Each year Kunstmuseum Den Haag in The Hague presents around 35 temporary exhibitions, regularly including at least two major international shows and a dedicated fashion exhibition. The program also highlights decorative arts and other subcollections, and aims to introduce visitors to artists who may be new to a wider audience.
© Erik & Petra Hesmerg
Through May 7, 2023, the museum mounted the first comprehensive survey of all schenker pouring vessels by Dutch designer Aldo Bakker. Bakker coined the term schenker from the Dutch verb schenken, which carries the dual meaning of to pour and to give. That double sense—pouring as an act of giving—deeply informs his work: these pieces are more than functional carafes for water or wine.
Bakker’s practice is driven by curiosity and the desire to discover and realise a precise form. For him, designing is a process of temporary appropriation: once a form is found he considers material, technique, weight, colour, sound and surface finish. Achieving the intended balance of these qualities demands meticulous execution, so Bakker collaborates only with highly skilled craftsmen and specialised production partners.
© studioZAND
The contrast between these autonomous, often seemingly unattainable shapes and the potential actions of a user is what makes Bakker’s schenker pieces so compelling. Designed to be picked up and used, they invite close, intimate engagement. The delicate stream of soy sauce from the “Soy Pourer” is emphasised in an almost mannerist gesture, while the lingering droplets on the voluptuous curves of “Tongue” create a sensuous presence. Each schenker functions as a small centrepiece, prompting the viewer to experience everyday rituals in a new way. The exhibition presents roughly 40 schenker works.
© Gerrit Schreurs
Kunstmuseum Den Haag’s permanent collection contains some 160,000 objects, making it one of the largest collections in the Netherlands after the Rijksmuseum. The museum consistently ranks among the country’s top modern art institutions, alongside Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.
Highlights of the collection include works by Piet Mondrian, Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet, Wassily Kandinsky, Louise Bourgeois, Francis Bacon and Marlene Dumas, among others.