A showcase of art from The Hague
Museum Gouda, Gouda (NL), 2023
More than 100 minuscule watercolours, drawings and reliefs by artists including Josef Israëls, Jan Toorop and Sientje Mesdag-van Houten were brought together a century ago. Now a poetic wall projection lets museumgoers admire the works by members of The Hague’s Pulchri Studio in all their glory.
Photos: Moetwil & van Dijk; Museum Gouda
A cabinet full of treasures
The Pulchri cabinet serves as the dazzling centrepiece of Museum Gouda’s Royal Art exhibition. Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Hendrik received it as a wedding gift in 1901. Inside are more than 100 tiny watercolours, drawings and reliefs by painters from the Hague artists’ association Pulchri Studio. The museum faced a challenge in determining how to present all these works in a meaningful way. How could it best enable visitors to admire the art in all its glory – to experience the coherence of the collection while also getting interested in the individual works? The answer: a poetic narrative projected on the wall, devoting extra attention to the artworks in the Pulchri cabinet.
The perfect medium
For the video projection we grouped the 116 works of art according to important and meaningful themes of their day. As visitors discover the portraits, everyday scenes, landscapes and still lifes alongside similar works, they can observe the artists’ stylistic differences and commonalities. The film is the ideal means of showcasing the magnificent Pulchri cabinet as a sampler of art from The Hague at the turn of the 20th century.
Credits
Client
Museum GoudaContent design film
Studio LouterFilm production
Mette MentingExhibition Design
Theo TienhovenHardware
Moetwil & van Dijk