Middelheim Open Air Sculpture Museum (Dutch ''Beeldentuin Middelheim Museum'') is a

sculpture park A sculpture garden or sculpture park is an outdoor garden or park which includes the presentation of sculpture, usually several permanently sited works in durable materials in landscaping, landscaped surroundings. A sculpture garden may be privat ...

of 30 acres in the park part of the Middelheim

Nachtegalen Park Nachtegalen Park (Nightingale Park in ) is a park located in the Antwerp, Belgium municipality of Wilrijk. It served as the Archery at the 1920 Summer Olympics, archery venue for the 1920 Summer Olympics. During World War II, the park was headqua ...

at Antwerp. The Middelheim Museum collection has approximately 400 works of art on display. These include around 215 sculptures, featuring artists such as

Carl Andre Carl Andre (born September 16, 1935) is an American minimalist artist recognized for his ordered linear and grid format sculptures and for the suspected murder of contemporary and wife, Ana Mendieta. His sculptures range from large public art ...

Franz West Franz West (16 February 1947 – 25 July 2012) was an Austrian artist. He is best known for his unconventional objects and sculptures, installations and furniture work which often require an involvement of the audience. Early life and e ...

, Auguste Rodin and many more. Along with the addition of new works every year, the museum invites contemporary artists to engage in an artistic conversation with works part of the permanent collection and the environment surrounding them, leading to the establishment of performances and exhibitions and by various kinds of artists. Works such as ones by

Roman Signer Roman Signer (born 1938 in Appenzell, Switzerland) is principally a visual artist who works in sculpture, art installations photography, and video. Early life and career Born in Appenzell, Switzerland, Signer started his career as an artist later i ...

and

Ai Weiwei Ai Weiwei (, ; born 28 August 1957) is a Chinese contemporary artist, documentarian, and activist. Ai grew up in the far northwest of China, where he lived under harsh conditions due to his father's exile. As an activist, he has been openly c ...

are also created specifically for the museum. (“Middelheim Museum”) The museum includes the Braem pavilion, designed by the Belgian architect

Renaat Braem Renaat Braem (29 August 1910 – 31 January 2001) was a leading Belgian architect and urban planner in the latter half of the twentieth century. Biography Renaat Braem was born in Antwerp in 1910. He graduated as an architect from the Royal ...

. He is seen as a significant symbol for post-war architecture in Belgium and aimed to blur the boundaries between architecture and art. Reflective of this, Braem aimed to design the pavilion to incorporate a sculptural quality to organically merge it with the park’s landscape. The design developed into a set of closed pavilions and open patios, formulated “as nature would”, with an accessible entrance and a distinct roof structure to create an ever-changing spatial experience augmented by the flow of light through the pavilion. The rudimentary base was placed in 1969, and the pavilion was then officially introduced at the eleventh Biennial in 1971. Plans for construction around the pavilion were left unfinished with a fountain by Olivier Strebelle being the only trace, which speaks to the idea of merging architecture with nature as it embraces the idea of imperfection. (“The Braem Pavilion”) Another fountain by the Belgian artist Philippe Van Snick is placed in front of the pavilion. (“Middelheim Museum”) The Braem Pavilion is exclusive to fragile works from the permanent collection, such as ones by Alberto Giacometti, Jean Arp, and

Wim Delvoye Wim Delvoye (born 1965 in Wervik, West Flanders) is a Belgian neo-conceptual artist known for his inventive and often shocking projects. Much of his work is focused on the body. As the critic Robert Enright wrote in the art magazine ''Border ...

, to maintain them suitably. The works exhibited at the pavilion change twice a year. (“Middelheim Museum”) A 750-meter pathway begins at the Braem Pavilion and runs past the Middelheim Castle and over Middelheimlaan to ‘Hortiflora’, a botanical flower garden part of Nachtegalenpark until it was added to the Middelheim Museum in 2012. With this inclusion, the museum covers more than thirty hectares of park and exhibition area. (“Middelheim Museum”) The merging of art and nature is a significant aspect of the museum. This is seen through the displayed works, the kinds of exhibitions curated and the pavilions and structure of the open-aired museum itself. In the works exhibited, their placement is just as important as the works themselves because the intermingling of the works with their natural surroundings transforms and augments the experience of the viewer.

