Magazine

Sculpture Parks in the Netherlands

31 May 2019

It is well known that the Netherlands has an abundance to contribute to the theme of sculpture. You can enjoy three-dimensional art there not only in museums, but also in the great outdoors. We will tell you where!

Yke Prins, sculpture expert and board member of sculpture network, has some hot tips on which places in the Netherlands you should not miss as a sculpture lover. So, if you are there this summer, why not visit these four collections?

Garden of the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo

In the middle of the Hoge Veluwe National Park lies one of Europe's largest sculpture parks. This garden, with over 160 sculptures, surrounds the Kröller-Müller-Museum with its impressive collection of paintings. In summer, it is not only friends of three-dimensional art who stroll around in this expansive sculpture garden, it is also a place where anyone can experience works by great masters up close - and all this in the middle of the countryside! The four latest additions to the collection were unveiled in March, 2019. So this year, you could be one of the first to admire the works of Bill Woodrow, Herman de Vries, Sol LeWitt and Jan van Munster.

Sculpture Garden Clingenbosch in Wassenaar near The Hague

Less well-known than the park of the Kröller-Müller Museum, but no less attractive, is the Clingenbosch Sculpture Garden northeast of The Hague. The collection of more than 60 works includes those by great names as Henry Moore and Antony Gormley. A visit needs to be well planned: the park opens once a week only between May and October. On Thursday afternoons (15:00 local time), visitors have the chance to take part in an exclusive guided tour of the garden. Reservation recommended!

Insider Tips for Explorers

Apart from the large sculpture gardens, there are also a number of smaller privately owned collections to discover in the Netherlands. Beelden in Gees offers an annual summer and autumn exhibition with changing artists. This year, 37 sculptors from the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France and Italy are displaying their works here.

Just 60 km away, the Anningahof Estate invites you to linger and explore. The aim of this sculpture garden is to illustrate the development of three-dimensional art in the Netherlands. At the annually changing exhibitions in the blooming landscape, old masters are shown alongside up-and-coming talents. Some works can also be admired here permanently.