
The story
To reach this museum you cross a national park, often on one of the free white bicycles, riding through the heath and pine of the Hoge Veluwe. The forest was once the private estate of Anton and Helene Kröller-Müller, and the art inside is Helene's life's work. Between 1908 and 1929 she bought on an extraordinary scale, convinced that Vincent van Gogh was a great modern master before most of the world agreed, and she gathered nearly 90 of his paintings and more than 180 drawings.
That makes it the largest Van Gogh holding after the Van Gogh Museum, and here his work hangs in daylight and quiet, from sombre early Dutch heads to the blazing Café Terrace at Night, painted in Arles. Helene gave her collection and the estate to the Dutch state, and the museum, designed by the Belgian architect Henry van de Velde, opened in 1938, low and horizontal so the rooms open onto the woods.
The other half of a visit is outside. The sculpture garden, laid out from 1961, spreads over around 30 hectares of lawn and forest and is one of the largest in Europe, with works by Rodin, Barbara Hepworth, Jean Dubuffet and Claes Oldenburg set among the trees. A giant trowel driven into the grass and a mirrored maze turn the walk between them into part of the art.
Collection
284 works
Dog on a ChairAdolphe Joseph Thomas Monticelli
Dunes and SeaTheo van Doesburg, 1912
Dune ViewJohannes Josephus Aarts, 1895
Factory GirlsGeorge Hendrik Breitner, 1898
FatalismJan Toorop, 1893
Female NudeGeorge Hendrik Breitner, 1892
Female Semi-NudeCharley Toorop, 1917
Floral Still LifeClara Peeters, 1610
Flower Market in LondonJan Toorop, 1885
Fruit still lifeFloris van Schooten, 1645
Gathered HorsesJan Voerman, 1900
Geometrical Still Life IGeorges Valmier, 1919
Geometrical Still Life IIGeorges Valmier, 1920
Girl on a DonkeyIsaac Israëls, 1898
Glass and BottlesJuan Gris, 1912
Griffon blancAdolphe Joseph Thomas Monticelli
Group portrait of H.P. Bremmer and his wife with contemporary artistsCharley Toorop, 1938
Guitar on a TableJuan Gris, 1915
Gust of WindGeorge Hendrik Breitner, 1890
Hamlet in the SnowWilliam Degouve de Nuncques, 1911
Harbour of ÉtretatJohan Jongkind, 1852
Houses at BeaulieuJuan Gris, 1918
Ice SceneHendrick Avercamp, 1630