Our AKN Editor Tours The Groninger Museum In The Netherlands ~ Is Like A Visit To Disney World Themed With Fine Arts

Written by Antoni Muntadas Tuesday, 11 January 2011 23:21

The Groninger Museum is a museum in Groningen in the north of The Netherlands. Perhaps not as famous as the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, it is considered to be one of the best museums in The Netherlands. Opened in 1994 it became a highlight in the world of art, designed by the architects Philippe Starck, Alessandro Mendini and Coop Himmelb. The museum was built in a canal opposite the railway station and consists of three pavilions, one (the circular) made by Philippe Starck, one (the yellow tower) by Mendini himself and one (the deconstructivist part) by Coop Himmelb. The bridge connecting the station with the museum is a cycling and walking route to the inner city. The modern, futuristic and colourful style of the building is related to the Italian design style called Memphis. Mendini, originally a designer, was asked in 1987 by museum director Frans Haks to think up a new museum. Haks also insisted on sub-architects to make the pavilions. Haks wanted something extravagant. First American artist Frank Stella was approached for one of the pavilions but his plan turned out to be too expensive as he wanted to make his part completely out of Teflon. The museum was mainly paid for by the Gasunie. The company celebrated its 25th birthday and wanted to give the city of Groningen a present. Haks, wanting to move out of the old and insufficient museum building, suggested a new museum. Gasunie granted 25 million guilders for the project. The Groninger Museum also was one of the most important projects of alderman Ypke Gietema. It became his personal goal to get the museum at its present location, in spite of all the protests. During the preparations before building, protesters managed, in high court, to halt the building process for a year. They mainly protested against the modern and controversial design of the building. People feared their houses would not sell anymore with the museum nearby. In 1992 the building started. It was finished in 1994. People had to get used to the shapes and colours of the buildings. It is the home to various expositions of local, national and international works of art, most of them modern and abstract. The Groninger Museum often schedules special exhibits dedicated to world-famous artists. For instance, it has often showcased works by artists like John William Waterhouse. Many times, abstract art has also been displayed at the museum. Some of them controversial, like a photo exhibition of Andres Serrano, some more classical like the exhibition of the works of "Russian Rembrandt" Ilya Repin. To mark the reopening of the Museum, a large number of highlights from the Museum’s own collection is being shown in an appealing set-up. The varying disciplines within the collection will all be on display. For example, there will be important items from Groningen art and cultural history, ranging from archaeological discoveries to attractive feats of portraiture. A selection from the substantial collection of oriental ceramics will also be presented, along with beautiful old paintings from the Dutch seventeenth century and the Hague School; this work comes from the Hofstede de Groot and the Veendorp collections. The Museum also displays paintings by De Ploeg in conjunction with examples of international Expressionism. Post-modern Italian furniture produced by Memphis is shown beside interesting pieces of present-day design and fashion. Contemporary art from the Netherlands, the UK, the USA and China, among others, will also be on display. These highlight are on view through March 6, 2011 in the Groninger Museum: the exhibition 'Highlights From The Museum's Own Collection'.

The collection of the Groninger Museum holds: Modern Art (from 1950 until the present), Traditional Painting (from approx. 1500 to 1950), Archaeology and History of Groningen and an important collection of Chinese and Japanese porcelain. These collections are exhibited in an extraordinary museum building, which was constructed in 1994. It was mainly designed by the Italian architect Alessandro Mendini, and he completed the task along with other famous designers and architects. The renovation could only be realized thanks to generous funding by the Beringer Hazewinkel Foundation. The other exhibition rooms, the entrance hall, the repository, the shop, the café-restaurant, the auditorium, the underwater café, the library, and the educational areas were designed by the main architect Alessandro Mendini. For many centuries, Groningen was an important city for silverware. Skilled silversmiths had a good market in this wealthy city and in the prosperous surrounding countryside. The exhibition presents beautiful silver objects that were made in Groningen from the late 16th century until well into the 20th century. Older silver has scarcely survived. Attractive brandy bowls, supper silver, beakers and coffee urns, candlesticks and teapots are all on display. There is even a silver Martinitoren (church spire). Groningen silver was different, beautiful and well maintained. Splendid engravings are also on show through May 29, 2011. The exhibition "Russia's Unknown Orient Orientalist Painting 1850-1920" recently opened and is on display through 8 May, 2011. Russia's Unknown Orient tells the story of Russia's art-historical bond with its southern neighbors: Uzbekistan, Georgia, Armenia and the Crimean peninsula. It was a bond that was characterized by a fascination for oriental traditions. The word 'Orientalism' has been in use since the beginning of the nineteenth century. It was a genre in painting which focused on themes such as the Middle East and North Africa. Many topics are covered in this exhibition, including allegories, travel impressions, everyday life in the Russian Orient and the biblical East. The exhibition presents more than a hundred works by Vasili Vereshchagin, Martiros Sarian, Vasili Polenov, Niko Pirosmanashvili, Aleksandr Volkov, A. Nikolaev, Pavel Kuznetsov, Evgenii Lanseray and others. In the past, the Groninger Museum has devoted several exhibitions to Russian art. In 2001 the Museum presented the extremely successful exhibition entitled Ilya Repin. Russia’s Secret, which was followed by Russian Landscape (2003), Working for Diaghilev (2004) and Russian Fairytales, folk stories and legends (2007).