I’m a big fan of contemporary and modern art. I find it interesting and easily digestible for children so last April when we were in Holland we visited the Museum Voorlinden which had been on my radar for a while.
The museum sits on the Voorlinden Estate in the dunes of Wassenaar. There is ample onsite free parking. You walk past the estate to access the new modern museum. In summer the gardens are all done up and perfect for a visit. There is also a 40 min “hike” through the dunes on the property. (In case you’re wondering, we cycled to the museum, we’re Dutch after all.) You can visit the estate and grounds without purchasing a ticket.
Once you purchase your ticket everything must be stored. You are not allowed to carry any bag, coat or anything in the museum. Lockers are free and ample. We stored our stuff, hung our coats and headed into the museum with only the included guidebook and my phone. We did see several families with strollers inside the museum.
The museum building is a work of art itself. It plays with indoor spaces that feel like you are outside. The natural light and neutral colours are calming and comforting. There were plenty of people just enjoying the spaces of the building, sitting on benches looking outside onto the surrounding property.
One of my favoourites is Swimming Pool by Argentinian artist Leandro Erlich (1973). Here you view a swimming pool in the middle of the gallery from above. It looks just as a pool should. Yet as you peer down you can see people moving around inside the pool. A staircase takes you downstairs so you can enter the pool. You stand beneath the water and look up into the gallery. The illusion is fascinating from both above and below.
As you’re coming up the stairs from the pool you won’t want to miss the tiny elevator doors. I don’t think any child could miss them, but an adult could certainly walk past them. You can hear the elevators moving, the doors open and close, the numbers light up…but where do they go? I was completely fascinated by the elevators.
Another favourite is the steel sculpture Open Ended (2007-2008) by Richard Serra (1938) that is placed in its own room, such that you can wander through it and then climb some stairs and take it in from above. We listened to our footsteps echo as we explored this huge sculpture.
The museum is host to plenty of traveling works as well. We had a fairly serious discussion about what makes something art in a few of the galleries. We also had an epic game of i-spy in the rooms of monochromatic stacking objects. Several pieces made us question if they were real and if not then what were they made of .I think one of the things I love about viewing modern art with the is that they wonder if they can do it themselves. (I do ask myself that same question!)
The museum is perfectly small. We took a little over an hour to explore the exhibits. That’s perfect for ‘smaller’ children. You could certainly spend longer if you didn’t have children with you.
The restaurant on the property is in the old estate house. They have a simple menu. We popped in for a cup of salad, some pie and a coffee. Almost everyone was having pie!
It was the prefect way to end our visit. We talked a bit of what we had seen and just enjoyed a bit of quiet time before heading back to the real world.
We saw tons of families at the museum, so don’t be afraid to bring the children. The one thing is to keep a close eye on them as the exhibits are all free standing in the rooms and beg children to touch them.
I highly recommend a visit here. I hope to be back this summer.
Voorlinden museum & gardens
Buurtweg 90
2244 AG Wassenaar
Voorlinden museum & gardens
Buurtweg 90
2244 AG Wassenaar
Belle wears a dress by Zara available here. Fynn’s T-shirt is by Zara as well and Viggo is wearing an outfit by GAP.
Photo credits: Evelyne Photography – www.evelynephotography.com
Evelyne is a professional photographer in The Netherlands. Based in The Hague, she specialises in shooting people and capturing personality. Though she works mostly in the The Hague area, Evelyne travels and shoots all over Holland. Boundaries do not exist between her portrait photography, corporate photography and commercial photography and she just launched her newest project ‘Kids by Eve’.
