The Hague, Netherlands
Museum Beelden aan Zee

It is all museum within and without.

The walls are mostly bare, devoid of the paintings that frequently camouflage the walls of a gallery seemingly so that the emptiness within a grand apportionment of space would be less pronounced and jarring to visitors. Yet the walls here in this museum seem to serve not as a board for nails to be hammered into, but to exercise their primary, natural function as dividers to the many enclaves within the building housing sculptures that represent the struggles of mortal coil led by artists from a contemporary age. The art work does not seek to be revered on the grounds of historical significance but for its rebuke of history’s instructions that challenges the assumptions of its visitors' beliefs and values. But as creations by men who are bounded by the same sensory and cognitive abilities as most visitors, despite being at times overwhelming and shocking to the conventional thinker, they are meant to and can be understood after, sometimes, long and hard staring contests with the sculptures that initially appear quizzical for quizzical sake, and soon the lines and angles would start to make sense, and in it, answers to some of life’s more difficult questions may be found.


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Tips Before You Go
The café comes highly recommended. There are museum pieces on display outside of the building. Guided tours led by docents are available in English, French, German and Dutch.
52.110874
4.27839199999994
Harteveltstraat 1, 2586 EL Den Haag, Netherlands