With its unique location by the sea and distinctive architecture, Museum Beelden aan Zee has grown over the past thirty years into a leading venue for modern and contemporary sculpture in the ...
About Museum Beelden aan Zee
About the museum
Museum Beelden aan Zee is the only museum in the Netherlands dedicated exclusively to the presentation of, education about, and research into sculpture. Thanks to this focus, the museum has acquired a unique position within the Dutch museum landscape. Modern and contemporary sculpture find a unique setting here: surrounded by sea, dunes, and an iconic building. Museum Beelden aan Zee is thus an inspiring place in The Hague that manages to reach and connect diverse target groups.
Founding
Museum Beelden aan Zee was founded in 1994 by art lovers Theo Scholten and Lida Scholten-Miltenburg. Since 1969, they had built up an extensive collection of modern sculptures. In the 1980s, the realization grew that this private collection deserved a wider audience. This ultimately led to the establishment of a museum, which officially opened its doors in The Hague on September 9, 1994. A unique design by architect Wim Quist, where sculpture takes center stage both inside and outside.
Collection
The founders primarily collected sculpture with the human theme: the human condition, the figure, or abstractions of the human being. They summarized this collecting policy under the heading of 'image of man'. Now, decades later, the collection has taken on a different profile. The private collection has grown into a broad collection of modern and contemporary sculpture, both nationally and internationally. Museum Beelden aan Zee intends to continue strengthening this position as a specialist museum for contemporary sculpture in the future.