A Museum of Dreams by nai010

A MUSEUM OF DREAMS

CONTENTS

6 FOREWORD

Benno Tempel

BETWEEN INSTRUMENT AND MONUMENT The Brainchild of Van Gelder and Berlage

133

TIMELINE

29 1866–1933

5.5 × 22 × 11

19 A

Concrete Framework

Jan de Bruijn

FOR HEAD AND HEART A Living Museum for the People

61 The

Period Rooms

71 The

Hall of Honour

49 1934–1952

81 1952–1967

97 1967–1987

Jet van Overeem

COINCIDENCE, VISION AND FRIENDSHIP A Museum Collection Cannot Be Predicted Doede Hardeman

172 BIBLIOGRAPHY

175 COLOPHON

INSETS

109 A

Museum for All

119 Museum

with Natural Lighting

157 Dutch

167 A

Security

Pavilion for Relaxation

129 1987–2009

145 2010–2020

FOREWORD

When a museum of modern art was established in The Hague in 1866, it had barely any collection to speak of, let alone a building in which to exhibit it to the public. As the collection slowly grew from the later nineteenth century to the early twentieth century, the museum was housed in several different buildings and had a variety of names. But when, in the 1920s, it became the first Dutch museum to collect international modern art in addition to applied arts, the calls for a specially designed building grew louder. It was Hendrik Enno van Gelder, then director of the municipal Office of Arts and Sciences and later director of the museum, who succeeded in 1919 in winning the ‘star architect’ Hendrik Petrus Berlage away from his oppressive contractual obligations towards the industrialist Anton Kröller and his wife, the famous art collector Helene KröllerMüller. The couple had enlisted Berlage to build a museum for their impressive private art collection, but tensions between Helene and Berlage ran so high during the construction of the Saint Hubert Hunting Lodge in the autumn of 1919 that the architect, with an offer from The Hague up his sleeve, dissolved his lucrative contract. Berlage, the father of community art in the Netherlands and a committed socialist, found a kindred spirit in Van Gelder, who believed that a museum should not be a monument to an elitist pastime, but rather an accessible institution in the service of the community and the arts. Berlage needed no further persuasion to break his ties with big business. That is not to say that the design and construction of the new museum in The Hague went smoothly. The aftermath of the First World War, the volatile market in building materials and the financial crisis of the 1920s caused delays and narrowed their options. But as is often said: a crisis also creates opportunities. Van Gelder and Berlage made contact with foreign colleagues and travelled through Germany and Scandinavia to consult with museum innovators and see progressive museum architecture. Because they were forced to let their ideas mature and crystallise for many years – an impressive first design for a large cultural centre got no further than the drawing board – the end result was an extremely well-considered design. Berlage opted for a lighter coloured brick than in his first design, made the building less ostentatious and created a stronger symbolic connection with the city. Whereas in his first design, a long covered walkway that was closed on the street side had the effect of cutting the building off from the city, the new building boasted a covered walkway that conducted visitors from the city into the museum. Importantly, Van Gelder’s and Berlage’s new museum constituted a true revolution in museology and museum

architecture: unlike so many other museums, it would no longer be housed in a building that had not been designed specifically for this purpose. On the contrary, when the Kunstmuseum opened in May 1935, it was the world’s first modern art museum with a building designed in detail for the optimum presentation of each aspect of its collection! Although Berlage died a year before his work was completed, he and Van Gelder created an example for many museums that followed. Their fundamental principles, explained in greater detail elsewhere in this volume, were that the museum should serve the arts and encourage visitors to feel at home. The museum’s natural, human scale is its greatest strength, something that is often overlooked, perhaps because it seems so self-evident. The galleries are never too large and are connected by visually clear passageways. With varied proportions and orientations and filled with natural light, the galleries allow visitors to imagine themselves in a living organism. The spaces progress from small to large to smaller still, creating the rhythm of a heartbeat or of breathing lungs. It would not be dramatic to say that the Kunstmuseum only truly came into being when it moved into the Berlage building. This was acknowledged in May 1985, on the building’s fiftieth anniversary, by giving it an inventory number, thus accessioning it as perhaps the most important work of art in the collection. It is neither the name nor the employees, but the building and the collection that make the Kunstmuseum such a special place in the world, giving it a unique character both in terms of presentation, through its relatively small, daylit galleries, and its mentality as a museum in which the public and education are the key to thinking about its function. The result is a museum that, more than many others in the world, promotes an active relationship with visitors and with the artworks. It is telling that so many people have an intense bond with the museum. These three inextricably linked aspects – the architecture, the public and the art – have also determined the composition of this publication: Jan de Bruijn, curator of modern applied arts and design, recounts the story of the museum’s lengthy gestation and Van Gelder’s and Berlage’s architectural concepts; Jet van Overeem, curator and head of education, highlights the intimate relationship between the building and its visitors; and Doede Hardeman, head of collections, discusses how the formation and presentation of the collection have always had to relate to Berlage’s architecture. Lastly, a continuous timeline charts, almost like a family photo album, the rich history associated with this special place. However, central to this volume is the building itself as a work of art in the wealth of historical images located