History

In 1342, Middelheim is mentioned as a ''stede geheten Middelheim''. Since the 16th century, it was used as a summer residence for rich merchants from Antwerp. In the 18th century, Pierre François Gisbert van Schorel, Lord of Wilrijk brought an important art collection in the castle featuring notable artworks from Rubens and

Van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy. The seventh ...

among others. Then, the estate was ceded to the Knight Parthon de Von where he wrote the Fables and dedicated himself to horticulture. In 1842, it was sold to the Le Grelle family, which sold it to the Antwerp municipality in 1910.

Overview

The Middelheimmuseum park is known for its sculpture, which arose from the 'Biennale Middelheim', which was held in the park every two years since 1951.Openluchtmuseum voor Beeldhouwkunst Middelheim (Antwerp, Belgium) (1969) ''10e Biennale Middelheim Antwerpen''. p. 13 After twenty episodes of this sculpture exhibition in 1989 they decided to choose another way to supplement the image collection. The layout of the sculpture park has the shape of four fluttering strips on both sides of the Middelheimlaan, that cuts through the middle of the park. The collection comprises two hundred images, including several dozen installed in the city of Antwerp. In addition, the Open Air Museum has hundreds of sculptures which are displayed through temporary exhibitions in the ''Braem Pavilion''. In this pavilion fragile pieces are lined up that can not be place outdoors. The ''Burgemeester Lode Craeybeckx'' documentation centre of the sculpture park is located in the Orangerie of the Middelheimpark. In 2012, the botanical garden ''Hortiflora'' with an area of 5 hectares was added to the existing sculpture park. This creates a natural connection to the

. On the side of the Hortiflora the architect Paul Robbrecht designed a new half open exhibition building called ''The House''. This is a five meter high transparent semi volume with a clear geometry. In his own words the designer sees the building as an intimate building, populated with temporary residents. It wants to be a space that nurtures and protects. Not oversized, like most contemporary museums but on a human scale: A pavilion that makes possible a temporary one-to-one relationship with art. The planner has also outlined new lines into the existing landscape.

Works

A notable work includes Ai Weiwei’s The Bridge Without a Name from 2012, which was commissioned by the museum. The artist is known for using materials sparingly and thus, he recycled a small bridge that was present at the sculpture park and added his touch to it. He replaced the original deck of the bridge with planks that formed the contours of his homeland, China. Incorporating the elements of China such as its topography in his work is common for the artist as he has a complicated and passionate relationship with the country. He refers to himself as a “readymade”, alluding to Marcel Duchamp’s conceptual work, due to his implementation of Chinese cultural objects as found materials in his own work. The bridge is redolent of the small bridges in Asian drawings, but also stems from a stronger root of the implications of metaphorically crossing a bridge. His installations propel the viewer to challenge the status quo and the powers that be, aiming for a change in mindset and to evoke people’s individual sense of responsibility. “In a rational society, the artist’s role is similar to that of a virus. Even the smallest design can cause chaos in the world. Art sharpens the alertness of rational truth. The power of art lies in its awareness of the cultured and psychological subversion.” (“Ai Weiwei”) Another prominent work by

Lawrence Weiner Lawrence Charles Weiner (February 10, 1942December 2, 2021) was an American conceptual artist. He was one of the central figures in the formation of conceptual art in the 1960s. His work often took the form of typographic texts, a form of word a ...

