The Mesdag Collection: Trees that tell

The Mesdag Collection in The Hague is part of the world-famous Amsterdam Van Gogh Museum. The former The Hague house and museum of Willem and Sientje Mesdag, currently hosts fascinating exhibition combining paintings and poems. “Trees that Tell” expresses two contemporary artists’ worries about the heedless exploitation of Dutch forests, while paying homage to trees and woods as muses to art.

Artists Christiaan Kuitwaard and Jan Kleefstra started their joint project in September 2022. A year long, both visited woods – mostly in the northern parts of the Netherlands. At a spot, chosen by one or the other, they captured the impression they experienced in oils (Kuitwaard), as well as words (Kleefstra).

Their weekly visits resulted in over fifty oil sketches and free verse poems. In the exhibition “Trees that Tell”, poems and oil sketches are shown chronologically, capturing not just different woods but also the changing seasons and weather. Texts by author Annelies Henstra add her thoughts, impressions on biodiversity and our attitude to trees.

That the concerns of all three regarding our current attitude to trees is really worrying, is born out by something not clear in this exhibition. Visitors should realize that some of the works they admire in this exhibition, no longer exist as painted during this joint project.

Kuitwaard and Kleefstra mentioned at the opening of this exhibition, that both are not solely inspired by trees. Kuitwaard mentioned being inspired by artists including Constable, Whistler and Canadian artist Tom Thompson. Kleefstra stated he reads a lot, including poetry by Samuel Beckett.

In the exhibition, small works by Hague School members show how 19th century artists were also inspired by trees. Willem Mesdag actively tried to save parts of the landscape around The Hague. Of course, Théodore Rousseau’s “Massacre of the Innocents” (1845 ), capturing the exploitation of the Barbizon forest and owned by Willem and Sientje Mesdag, expresses the same concerns as Henstra, Kuitwaard and Kleefstra have. (Théodore Rousseau’s work is currently not in this collection, but temporarily on display at an exhibition in France.)

The book accompanying this joint project is called “Boswerk”, but currently only available in Dutch. This exhibition closes 21st of July 2024. This museum is open on specific days of the week, so visit the museum’s website to prevent being disappointed.

Header image author’s own, showing both artists during the opening of the exhibition at the Mesdag Collection;
Photo: Christiaan Kuitwaard and Jan Kleefstra at work, curtsy Mesdag Collection

Museum website: Mesdag Collection, The Hague

Related article on forest destruction, Guardian: Global rainforest loss continues at a rate of 10 football pitches a minute

Boris Mikhailov’s “Ukrainian Diary” at the The Hague Fotomuseum

In The Hague, its Fotomuseum currently offers an important retrospective on Boris Mikhailov. “Ukrainian Diary” was previously shown at the MEP in Paris 2022 and later at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome. Boris Mikhailov (born in 1938 in Kharkiv, Ukraine) is considered to be one of the most influential contemporary artists.

Boris Mikhailov at the The Hague Fotomuseum, April 2024

Since the early sixties, Mikhailov documents changes taking place in his home-country. Self-taught, Mikhailov perfected ‘bad photography’ and used his artistic skills to subtly criticize the Soviet Union’s idealized images. Examples from his earliest series show how he also applied garish colours to prettify his photos, thus indirectly mocking Soviet propaganda.

His series Yesterday’s Sandwich (1960-1970) uses his accidentally discovered technique of combining negatives to create a new image. Mikhailov created a slideshow, adding Pink Floyd’s music from their album The Dark Side of the Moon (1973). This installation is one of two in this exhibition.

Ordinary scenes, ordinary people and their struggle to make a living in a country where regimes change but survival remains a challenge, continue to be the focus of later series. The museum exhibits sometimes shocking photos from Mikailov’s documentary series Case History (1997-1998) and “Tea, Coffee, Cappuchino” (2000 – 2010).

The exhibited photos from his series of dancing people show many images of women dancing with women. These images made me wonder, with a war going on again, how many would have to dance with a female partner in the near future. Photos of the At Dusk series (1993) somehow also reminded me of the current war.

Of course, photos from his series Salt-Lake (1986) and the installation Yesterday’s Sandwich show how little has been accomplished since the 1980s, to minimize pollution and damage to the environment. I found the images especially disturbing in combination with Pink Floyd’s song Eclipse, from Dark Side of the Moon. 

Losing his job as an engineer thanks to the discovery of private photos, then deciding to become a full-time photographer and artist under a dictatorship that whimsically decided what was acceptable and not, ensures Mikhailov uses his own photographic ‘language’. Take his personal meaning of red, blue, or green. This personal language or code means that one visit to this important retrospective may not suffice, to understand and appreciate Mikhailov’s ambiguous art.

This retrospective closes 18th of August 2024. It will then travel to Denmark, to be exhibited at the Royal Danish Library. A hefty catalog From “blaue horse” till nowadays – 1965-2022, accompanies this exhibition and is available at the museum shop. Check the Fotomuseum’s website for all visitor information.

The exhibition was realized with assistance from la Maison Européenne de la Photographie (MEP) – Paris; curator Laurie Hurwitz, Boris and Vita Mikhailov. Images curtsy The Hague Fotomuseum.

Guardian review by Kim Willsher of the retrospect as exhibited at the MEP, Paris, 2022.

Couple donate 33 works of art to Singer Museum Laren

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