with the first time it is used; these cards cost 33 (about $40.65), 43 (about $52) and 53 euros ($64), respectively.
The cards can be purchased at Schiphol, at Amsterdam's Centraal station (platform 2), and at many hotels.
In The Hague, which has no metro, a trolley/bus "strip card" covers half a dozen rides and costs 6.50 euros, or about $8.
STAYING THERE: The Amsterdam American Hotel at Leidseplein, a busy Amsterdam quarter with many restaurants and attractions, offers comfortable, moderately priced accommodations within walking distance of the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum.
The NH Amsterdam Centre Hotel, at Stadhouderskade 7, is closer to the museums and costs a bit less. Rembrandthuis is accessible to both via trolley/metro.
In The Hague, the downtown Novotel Den Haag Centrum, a block from the Binnenhof, puts you a short walk from the cited museums except the Gemeentemuseum, which can be reached via trolley or bus from stops near the hotel.
Many American and international chains have hotels in both cities. For more information check the chains' Web sites, or contact the Netherlands Board of Tourism, 555 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10017; toll-free 1-888-464 6552; www.holland.com MUSEUM DETAILS: All phone numbers below are for calling from within the Netherlands; the number in parentheses is the city code. Dollar amounts are approximate.
Palace Garden, Lange Voorhout 15, The Hague; 070 346 9486; www.denhaagsculptuur.nl Open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Free. A daily guided tour costing 4 euros (about $4.90) starts at 11 a.m.
Mauritshuis, Korte Vijverberg 8, The Hague; 070 302 3456' www.mauritshuis.nl Open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Admission is 7.50 euros (about $9.25), children through age 18, free.
Escher at the Palace, Lange Voorhout 74, The Hague; 070 427 7730; www.escherinhetpaleis.nl Open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Admission is 7.50 euros for adults (about $9.25), 5 euros (about $6.15) for ages 7 to 15.
The Hague Gemeentemuseum, Stadhouderslaan 41, The Hague; 070 338 1111; www.gemeentemuseum.nl Open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is 8 euros (about $9.85) for adults, free for children through age 18 years.
Rijksmuseum, Stadhouderskade 42, Amsterdam; 020 674 7047; www.rijksmuseum.nl Open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Admission is 9 euros (about $11.10), free for children through age 18. Free admission to adults with an Amsterdam Card.
Rembrandthuis, Jodenbreestraat, Amsterdam; 020 520 0400; www.rembrandthuis.nl Open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Admission is 7.50 euros (about $9.25), or 1.50 euros (about $1.80) for children age 6 to 16. Free admission to adults with an Amsterdam Card. Guided tours for groups up to 15 people, 59 euros (about $71.40).
Van Gogh Museum, Museumplein 4, Amsterdam; 020 570 5251; www.vangoghmuseum.nl Open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Admission is 13.50 euros (about $16.35) for adults, 2.50 euros (about $3) for ages 13 to 17, free to those 12 and younger. Free admission with an Amsterdam Card.
[Last modified August 5, 2005, 11:36:03]
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