in 1995 lines the building that sits along the entrance of the park. The work consists of red letters with a thin black outline painted on the white wall, reading “IJZER & GOUD IN DE LUCHT STUIFMEEL & ROOK OP DE GROND”. This translates to “iron & gold in the air dust & smoke on the ground” in English, as written in the same bold red letters below the Dutch statement. A common aspect of Weiner’s work is that language is his material because he believes that describing the work without realizing it allows the viewer to create their own mental work of art through their imagination that only exists in a virtual reality. He finds importance in environmental factors that can alter the mood of the viewer as it shifts the quality of the work. Weiner also tends to adapt his work to the place it will be exhibited as it makes viewers more receptive to the words and the ideas they convey. Although the text on the wall is not painted by Weiner in this piece, but rather according to his instructions, it still carries layers of meaning; it refers to the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, with the iron in the air symbolizing the airplanes and the dust on the ground suggesting the impact of grenades. (“Middelheim Museum Online Catalogue: IJZER”) The symbolic aspect of the words and the lack of imagery in the piece allows people to recall their own individual experiences during the war as well as the common mood of the country and impact on people’s lives. Carl Andre’s 74 Weathering Way from 2001 consists of seventy-four identical steel plates placed adjacent to each other on the ground. However, its position invites constant wear and tear due to moisture and its interaction with the viewer, and hence, differences amongst these identical plates become visible over time, adding a dynamic quality to the work. The sculpture is integrated with the space and the space is part of the sculpture. Carl Andre creates a unique interaction through this concept. This type of interaction challenges the common viewing experience of a work as it lies on the ground, and it adds an extra dimension to the work since the viewer not only looks at it, but also walks over it. A physical connection is molded between the work and the viewer through this experience. This work is reflective of Andre’s style; he tends to create sculptures from wooden blocks, stones and metal plates. Its minimal quality pertains to the minimalism art movement that began in the 1960s, after World War II, as the content of the work and the intended meaning is subordinate to the idea and experience the viewer receives from it. 74 Weathering Way was acquired through Carl Andre’s “Works on Land” exhibition in the Middelheim Museum in 2001. (“Middelheim Museum Online Catalogue: 74”)

Exhibitions

Similar to that of Carl Andre, the Middelheim Museum hosts many exhibitions and commonly adds some of the exhibited works to their permanent collection. Antony Gormley: Firmament and other Forms (2013) Gormley is an artist from the United Kingdom who is inspired by the human body and its spatial relationships to create his sculptures and installations. He also finds interest in the more rudimentary biological phenomena of the body such as cell structure and DNA. (“Antony Gormley”) In 2012, Firmament III (2009) was added to the Middelheim Museum’s collection and was placed in the oldest section of the museum designed by Robbrecht and Daem, the ‘Het Huis’ exhibition pavilion. The work consists of an irregular three-dimensional net encircling a human-shaped void around ten times lifesize. Its spatial influence shifts over time as it picks up light of the changing seasons. This relationship encourages the viewer to consider their place in the larger context of societal order. (“Antony Gormley”) This work was officially introduced during the opening of Gormley’s 2013 exhibit at the Middelheim Museum, Firmament and other Forms. The exhibition featured a series of Gormley’s ‘polyhedra’ sculptures that had not been exhibited together in this manner. The works were placed on the ‘Hortiflora’ of the pavilion to add emphasis on their presence. The location allowed for the engagement of an explicit interchange between the works and the weather conditions, the light and the continuously evolving natural environment. As Gormley states, “this exhibition reflects on the human body’s connection with architecture. All the works start from the bubble matrix, a random yet consistent geometry, which occurs in nature and also forms the structural syntax of Firmament III.” (“Antony Gormley”) Ana Mendieta: Earthbound (2019) Ana Mendieta is known for innovative and creative treatment of art in the postwar era. She produced a variety of works, such as performances, installations, films, sculptures, drawings and photographs, and worked with a unique blend of performance, earth art and sculpture. She was not only a pioneer in the form her work took, but also in its content and meaning by addressing the controversies of history, gender and culture. (“Ana Mendieta”) Mendieta’s 2019 exhibit, Earthbound, was located in the Braem pavilion of the Middelheim Museum and was a collaboration with the Estate of Ana Mendieta Collection & Galerie Lelong & Co. The exhibited works reflect Mendieta’s strong interest in the elements and their natural energy in relation to the power of nature. (“Ana Mendieta”) “I believe in water, air, and earth. They are all deities.” (Ana Mendieta, 1948-1985) Her work involves a direct bodily relationship with nature, embodying both a manner of individual self-representation and a connection to universal ancestral power. Through this, the exhibition stimulates thought upon how we relate to nature and our surrounding environment as human beings. By cognizing the idea of nature and its elements being active and having agency, Mendieta challenges the boundaries of history, religion and identity. Her works raise fundamental questions about the norms of society and depict a shift in perspective on sculpture traditions from one shaped by figurative sculpture to one merged with land art and performance. (“Ana Mendieta”)