by our curatorial team, the documentation department and the museum’s library and in the dazzling photographs that Gerrit Schreurs has made specially for this publication. I would like to extend my thanks to those who have made this publication possible: the authors, editor and translator and, in particular, Irma Benliyan, Jan de Bruijn and Kim Hoefnagels, who have kept this project on track. Finally, my gratitude is due to Haller Brun, who designed this publication with a great sensitivity to its content and aesthetic form. The museum was founded around a hundred and fifty years ago through a private initiative. That commitment from dedicated individuals remains just as important today. This publication has been made possible in part by the Friends of Kunstmuseum Den Haag. I am grateful to them for their continuous support over the past century and a half. I wish you, the reader, much pleasure as you read this book, knowing that Berlage’s architecture plays a key role in the unique experience that is a visit to the Kunstmuseum Den Haag. Benno Tempel Director

5.5 × 22 × 11

As in all of Berlage’s designs, the museum is based on a geometric system, with a floor plan arranged on a grid of 110 × 110 cm, and many of the forms determined by a unit of measurement of 11 cm, or multiples thereof. For example, the distance between the glazing bars in the windows is 44 cm (4 × 11) and, after lengthy calculations, 88 cm in the glazed roof panels. In its most basic form, we encounter this proportion in the yellow bricks that measure 5.5 × 22 × 11 cm. This not only allows for alternating layers of horizontal and vertical masonry, but also creates, in combination with the aforementioned distribution of the glazing bars, a calm facade. To make it clear that the masonry is not load-bearing→ ‘A CONCRETE SKELETON’, p. 19 but is actually a form of cladding, Berlage chose a complex bricklaying pattern, which is one of the building’s iconic features. Because 11 cm is not a standard format, the ‘sanded extruded bricks’ were fabricated specially by Alfred Russel in Tegelen in Limburg, gaining the approval of the Association of Dutch Manufacturers, since the production of the almost four million bricks created much-needed jobs in the crisis years. With the consent of the architect, who was confident that the brick would bring his name ‘no dishonour’, Russel manufactured it commercially as the ‘Berlage brick’.

174

COLOPHON

This publication accompanied the exhibition A Museum of Dreams at Kunstmuseum Den Haag, 20 February to 7 November 2021. Director Benno Tempel Concept Irma Benliyan, Jan de Bruijn, Doede Hardeman, Kim Hoefnagels, Daniel Koep, Esther van der Minne, Jet van Overeem, Benno Tempel Coordination Jan de Bruijn, Kim Hoefnagels Authors Jan de Bruijn, Doede Hardeman, Jet van Overeem

WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO Elza van der Berg, Peter van Dam, Peter Kipp, Michael Mellema, Behrang Mousavi, Kalinka Ritter, Jet Sloterdijk, Elien Voerman.

Editor Jan de Bruijn

nai010 uitgevers nai010.com

Copy editor Els Brinkman

All rights reserved. No part of this publi cation may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

English translation Gerard Forde Picture editors Jan de Bruijn, Vivien Entius, Kim Hoefnagels, Haller Brun, Jet van Overeem Photography (unless otherwise stated) Gerrit Schreurs Design Haller Brun Printing and lithography Die Keure, Brugge

Kunstmuseum Den Haag has made every effort to trace copyright holders and to obtain their permission for the use of copyright material. Copyright holders who may have been overlooked are requested to contact the museum.

nai010 books are available internationally at selected bookstores and from the following distribution partners: North, South and Central America Artbook | D.A.P., New York, USA, dap@dapinc.com Rest of the world Idea Books, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, idea@ideabooks.nl ISBN 978-94-6208-627-2 NUR 648 BISAC ART059000, ARC024000 Also available: ISBN 978-94-6208-626-5 (Dutch edition) ISBN 978-94-6208-629-6 (German edition) Printed and bound in the EU

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Long before museum architecture became a popular tourist attraction, architect Hendrik Petrus Berlage and museum director Hendrik Enno van Gelder dreamed of creating an innovative, purpose-built museum. A building where visitors would feel at home, and where the art would be shown to its best advantage. In 1935, their dream came true with the opening of a new museum for modern and applied art in The Hague. Although Berlage died in 1934 and thus did not live to see the museum completed, he and Van Gelder set an example for many later creations. This richly illustrated book takes the original ideas of both the architect and the director as its starting point and shows how their ideas continue to contribute to the experience of Kunstmuseum Den Haag to this day. More than 150 photographs and a wealth of historical material provide a comprehensive picture of the building, including spaces that normally remain closed to visitors. This book paints a unique picture of a museum that has been loved by visitors, artists and architects from all over the world since the day it opened its doors.

Kunstmuseum Den Haag nai010 publishers www.nai010.com

978-94-6208-627-2 178