Let’s begin our journey at the world famous Kröller-Müller museum. The museum is famous for having one of the biggest Van Gogh collections around the world.
The Kröller-Müller Museum was the dream of Helene Kröller-Müller (11 February 1869 – 14 December 1939). Helene was born into a very well off family in Essen, she later married Dutch entrepreneur Anton Kröller and moved to Netherlands.
Between the years 1907 and 1922 Helene and her husband Anton Kröller acquired about 11,500 art pieces. This made her collection one of the largest private collections of the 20th century. She was one of the first few people who recognized the genius of Van Gogh and one of the first female art collectors in Europe. After establishing the foundations to her museum, things didn’t go as she hoped and the family was on the edge of bankruptcy. However, Helene was determined to actualize her lifelong dream so she opened the museum in 1938, a year before her death.
Today, the Kröller-Müller museum is located in one of the biggest national parks in Netherlands: Hoge Veluwe National Park. The collection of the museum includes works of very important artists such as Vincent Van Gogh, Piet Mondrian, Georges-Pierre Seurat, Odilon Redon, Georges Braque, Paul Gaugain, Lucas Cranach, James Ensor, Juan Gris and Pablo Picasso.
The museum also has a large sculpture garden within the forest park. It is one of the largest in Europe and it has a collection of modern and contemporary sculptures. The garden was designed to express the worldview of Helene Kröller-Müller. It is the perfect combination of art, nature and architecture. Works of Auguste Rodin,Henry Moore, Jean Dubuffet, Mark di Suvero, Lucio Fontana, Claes Oldenburg, Fritz Wortruba, Joep van Lieshout and more find themselves within.
To enter the museum you can buy your tickets before you arrive, however, in order to purchase a student ticket you have to buy your tickets on the spot. You can either buy them in the entrance of the Hoge Veluwe National Park, pick up a free bike and ride through the forest or you can take the bus to the museum and purchase your tickets there. I recommend riding through the enormous park and enjoying its great view.
When you first arrive at the museum, you are welcomed by the entrance that’s surrounded by artworks.
As you move through the pathway, you will see many artworks blended with the environment.
When you enter the museum the first thing you should do is to leave your bag and coat and get a booklet for the museum. The museum offers audio tours, guided tours and bespoken guided tours. If you want to fully explore the collection, it is recommended you take a guided tour. You can start off your museum tour with the sculpture garden or you can comeback after seeing the collection and right before you leave.
Apart from the museums permanent collection you will also be visiting the temporary exhibitions. Currently the museum has “For the Love of Art” exhibition until February 3rd, 2019 , “Maria Barnas: Song for three rooms” exhibition until March 31st, 2019 and “Barry Flanagan” exhibition until April 28th, 2019, for further information and future exhibitions you can find necessary information on the museums website.
After the exhibitions you will be touring the permanent collection.The collection has many important works of modern art.
Keep In mind that the collection is the second biggest Van Gogh collection in the world and it even has a oil sketch of the famous painting Potato Eaters. Other notable works are At Eternity’s Gate, Café Terrace at Night and countless other works by Vincent Van Gogh.
Before you leave the museum don’t forget to visit the museum gift shop for cool postcards and gifts.
The museum is easy to reach and a short trip from Arnhem you can ride your bike to the museum and enjoy the National Park with your bike or you can take the bus to the museum entrance and get a bike from there. If you don’t want to ride a bike at all then it is possible to take a bus from Arnhem to Otterlo and from Otterlo to the museum. Of course it is possible to ride to the location with your personal vehicle or bike.
Last but not least, don’t forget to have fun!
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