Collection

The collection includes works by many leading sculptors of modern and contemporary visual art, among others: *

(''The Bridge Without a Name'') *

(''74 Weathering Way'') *

Mari Andriessen Mari Silverster Andriessen (4 December 1897 – 7 December 1979) was a Dutch sculptor, best known for his work memorializing victims of the Holocaust. Born and died in Haarlem, Andriessen is buried at the RK Begraafplaats Sint Adelberts in B ...

(''Bomb victim'' from 1948/51) * Hans Arp (''Scales Tree'', 1947–54) *

Rudolf Belling Rudolf Belling (26 August 1886 – 9 June 1972) was a German sculptor. His work was part of the sculpture event in the art competition at the 1932 Summer Olympics. Artistic theories At the very beginning of the 20th century Rudolf Bel ...

(''Dreiklang'', 1919) * (''Icarus'', 1953) *

Joseph Bernard Joseph Bernard (1866, Vienne, Isère – 1931) was a modern classical French sculptor, featured on the frontispiece of Elie Faure's 1927 survey of modern art, "Spirit of Forms". Bernard was trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in the atelier o ...

(''Dancing woman and child'', 1925) *

Max Bill Max Bill (22 December 1908 – 9 December 1994) was a Swiss architect, artist, painter, typeface designer, industrial designer and graphic designer. Early life and education Bill was born in Winterthur. After an apprenticeship as a silversm ...

(''Endless winding'', 1953–56) * Stig Blomberg (''Bathing children'', 1935) *

Emile-Antoine Bourdelle Antoine Bourdelle (30 October 1861 – 1 October 1929), born Émile Antoine Bordelles, was an influential and prolific French sculptor and teacher. He was a student of Auguste Rodin, a teacher of Giacometti and Henri Matisse, and an important f ...

(''The unruly ram'', 1909; ''Heracles Archer'', 1909; ''Dr. Koeberle'', 1914) *

Chris Burden Christopher Lee Burden (April 11, 1946 – May 10, 2015) was an American artist working in performance, sculpture and installation art. Burden became known in the 1970s for his performance art works, including ''Shoot'' (1971), where he arranged ...

(''Beam Drop Middelheimmuseum'' from 2009) *

Guillaume Bijl Guillaume Bijl (born 1946 in Antwerp) is a Belgian conceptual and an installation artist. He lives and works in Antwerp. Early life and education Bijl was born in 1946 to a working-class family in Antwerp. The artist's father worked at the loc ...

(''Roman Street'' from 1994) *

Alexander Calder Alexander Calder (; July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976) was an American sculptor known both for his innovative mobiles (kinetic sculptures powered by motors or air currents) that embrace chance in their aesthetic, his static "stabiles", and hi ...

(''The Dog'', 1958) *

Agustín Cárdenas 250px, ''Untitled'' (1961), sculpture by Auguste Cardenas in the area above the Roman quarry in Sankt Margarethen im Burgenland near Lake Neusiedl.">Lake_Neusiedl.html" ;"title="Sankt Margarethen im Burgenland near Lake Neusiedl">Sankt Margareth ...

(''L'', 1968) *

Tony Cragg Sir Anthony Douglas Cragg (born Liverpool 9 April 1949) is an Anglo-German sculptor, resident in Wuppertal, Germany since 1977. Early life and training Tony Cragg was born in Liverpool."Tony Cragg." ''Contemporary Artists''. Farmington Hills, ...

(''Envelope'') * Eugène Dodeigne (''Kneeling Figure'', 1970; ''Three single people'', 1978) * Arthur Dupon (Torso from 1925) * Jan Fabre (Installation architectural work with guided trees) * Luciano Fabro (''Bagnati'') *

Pericle Fazzini Pericle Fazzini (4 May 1913 – 4 December 1987) was an Italian painter and sculptor. His large work, ''La Resurrezione,'' is installed in the Aula Paolo VI in the Vatican City in Rome. Life Fazzini was born on 4 May 1913 at Grottammare, ...

