AHEAD OF THE CURVE CHRONICLES №20
ART ACHE
This Thursday is World Art Day. Over the last year, I’ve been surprised at quite how much I’ve missed getting up close and personal with art — happily losing hours of my weekend meandering through corridors of colour. Not to mention the gift shops… To mentally transport ourselves back to easier times, this week the team have been reminiscing about their all-time favourite galleries and exhibition spaces.
Andy, HS Business Director: The Hakone Open-Air Museum in Japan is amazing. I stumbled across it when hiking through the area, and would definitely recommend a visit. I particularly loved all the Henry Moore sculptures dotted around the museum. Find out more here.
Penny, HS Comms Coordinator: We stumbled across the incredible Palazzo Fortuny in Venice by accident, and I LOVED it. It’s an eccentric, eclectic, slightly dusty collection of old oil paintings, striking modern art, theatre set artefacts and exotic textiles, all of which had been collected by the palazzo’s owner, Mariano Fortuny, in the first half of the 20th century. It’s a breath of fresh air from the pristine pomp of most Venetian palazzi. Find out more here.
Lydia, HS Creative: I have always loved the Serpentine Gallery in London, but especially while the Duane Hanson exhibition was on, with its eerily life-like sculptures of people and their surroundings. I visited it with my mum, and it was really nice to both understand it and feel in awe of the work. Find out more here.
Nicola, HS Account Manager: Mine - Mambo, in Bologna - isn’t necessarily my favourite because I go there a lot but because it’s the one that I remember being most interested in, or educated by. When I was there, they had an exhibition which showed all the art the Soviet Union had banned and hidden. It was amazing. Find out more here.
Jamie, HS Senior Creative: For me, it has to be beautiful Naoshima Island - Japan’s so-called ‘Art Island’. It’s a place like no other, and the range of art there is massively inspiring. Find out more here.
Sylvan, HS Creative: I still find the Rijksmuseum, here in Amsterdam, unbeatable. I love it for its Dutchness - the amount of amazing Dutch art in one place, the old Dutch language on the paintings. It’s one of the places I feel most proud to be Dutch in. Find out more here.
Kym, HS Senior Account Manager: Mine has to be the Natural History Museum in London. I think the building, which is so huge and so grand, is beautiful, and I love everything on show there. I’m a sucker for a dinosaur skeleton. Find out more here.
Katinka, HS Operations Manager: It would have to be Te Papa in Wellington NZ. It’s a great collection of native kiwi stuff, but it is also a really nice modern, interactive museum. It’s an awesome place to play a great game of hide and seek in too. Find out more here.
Gemma, HS Creative: I really like the Kröller-Müller Museum in the Hoge Veluwe national park, here in the Netherlands. Riding bikes through the enormous park to get to it makes it a really special place. As well as its huge Van Gogh collection, it also has a lot of De Stijl artworks, and an amazing sculpture garden. Find out more here.
