It seemed like a good to visit a second museum the week after I had visited the Kunsthal. I had heard so much about Beelden Aan Zee (Sculptures by the Sea) in Scheveningen that when a sunny day presented itself I rung up a friend and we made our way to the museum.
Beelden Aan Zee
The Beelden aan Zee collection holds more than one thousand sculptures and around one thousand plaster models. The collection varies from portraits to monumental, larger than life-size sculptures.
The museum is located next to Sea Life in Scheveningen. It’s easy to find, because when you’re walking on the boulevard next to the beach you’ll find the highlight of the museum.
Fairytale Sculptures by the Sea
The reason I wanted to check out the museum in the first place was because I had heard stories about humongous fairytale themed statues (the tallest is the Herring Eater which reaches 12 meters in height).
I was surprised to find that you don’t have to enter the museum to view these statues; so they’re completely open to the public. These bronze sculptures have been designed by the American artist Tom Otterness who immersed himself into different fairytales and legends of the sea to create the 23 statues visible today.
This permanent exhibition is so cute and it’s worth a visit when you’re in The Hague and/or Scheveningen.
Here are some of my highlights:
Museum
Entrance to the museum costs 15 euro (unless you have a Museumkaart – in that case it’s free).
All exhibitions we visited have now ended, so unfortunately you won’t be able to see this at the museum anymore. When we visited the first few rooms were dedicated to death and skeletons.
Have you noticed that I go crazy and start photographing myself when I see a mirror in a museum? You can see how much I’m into art and how much I’m into myself.
These two statues reminded me of the TV series Hannibal. Can you guys make this out as well?
The rooms in this museum are bright because plenty of sunlight makes its way in and you can even access an outside area which also contains a circle of statues with the faces of famous Dutchies (including royalty) – I didn’t take a picture of it though so don’t think the second photo below is our king!
It’s a great way to test photography skills when you’re allowed to take photos inside a museum. These are some of my favourite pictures of the day.
Conclusion
I liked visiting the Beelden Aan Zee museum, mainly because I was allowed to take photographs inside to my heart’s content. This was a great way to test my photography skills. Other than that, the exhibitions always change; so check before you go if there’s anything you’d like to see. The Fairytale Sculputures alone are worth a trip to Scheveningen though!
