Singer Laren is a museum and concert hall located in the center of Laren, the Netherlands. The museum is devoted to presenting and preserving the collection of the American artist William Henry Singer (1868–1943) and his wife

Anna Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century) * Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 1221) ...

(1878–1962).

Laren School

William Henry Singer was the son of a steel baron of the same name who sold his company Pittsburgh Bessemer Steel Co. to

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...

. Against the wishes of his father, young Singer became an artist and after marrying Anna Spencer-Brugh in 1895, he moved to

Monhegan, Maine Monhegan () is an island in the Gulf of Maine located in Lincoln County, Maine, United States. A plantation, a minor civil division in the state of Maine falling between unincorporated area and a town, it is located about off the mainland. Th ...

to join the

artist colony An art colony, also known as an artists' colony, can be defined two ways. Its most liberal description refers to the organic congregation of artists in towns, villages and rural areas, often drawn by areas of natural beauty, the prior existence o ...

there. His father was disappointed that he chose art rather than business and insisted he earn his living as an artist. His seascapes sold well, however, and together with the artist Martin Borgord, the couple traveled to Paris where they studied art at the

Académie Julian The Académie Julian () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907) that was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number a ...

in 1901. Attracted by the artist colony in Laren, made famous by the Dutch painters

Jozef Israëls Jozef Israëls (27 January 1824 – 12 August 1911) was a Dutch painter. He was a leading member of the group of landscape painters referred to as the Hague School and, during his lifetime, "the most respected Dutch artist of the second half of ...

Anton Mauve Anthonij "Anton" Rudolf Mauve (18 September 18385 February 1888) was a Dutch realist painter who was a leading member of the Hague School. He signed his paintings 'A. Mauve' or with a monogrammed 'A.M.'. A master colorist, he was a very signific ...

Jacob Maris Jacob Hendricus Maris (August 25, 1837 – August 7, 1899) was a Dutch painter, who with his brothers Willem and Matthijs belonged to what has come to be known as the Hague School of painters. He was considered to be the most important and influen ...

, Albert Neuhuys, and their pupils such as

Matthijs Maris Matthias Maris (17 August 1839 – 22 August 1917) was a Dutch painter, etcher and lithographer. He was also known as Matthijs Maris or Thijs. He initially belonged to the Hague School, like his two brothers, Jacob and Willem, but his later w ...

Arina Hugenholtz Arina Hugenholtz (20 September 1848 – 4 April 1934) was a Dutch painter. She is known for her landscape and genre paintings. Biography Hugenholtz was born 20 September 1848 in Cillaarshoek. She attended Royal Academy of Art at The Hague and t ...

, they decided to settle there. They were not the first foreigners to visit the artist colony in Laren;

Max Liebermann Max Liebermann (20 July 1847 – 8 February 1935) was a German painter and printmaker, and one of the leading proponents of Impressionism in Germany and continental Europe. In addition to his activity as an artist, he also assembled an important ...

, who often spent summers painting in the Netherlands, visited in the company of

Isaac Israëls Isaac Lazarus Israëls (3 February 1865 – 7 October 1934) was a Dutch painter associated with the Amsterdam Impressionism movement. Biography The son of Jozef Israëls, one of the most respected painters of the Hague School, and Aleida ...

, Josef's son. The Singers knew them and others such as the pointillists

Co Breman Ahazueros Jacobus Breman, known as Co (7 December 1865, Zwolle - 18 November 1938, Laren) was a Dutch painter. He specialized in landscapes, farms and interior scenes, with figures, and was one of the first Pointillist painters in the Netherland ...

Ferdinand Hart Nibbrig Ferdinand Hart Nibbrig (5 April 1866 – 12 October 1915) was a Dutch painter and Theosophist. He was one of the first artists who introduced luminism to the Netherlands. Hart was his mother's maiden name. He adopted it in 1884 when all of her ...

. They remained special friends with Martin Borgord, with whom they traveled to

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. Other close friends were the painters Walter Griffin,

Henri Le Sidaner Henri Eugène Augustin Le Sidaner (7 August 1862 – 14 July 1939) who was a contemporary of the Post-impressionists, was an intimist painter known for his paintings of domestic interiors and quiet street scenes. His style contained elements o ...

and Jacob &

Willem Dooijewaard Willem () is a Dutch and West FrisianRienk de Haan, ''Fryske Foarnammen'', Leeuwarden, 2002 (Friese Pers Boekerij), , p. 158. masculine given name. The name is Germanic, and can be seen as the Dutch equivalent of the name William in English, Gui ...