(''Sibilla'', 1947) *

Pablo Gargallo Pablo EmilioorPau Emili Gargallo (5 January 1881 – 28 December 1934), known simply as Pau or Pablo Gargallo, was a Spanish sculptor and painter. Life and career Born in Maella, Aragon, he moved to Barcelona, with his family in 1888, where ...

(''The Prophet'', 1933) * Emile Gilioli (''In Heaven'' from 1954/55) *

Dan Graham Daniel Graham (March 31, 1942 – February 19, 2022) was an American visual artist, writer, and curator in the writer-artist tradition. In addition to his visual works, he published a large array of critical and speculative writing that spanned ...

(''Belgian Fun'', 2004) * George Grard (''Niobe'' from 1947/48) * (''Composition II'', 1949) *

Bernhard Heiliger Bernhard Heiliger (11 November 1915, Stettin – 25 October 1995, Berlin) was a German artist. He was considered "West Germany's foremost sculptor", and his large public artworks are a prominent presence in many German cities, especially B ...

(In relation standing figures, 1954) * Barbara Hepworth (''Cantate Domino'', 1958) * Floris Jespers (''Black Women Group'', 1953) * (''Birth'', 1932) * Phillip King (''Bali'', 1977) * Per Kirkeby (Brick Sculpture) *

Georg Kolbe Georg Kolbe (15 April 1877 – 20 November 1947) was a German sculptor. He was the leading German figure sculptor of his generation, in a vigorous, modern, simplified classical style similar to Aristide Maillol of France. Early life and educa ...

(''Large sitting'' from 1929) *

Hildo Krop Hildebrand Lucien (Hildo) Krop (February 26, 1884, Steenwijk, Overijssel – August 20, 1970) was a prolific Dutch sculptor and furniture designer, widely known as the city sculptor of Amsterdam, where his work is well represented. Life Krop wa ...

(''Urge to life'' from 1949/51) *

Jef Lambeaux Jef Lambeaux or Josef Lambeaux (14 January 18525 June 1908) was a Belgian sculptor. His best known work is '' Temple of Human Passions'', a colossal marble bas-relief. Early life and education Lambeaux was born in Antwerp, Belgium, on 14 January ...

(''Wrestlers'' from 1895) *

Henri Laurens Henri Laurens (February 18, 1885 – May 5, 1954) was a French sculptor and illustrator. Early life and education Born in Paris, Henri Laurens worked as a stonemason before he became a sculptor. From 1899 to 1902, he attended drawing class ...

(''Océanide'', 1933) * (''April'', 1957) *

Aristide Maillol Aristide Joseph Bonaventure Maillol (; December 8, 1861 – September 27, 1944) was a French Sculpture, sculptor, Painting, painter, and printmaking, printmaker.Le Normand-Romain, Antoinette . "Maillol, Aristide". ''Grove Art Online. Oxford ...

(''River'' from 1939/43) *

Giacomo Manzù Giacomo Manzù, pseudonym of Giacomo Manzoni (22 December 1908 – 17 January 1991), was an Italian sculptor. Biography Manzù was born in Bergamo. His father was a shoemaker. Other than a few evening art classes, he was self-taught in s ...

(''The dance step'', 1950, and ''Cardinal'', 1952) *

Marcel Martí Marcel Martí (1925–2010) was an Argentine-born sculptor of Catalan descent. Life and work At the age of three, he returned with his parents to Spain, where the family became established in Barcelona. His father was imprisoned during the ...

Arturo Martini Arturo Martini (1889–1947) was a leading Italian sculptor between World War I and II. He moved between a very vigorous (almost ancient Roman) classicism and modernism. He was associated with public sculpture in fascist Italy, but later renounc ...

(''Invernali'', 1931, ''Chiaro di luna'' 1932 and ''Giochi invernali'') * Marcello Mascherini (''St. Francis'', 1957) *

Bernard Meadows Bernard Meadows (19 February 1915 - 12 January 2005) was a British modernist sculptor. Meadows was Henry Moore's first assistant; then part of the Geometry of Fear school, a loose-knit group of British sculptors whose prominence was establishe ...

