Europe's Biggest Sculpture Garden: The Kröller-Müller Museum with Dr. Alette Fleischer
Regular price $36.50 Save $-36.50
A sculpture in an outdoor setting is quite a novel thing. From the mid-twentieth century onwards, artists like Henry Moore, Jean Dubuffet, and Ian Hamilton Finlay ventured outdoors with their work and intervened with nature. This conversation will explore the largest sculpture garden in Europe, within the Kröller-Müller Museum.
Starting in the early 1960s the museum created a special sculpture garden to display large artworks. We’ll discuss how it began as a green “exhibition space”, where trees formed the backdrop for art. A second sculpture garden, designed in the 1970s, was a site where artists themselves placed their artworks. These artists intervened with nature, and from there it was a small step towards land art.
The Kröller-Müller Sculpture Gardens showcases the development of sculptures from the late nineteenth century to the present, thereby questioning the position of art in nature and the relationship between art and nature. What is natural? What is artifice? What is the role of humankind? These are the recurrent questions that the museum, the artists, and the visitors constantly debate. Let us wander over the grounds, explore the sculptures, discuss nature and art, and art in nature. The sculpture garden is a relatively hidden jewel and deserves to be discovered.
Led by an expert on art, gardens, and landscapes, Alette Fleischer, this interactive seminar will show how modern sculpture and nature was a site for interaction. Designed to inform curiosity as well as future travels, participants will come away with an increased awareness that the boundaries of art and nature progressively disintegrated to create new art/nature forms.
Amsterdam-born Alette Fleischer has a degree in Art History and a PhD in 17th Dutch History, focusing on gardens, science, and technology. She has curated several exhibitions, publishes articles, presents lectures, and a proud Context Expert. For Context Travel, Alette has led the Rijksmuseum tours many times. Motto: staying curious is key for being a good historian.
This conversation is suitable for all ages
90 minutes, including a 30 minute Q&A.
I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Dr. Alette Flesicher. I travelled to the Kröller-Müller Sculpture Garden and Museum back in 2014, and I was thrilled to return to it digitally. Dr. Fleischer beautifully balanced the history of the collection with its design and contents. I particularly appreciated her use of maps and charts, always letting us know where we were. It was a treat to listen to someone whose own research intersects with her conversation topic directly. Brava Dr. Fleischer! I hope you will offer more topics soon.