Fine Arts along the Atlantic Coast

Allow your guests to delve into the motifs of the old masters’ paintings and learn something about European history and culture in this way. Your view will be forward-thinking when looking at modern and contemporary works. Enjoy our museums!

 
Lisbon (Portugal)
In Portugal’s artistic history, Moorish and Dutch influences are dominant in the 15th century; for example, the first known group of artists in the country, the so-called “Os Primitivos Portugueses” (1450-1550) to which, for example, Nuno Goncalves belonged whose works can be found in the Museu Nacional de Arte in Lisbon – as well as various other Portuguese and European masters. After 1550, the Italian influence was prevailing. The works of the Portuguese modern era from Almada Negreiros to Vieira da Silva to the Surrealists of the country can be found in the Centro de Arte Moderna. The Portuguese Naturalists can be found in the Museu do Chiado and wonderful historical painted tiles are in the Museu Nacional do Azulejo. Worth mentioning is also the Museu Calouste Gulbenkian, the bequest of the richest man on Earth at that time. Unique in this regard is the collection of the jewelry designer and art nouveau artist Lalique with 180 objects.

Santander (Spain)
Palencia is 200 km away, but the cathedral houses genuine treasures of the 15th and 16th centuries. A couple of kilometers farther, there stands San Juan Bautista. The church is considered to be the most perfect example of the Visigoth building style in Spain. A cooperation of the two most important Spanish artists during the Gothic Period can be admired in the museum of the abbey church in Lerma: A late Gothic carved alter with painted wings. Gil de Siloe was the carver and Diego de la Cruz was the painter.

Vigo (Spain)
A visit to the northern Portuguese harbor city of Porto is worthwhile not only owing to the port wine cellars, but rather also, for example, in order to be astounded in the Soares Dos Reis Museum by the works of the 19th century sculptor. Works of other European artists are also displayed.

Cherbourg (France)
Thomas Henry (1766-1836), a painter and collector born in Cherbourg, founded the Thomas Henry Museum in 1835. As an acquisitions commissioner for the Royal Museum, he had assembled a top-class eclectic personal collection that included such works as David's Patroclus or Poussin's Pietà. He bequeathed more than 160 works, including three of his own paintings, to the town of Cherbourg. The Thomas Henry Museum has a rich collection of works from the 15th to the 19th centuries and, notably, works by Millet, Guillaume Fouace or the sculptor Armand le Véel.
Also worth recommending is an excursion to Bayeux in order to see the 70-m-long tapestry from the 11th century which depicts the conquest of England by the Normans.

Portland Port (Great Britain)
Dorchester offers two curiosities, the “Tutankhamun Exhibition”, a reconstruction of the grave of the famous Pharaoh and the Terracotta Warriors’ Museum. It features a small but spectacular replicated group of these warriors from the grave of the first Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi.
Further east in Bournemouth, the art museum in Fast Cliff Hall and the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery are worth visiting which display Far East Asian and Victorian paintings. On the country estate called Kingston Lacy, you will find a rich collection of paintings from Rubens to Tizian, Velázquez, Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Veronese and Murillo to Ribalta in order to name just a few.

Dover (Great Britain)
From an art history perspective, the most important site in Kent County is the Cathedral of Canterbury, the mother church of the Anglican Church. Besides diverse stone figures, frescos, paintings and choir walls, its greatest treasures are: The glass windows created by the French artists in the 12th and 13th centuries. A visit to the Royal Museum with diverse collections is also worthwhile.
In the Hastings Town Hall, you are standing before a 74-m-long, hand-knit carpet which depicts important events in British history from 1066 to 1966. And a side trip to Margate will reveal the Shell Grotto with the old, gigantic shell mosaics that are probably more than 2000 years old.
One can travel from Dover to London in about two hours. The art treasures are absolutely worth recommending!

Antwerp (Belgium)
Antwerp – the city of the Baroque painter Rubens – is rich in art. The greatest Baroque artist north of the Alps lived and worked 25 years with his family in the “Rubenshuis”. “Het Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten” has more than 7000 pieces of art from above all southern Dutch and Belgian artists, from the Flemish primitive artists to Rubens to Ensor. You will also find the foreign masters such as Fouquet and Modigliani there. Modern art works are offered by the Museum of Contemporary Art in Antwerp and the open-air Museum of Modern Sculpture in Middelheim Park is also worth a visit as is the “Mayer van den Bergh” Museum with the collection of Fritz Mayer van den Bergh (1858-1901) – an abundance of top-class works from the Middle Ages and the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries – paintings, sculptures, tapestries, sketches and glass windows.
A small museum of its own is devoted to the Antwerp artist Eugeen Van Mieghem (1875-1930).

Vlissingen (The Netherlands)
In Vlissingen, the art is outside: You will find sculptures of maritime heroes from ancient times, but also abstract modern art. A beautiful example is the World Wind Organ at the top of Nolledijk of which there are only three in all of Europe. Here, the wind repeatedly blows another concert through the bamboo pipes.

Rotterdam (The Netherlands)
The Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum is named after the patrons of the arts F.J.O. Boijmans and D.G. van Beuningen and has one of the most beautiful collections in the nation. Old masters from Rembrandt to Breughel, medieval works from Jan van Eyk and unique glass work, but also studies from Dürer are fascinating. Contemporary art can be found in the Witte de With and Tent Museums.

Those who love the fine arts should immediately embark for Amsterdam from Ijmuiden. In any case, the treasures there can’t all be visited in one day.

Amsterdam (The Netherlands)
Almost everybody has heard of the Van Gogh Museum and Rembrandt’s Vigil. However, there are more than 50 different museums and diverse galleries. The most important of these: The Rijksmuseum is the largest museum in the Netherlands. It offers a comprehensive collection of Dutch art, ranging from the earlier religious works to the paintings from the “Golden Age” such as Rembrandt’s “Vigil”. Over 200 paintings and 550 sketches are on display in the Van Gogh Museum. The city museum is dedicated to art after 1850 and temporary exhibits of modern works. Behind the building, there is also a sculpture garden. And the Appel Foundation is the first address for contemporary art in Amsterdam.

Bremerhaven (Germany)
Off into the Teufelsmoor! Since 1889 when Fritz Mackensen, together with Otto Modersohn and others, founded the first artists’ colony in Worpswede and Paula Becker also followed suit soon thereafter with other painters, this place has been a site of creativity. Today, more than 130 artists and artisans work here. Accordingly, there are also many exhibitions and museums located here.
Take a side trip to Bremen. The Weserburg is the museum of modern art with exhibits from 1960 to the present. The Gerhard Marcks House is devoted to 20th century sculpting. In the Art Museum in Bremen, you can experience master works over the course of 600 years – a unique overview of European art and the international modern era. A focal point of the collection of paintings is French and German art of the 19th and 20th centuries. And if you can still manage to get to Oldenburg: The Horst Janssen Museum with diverse works of the artist who passed away in 1995 shouldn’t be missed!

Hamburg (Germany)
Hamburg offers approximately 70 museums about diverse themes; among them, the Deichtorhallen [name of large exhibition hall] with a focus upon photography, the Art and Industrial Arts Museum, the art gallery and the Contemporary Art Gallery with the old masters, 19th century art – among others, Caspar David Friedrich and Phillipp Otto Runge – and the classic modern era as well as the Hamburg Museum. Too many treasures for one day, indeed for even an entire week. Thus, carefully choose your favorite treasures.