The Kröller-Müller Museum () is a
national art museum
An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own Collection (artwork), collection. It might be in public or private ownership, be accessible to all, or have restrictions in place. Although ...
and
sculpture garden, located in the
Hoge Veluwe National Park in
Otterlo
Otterlo is a village in the municipality of Ede of province of Gelderland in the Netherlands, in or near the Nationaal Park De Hoge Veluwe.
The Kröller-Müller Museum, named after Helene Kröller-Müller, is situated nearby and has the world ...
in the
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
. The museum, founded by art collector
Helene Kröller-Müller within the extensive grounds of her and her husband's former estate (now the national park), opened in 1938. It has the second-largest collection of paintings by
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks ...
, after the
Van Gogh Museum
The Van Gogh Museum () is a Dutch art museum dedicated to the works of Vincent van Gogh and his contemporaries in the Museum Square in Amsterdam South, close to the Stedelijk Museum, the Rijksmuseum, and the Concertgebouw. The museum opened o ...
. The museum had 380,000 visitors in 2015.
History
The Kröller-Müller Museum was founded by
Helene Kröller-Müller, an avid
art collector who, being advised by
H.P. Bremmer, was one of the first to recognize
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks ...
's genius and collect his works. In 1935, she donated her whole collection to the state of the
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
. In 1938, the museum, which was designed by
Henry van de Velde, opened to the public. The
sculpture garden was added in 1961 and the new exhibition wing, designed by
Wim Quist, opened in 1977.
Collection
The museum has a considerable collection of paintings by
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks ...
, such as ''
Café Terrace at Night'', and ''
Sorrowing Old Man (At Eternity's Gate)''. Making it the second-largest collection of Van Gogh paintings in the world (after the
Van Gogh Museum
The Van Gogh Museum () is a Dutch art museum dedicated to the works of Vincent van Gogh and his contemporaries in the Museum Square in Amsterdam South, close to the Stedelijk Museum, the Rijksmuseum, and the Concertgebouw. The museum opened o ...
in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
). Apart from the Van Gogh paintings, other highlights include works by
Piet Mondrian
Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (; 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), known after 1911 as Piet Mondrian (, , ), was a Dutch Painting, painter and Theory of art, art theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He w ...
,
Georges-Pierre Seurat,
Odilon Redon
Odilon Redon (born Bertrand Redon; ; 20 April 18406 July 1916) was a French Symbolist painting, Symbolist draftsman, printmaker, and painter.
Early in his career, both before and after fighting in the Franco-Prussian War, Redon worked almost exc ...
,
Georges Braque
Georges Braque ( ; ; 13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century List of French artists, French painter, Collage, collagist, Drawing, draughtsman, printmaker and sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his alliance with ...
,
Paul Gauguin
Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramist, and writer, whose work has been primarily associated with the Post-Impressionist and Symbolist movements. He was also an influ ...
,
Lucas Cranach,
James Ensor
James Sidney Edouard, Baron Ensor (13 April 1860 – 19 November 1949) was a Belgian painter and printmaker, an important influence on expressionism and surrealism who lived in Ostend for most of his life. He was associated with the artistic ...
,
Juan Gris,
William Degouve de Nuncques and
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...
.
Sculpture garden
The Kröller-Müller Museum is also famous for its large
sculpture garden, within the forest park, of more than and one of the largest in
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
, with a fine collection of
modern and
contemporary sculptures. The garden reflects Helene Kröller-Müller's conception of a symbiosis between art, architecture and nature. The collection includes works by
Auguste Rodin
François Auguste René Rodin (; ; 12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a u ...
,
Henry Moore
Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi-abstract art, abstract monumental Bronze sculpture, bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. Moore ...
,
Jean Dubuffet
Jean Philippe Arthur Dubuffet (; 31 July 1901 – 12 May 1985) was a French Painting, painter and sculpture, sculptor of the School of Paris, École de Paris (School of Paris). His idealistic approach to aesthetics embraced so-called "low art" a ...
,
Mark di Suvero,
Lucio Fontana
Lucio Fontana (; 19 February 1899 – 7 September 1968) was an Italian Argentines, Argentine-Italian painter, sculptor, and theorist. He is known as the founder of Spatialism and exponent of Abstract art, abstract painting as the f ...
,
Claes Oldenburg and
Coosje van Bruggen,
Fritz Wotruba,
Joep van Lieshout and many more.
Selected collection highlights
Administration
Lisette Pelsers was the
museum director of the Kröller-Müller Museum from 2012 to 2024. She was succeeded by Benno Tempel.
The museum had an increasing number of visitors until the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, when it took a severe plunge due to closures and reduced tourism activities overall. Visitor numbers have largely recovered since, but have yet to reach pre-pandemic levels.
The museum was the
12th most visited museum nationally in 2013.
[Daan van Lent & Pieter van Os,]
Musea doen het goed: aantal bezoekers in 2013 fors gestegen
(in Dutch), ''NRC Handelsblad
''NRC'', previously called ' (), is a daily morning newspaper published in the Netherlands by Mediahuis NRC. It is widely regarded as a newspaper of record in the country.
History
was first published on 1 October 1970 after a merger of the Amst ...
'', 2013. Retrieved 28 June 2014.
See also
*
List of museums in the Netherlands
*
List of most visited museums in the Netherlands
The list of most visited museums in the Netherlands contains the museums in the Netherlands with more than 250,000 visitors per year. Fourteen of these museums are located in Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherland ...
References
Further reading
*''Kröller-Müller State Museum, Otterlo''. Netherlands: Kröller-Müller State Museum, 1973.
External links
*
Tour of the Kröller-Müller and groundsKröller-Müller Museumwithin
Google Arts & Culture
Google Arts & Culture (formerly Google Art Project) is an online platform of high-resolution images and videos of artworks and cultural artifacts from partner cultural organizations throughout the world, operated by Google.
It utilizes high-re ...
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kroller-Muller Museum
1938 establishments in the Netherlands
Art museums and galleries established in 1938
Contemporary art galleries in the Netherlands
Former private collections
Henry van de Velde buildings
Modern art museums
Museums in Gelderland
National museums of the Netherlands
Rijksmonuments in Ede, Netherlands
Sculpture gardens, trails and parks in Europe
20th-century architecture in the Netherlands