It’s all about moving…..

 

The weather is finally good enough to take a look at the harbour of Scheveningen. And there is an interesting exhibition in the Gemeente Museum of The Hague, that is on the road. 

Getting out of the train at The Hague Central I notice there is something going on. Masses of people moving around, but no demonstration. It is the day of the City – Pier – City run. The youngest group is the first to go: One kilometer. Finally the last group will go for the half marathon.  All the way to the Gemeente Museum of The Hague I keep crossing the course.

The Gemeente Museum was build by the famous Dutch architect Hendrik Petrus Berlage (1856-1934). Berlage died just before the museum was finished in 1935. On a sunny day the reflection in the ponds is stunning.  Just a slight movement of the water.

Since 1985 there is a new part The Museon connected to the Gemeente Museum. Architect Wim Quist designed a building that perfectly matches the original building of Berlage.   

The Museon hosts educational and attractive exhibitions to communicate with a broad audience. “Room for know-how” 

This corridor between two large ponds leads the visitor away from the street to the main entrance of the museum; to the world of art. 

So there we are in the museum. There is an exhibition of the work of Alexander Calder (1898–1976) 

There is a lot written about Calder and I am not going to repeat that. The Gemeente Museum is known to house the largest collection of Mondriaan paintings in the world; culminating in his last work “Victory Boogie Woogie. Important is that Calder was influenced by just one visit to the studio of Mondriaan. It is clear why they chose to have this Calder exhibition. He redefined the course of modern sculpture by formalizing movement in art; “It was this visit to Mondrian’s studio […] that made me abstract.”  

I new Calder for his “mobiles”, but just look at this bright painting. “Pinwheel and flow” (1958) 

The Gemeente Museum is also known for its paintings from “The Hague School”. The collection contains paintings from Picasso, Kandinsky, Van Gogh, Monet and modern German painters like Daniel Richter and Georg Baselitz. 

Personally I admire the paintings of Anselm Kiefer. “The autumn’s whisper – for Paul Celan”

Cobra painter Constant is also intriguing. “Vague terrain II”

I am just in time in Scheveningen to see the runners of the half marathon pass.
Movement everywhere......