To be completely honest, I’ve been avoiding this topic on my blog. But it’s time to discuss… travelling during the coronavirus crisis. To keep ourselves and those around us safe it is important to stay at home as much as we can at the moment. This means you might feel bored and sad because your travel plans have been cancelled. But a lot of businesses are working hard to ensure you can still enjoy the feeling of travelling. All from the comfort of your own home!
For example, most of The Hague’s museums have put their collections online! This means you can view the artwork and read accompanying information online – for free! As you probably know, I am from the Netherlands myself. And the Mauritshuis is one of my favourite museums in the country. It’s home to the best of Dutch painting from the age of Rembrandt, Vermeer and lots more painting icons.
Other great museums that have opened up online are Museum Voorlinden, Kunstmuseum The Hague, Humanity House and Panorama Mesdag. Have a look at this handy page by The Hague to find out more! I love that the museums have set up their collections on the web as it helps make art accessible to everyone. Whether you are showing your children as part of homeschooling, enjoying it for some mindfulness or are learning about Dutch art – there is something interesting for every member of the family.
Mauritshuis
Centrally located in the heart of The Hague, the Mauritshuis is usually one of the busiest places in the city. But for now you can discover the entire collection online, without having to queue to get a good view of your favourite paintings!
Mauritshuis specialises in works from the 17th century, the era us Dutchies call ‘the Golden Age’. At this time the Dutch Republic was the most wellfaring nation in Europe, leading the way in science, trade and art. Most of the famous Dutch paintings come from this era, made by artists such as Rembrandt van Rijn, Johannes Vermeer, Jan Steen and many more. Immerse yourself in the brilliance of these Dutch paintings on the Mauritshuis website.
Panorama Mesdag
This is one of my favourite Dutch works of art! Studying this at school I was constantly amazed by the size and beauty of this panorama. Painted by Henrik Willem Mesdag, part of The Hague School, this artwork is a cylindrical painting. It shows you a 360 degree view of the sea, dunes and fishing town of Scheveningen in 1881. The panorama is more than 14 meters high and 120 meters long! I have looked at it plenty of times before, but could still spend hours exploring new details. Check out the above video from This is The Hague and browse the Panorama Mesdag website.
Kunstmuseum Den Haag
The Kunstmuseum Den Haag are really doing everything they can to ensure their art is accessible to everyone. Not only have they made their collection available online (inlcuding over 150,000 works of art!), they are also hosting live virtual tours on Instagram every Wednesday at 2:00pm (in Dutch only).
The Kunstmuseum has works from all sorts of different styles: Art Nouveau, Expressionism, Impressionism, Dutch Delftware and even fashion designers! I’m pretty confident everyone can find at least one piece of artwork that they love in this museum!
Live webcam of Scheveningen beach
Although this isn’t really a museum, I wanted to share it anyway as it’s quite special. Scheveningen is a subdistrict of The Hague that is located on the seaside! The beach is very popular for water sports and gets crowded the second the sun comes out. On rainy days the grey skies give a dramatic backdrop to the crashing waves of the North Sea. Of course at these times the beach and boulevard are quiet, with the odd person walking or cycling past.
If, just like me, you are feeling a bit disconnected from the world at the moment, the Scheveningen beach live webcam stream is a lovely way to connect. It’s wonderful to look at the waves, sandy beach and occasional passer-by Do you have a tv or spare screen available? Why not put the live webcam stream of Scheveningen beach on? It makes for a lovely background while you are working from home or dreaming about travel. You can find the live stream here.
Have you been exploring online collection of museums? What are your favourite pieces of art? Let me know in the comments!