(''Pointing figure with a child'' from 1966) *

Constantin Meunier Constantin Meunier (12 April 1831 – 4 April 1905) was a Belgian painter and sculptor. He made an important contribution to the development of modern art by elevating the image of the industrial worker, docker and miner to an icon of moder ...

( The Sower from 1896 and the bump carrier in 1898) *

George Minne George (Georges) Minne (born ''Georgius Joannes Leonardus Minne''; 30 August 1866 – 18 February 1941) was a Belgian artist and sculptor famous for his idealized depictions of man's inner spiritual conflicts, including the "Kneeling Youth" scu ...

(''Mans Torso'' from 1910) *

Yasuo Mizui was a Japanese stone sculptor who lived in France. He preferred abstract form in public sculpture within architectural contexts and took part in several symposia on sculpture in Europe, the US, Israel, and Japan. Biography Yasuo Mizui entered i ...

(''White Flame'' from 1975). * Henry Moore (''King and Queen'', 1952–53) *

Louise Nevelson Louise Nevelson (September 23, 1899 – April 17, 1988) was an American sculptor known for her monumental, monochromatic, wooden wall pieces and outdoor sculptures. Born in the Poltava Governorate of the Russian Empire (present-day Kyiv Oblast ...

(''Sun Disk / Moonshadow V'', 1976) * François Pompon (''Polar Bear'', 1920) *

Germaine Richier Germaine Richier (16 September 1902 – 21 July 1959) was a French sculptor. Born in Grans, Richier began her studies at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Montpellier, in the atelier of Louis-Jacques Guigues; in 1926 she went to work with Antoine Bou ...

(''The Mantis (Mantis)'', 1946) * Auguste Rodin (''Balzac in 1892'', ''Bronze Age'' from 1880, ''John the Baptist'' from 1880) * Bernard Rosenthal (''Odyssey I'', 1967) *

(Installation ''Ski anticipation of a container shaped volume'') * Olivier Strebelle (''Fountain'', 1951) * Albert Szukalski (''Dialog'', 1974) * Jesús Rafael Soto (''Double progression vert et blanc , 1969) * (''Modelhäuser, type Bomarzo'', 2001) * (''Movement II'', 1974-1976) * (''Female Torso'' from 1954) *

* Andre Willequet *

Rik Wouters Hendrik Emil (Rik) Wouters (21 August 1882 – 11 July 1916) was a Belgian painter, sculptor and draughtsman. Wouters produced 200 paintings, drawings and sculptures in his 34 years before his illness-caused death. he died partway through th ...

('' The Mad Maiden'' from 1912, ''Homely care'' from 1913) *

Ossip Zadkine Ossip Zadkine (russian: Осип Цадкин; 28 January 1888 – 25 November 1967) was a Belarusian-born French artist. He is best known as a sculptor, but also produced paintings and lithographs. Early years and education Zadkine was born on ...

(''The Phoenix'' from 1944).

Gallery

Image:Bridge Ai Wei Wei front view.jpg, Bridge by

Image:Middelheim5.jpg, ''Baigneurs'' by Luciano Fabro, 1994 File:White Flame (De Witte Vlam).jpg, ''White Flame'' by

, 1975

References

“Ai Weiwei (China).” Middelheim Museum, 23 Feb. 2016. “Ana Mendieta. Earthbound.” Middelheimmuseum, 21 Oct. 2019. “Antony Gormley. Firmament and Other Forms.” Middelheim Museum, 21 Oct. 2019. “The Braem Pavilion.” Middelheim Museum, 21 Oct. 2019. “Middelheim Museum Online Catalogue: 74 Weathering Way.” Middelheim Museum. “Middelheim Museum Online Catalogue: IJZER & GOUD IN DE LUCHT STUIFMEEL & ROOK OP DE GROND IRON & GOLD IN THE AIR DUST & SMOKE ON THE GROUND.” Middelheim Museum. “Middelheim Museum.” Visit Antwerpen, Tripadvisor, 14 June 2019.

External links

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