. In 1954 Singer's widow founded the Singer Memorial Foundation, and in 1956 the museum designed by the Dutch architect

Wouter Hamdorff Wouter is a Dutch masculine given name popular in the Netherlands and Belgium. It is the Dutch equivalent of the English name Walter and French name Gauthier, both of Germanic origin, meaning "ruler of the army", "army of the forest" or "bright ar ...

(1890 - 1965) was opened in an expansion of their home, "De Wilde Zwanen,"on the Oude Drift, with a new concert hall attached. An architecture competition for reconstruction of the complex was organized in 2012. The winners —young architects

Sanne Oomen Sanne may refer to: Places *Sanne, Germany, a village in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany * Sanne, Nepal, a village in Nepal * Sanne-Kerkuhn, another village in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany * Salaise-sur-Sanne, commune on the Sanne river, Isère department, Fran ...

and ''denieuwegeneratie—''were commissioned the project. The final design was prepared by Oomen Ontwerpt, Oscar Vos and Thomas Dieben (''denieuwegeneratie'', later KRFT) in collaboration with VDNDP architecten. Reconstruction was completed in 2017. The museum hosts the Singer collection of paintings and sculpture and artifacts, by members of the Laren School, the

Hague School The Hague School is a group of artists who lived and worked in The Hague between 1860 and 1890. Their work was heavily influenced by the Realism (visual arts), realist painters of the French Barbizon school. The painters of the Hague school genera ...

(

Pulchri Studio Pulchri Studio (Latin:"For the study of beauty") is a Dutch art society, art institution and art studio based in The Hague ('s-Gravenhage), Netherlands. This institute began in 1847 at the home of painter Lambertus Hardenberg. Since 1893 the c ...

), and

Bergen School (art) The Bergen School ( nl, Bergense School) was a movement in Dutch painting which manifested itself between 1915 and 1925. It is characterised by an expressionist style, influenced by cubism and showing a preference for darker colours. The participa ...

, and also has examples of

Expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

. Some of the more prominent names in the collection acquired since 1956, are

Bart van der Leck Bart van der Leck (26 November 1876, Utrecht – 13 November 1958, Blaricum) was a Dutch painter, designer, and ceramicist. With Theo van Doesburg and Piet Mondrian he founded the De Stijl art movement. Son of a house painter, he started his c ...

Jan Sluijters Johannes Carolus Bernardus (Jan) Sluijters, or Sluyters (17 December 1881 in 's-Hertogenbosch – 8 May 1957 in Amsterdam) was a Dutch painter and co-founder of the Moderne Kunstkring. Sluijters (in English often spelled "Sluyters") was a leadi ...

Leo Gestel Leo Gestel (11 November 1881, Woerden – 26 November 1941, Hilversum) was a Dutch painter. His father Willem Gestel was also an artist. Leo Gestel experimented with cubism, expressionism, futurism and postimpressionism. Along with Piet Mondrian a ...

, Chris Beekman,

Jan Toorop Johannes Theodorus 'Jan' TooropJan Toorop

Mommie Schwarz Samuel Leser Schwarz, known as Mommie (28 July 1876 – 19 November 1942) was a Dutch Jewish painter and graphic artist. He also worked as a designer of book covers. In 1920, he married Else Berg. Together they became an artistic couple and were ...

, Mommie's wife Else Berg,

Gustave De Smet Gustave Franciscus De Smet (21 January 1877 – 8 October 1943) was a Belgian painter. Together with Constant Permeke and Frits Van den Berghe, he was one of the founders of Flemish Expressionism. His younger brother, , also became a painter. ...

and Herman Kruyder. The museum has a café and hosts regular visiting art exhibitions. Van Gogh - The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen

On the morning of 30 March 2020, a painting, ''

The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen ''The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen'' ( nl, De pastorie in Nuenen), alternatively named ''The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring'' ( nl, De pastorie in Nuenen in het voorjaar) or ''Spring Garden'' ( nl, Lentetuin: F185, JH484), is an early oil pai ...

'' by

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2 ...

, on loan from the

Groninger Museum The Groninger Museum () is an art museum in the city of Groningen in the Netherlands. The museum exhibits modern and contemporary art of local, national, and international artists. The museum opened in 1874. The current post-modernist building co ...

, was stolen while the institution was closed to the public during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

References

External links

Website Singer Laren
{{Authority control Museums in North Holland Modern art museums Art museums established in 1956 Art museums and galleries in the Netherlands Laren, North Holland 1956 establishments in the Netherlands