Airplanes to the left of me, suitcases to the right. Here I am, stuck in the middle with balloons in tights. Okay, it doesn’t work quite as well as “Stuck in the Middle with You” but it was what was going through my head as crept through the Groninger Museum in Groningen, the Netherlands.

A Mix of Modern and Contemporary

Housing modern and contemporary art, the Groninger Museum is made up of three main pavilions that when put together create a radically modernist, attention grabbing venue. Finished in 1994, the building boasts the internationally renowned Alessandro Mendini as head architect, a striking spiral staircase, and an assortment of colours, shapes and materials throughout. Originally costing 25 million Guilders (approximately 11 million Euros), the building was paid for mainly by Gasunie, who in celebrating their 25th anniversary wanted to give a gift to the city of Groningen. And even if you aren’t a fan of art, this museum is still well worth a visit – because the building is one of those places you just have to see. [clickToTweet tweet=”A major part of the Groninger Museum collection focuses on history and culture of Groningen. ” quote=”A major part of the Groninger Museum collection has to do with the history and culture of the city and province of Groningen. “]

The Art Inside

While a major part of the Groninger Museum’s collection focuses on the history and province of Groningen, the collection also includes an impressive portfolio of seventeenth-century drawings and a selection of work from Mesdag and Israëls. With such a wild building it would be realistic to expect to find some modern art inside as well. And that certainly is the case, beginning with the expressionist work of De Ploeg. Past exhibitions of the museum have included The Secret of Dresden – From Rembrandt to Canaletto, Jaime Hayon – Funtastico, and the famous David Bowie is exhibition.

It isn’t just the outside of the building that is amazing. Hall seen from entrance point of view – Photo: Marten de Leeuw – © Groninger Museum

Groninger Museum Trivia

~ During site preparation, protesters halted construction of the new building in high court for one year. They were concerned that the controversial design would result in difficulty selling their own nearby homes.

~ At the bottom of one of the spiral staircases is a pillar with a crystal ball on top. The ball hints that there are many things to discover in the museum and is the largest ever made crystal object by the Swarovski Company.

~ American artist Frank Stella was first approached to design one of the pavilions. However, since he wanted to build the entire structure out of Teflon, his design was considered too expensive.

~ 201,301 people came to see David Bowie is at the Groninger Museum from the 10th of December 2015 to the 10th of April 2016. That figure puts Groningen in second place behind London in the list of cities in which the exhibition was presented and tops visitor numbers in large cities like Chicago, Paris, Berlin, Toronto, São Paolo, and Melbourne.

Have you ever visited the Groninger Museum?

Featured Photo Credit: zt11000/Shutterstock.com