June 20 – September 20
From June 20 to September 20, several sculptures by American sculptor and installation artist Mari Shields (Bangor, ME, USA, 1948) will be on display in the Museum Park and the West Wing of Museum Belvédère. With great respect for nature and craftsmanship, Shields creates public monuments in honor of trees. She works exclusively with trees that have reached the end of their life cycle due to age, disease, or other circumstances.
For this presentation, the sculptures were made from an American red oak, an invasive tree species that is harmful to the native ecosystem. In collaboration with several forest rangers, the tree was felled in Wijnjewoude, in the municipality of Opsterland. The sculptures were specially created for this exhibition and are being presented for the first time.
American Red Oak
Shields’ sculptures are entirely dependent on the trees available in the local environment, giving them a strong connection to the site for which they are created. Together with Albert Oost, the curator of Museum Belvédère, the artist explored the area in search of a suitable tree for her project. She focuses primarily on the tree’s crown, with certain species and forms being her preference.
Shields, who settled permanently in the Netherlands in 1972, initially saw Friesland primarily as a province of water, but she soon discovered the many beautiful trees in the scenic, enclosed landscapes of the southeastern part of the province. After some investigation, Staatsbosbeheer made an American red oak (Quercus rubra) available for her project, a tree that was already scheduled to be felled in Wijnjewoude.
This tree species, originally imported to the Netherlands, now grows wild and uncontrolled. It is considered a “forest pest” and is particularly harmful to the native ecosystem.
Tribute
After the tree was felled and removed, it had to be transported by truck to Amsterdam, where Shields has her studio. Despite being 77 years old, she still wields the chainsaw with great skill.
"It seems as if she is in love with it. She strokes the tree, in a way. A kind of caress that also expresses respect. At one point, the forest rangers were sawing on site, but when it came to the finer work, she took over. She prefers to do it herself because she ultimately wants to get the best out of the tree." – Albert Oost
The completed work is then transported to its final location, where it is reassembled and installed on site. Mari Shields honors the trees by capturing their specific forms and unique character in her sculptures. In this way, the tree, with her help, tells its story to the visitor.
The Museum Park
Museum Belvédère is located in the leafy Oranjewoud. The sleek museum building was designed by Eerde Schippers of Inbo architects from Heerenveen. The relief in the facade subtly refers to the parceled meadow landscape.
The building is built across the water in the Prinsenwijk, which was constructed as a Grand Canal in the eighteenth century by the (garden) architect Daniël Marot. In 2004, landscape architect Michael van Gessel modernized the rural area.
This makes the Museum Park Landgoed Oranjewoud a contemporary version of the old Baroque garden.
The promenades have been restored on both sides of the Grand Canal, and coppice lots surrounded by water have been added. The area has an ecological wealth with various riparian biotopes. Maintenance is in the hands of Staatsbosbeheer.
The park is characterized by a sober simplicity, where peace and space reign supreme. A visit to the museum can easily be combined with a walk through the modern Museum Park or a longer walk through the woods of Oranjewoud, where you can also climb the Belvédère (lookout tower).
Tip: you can order a picnic basket and take it with you on location! Please contact the owner of the Museumcafé Rene van der Meulen: info@horecabelvedere.nl.
June 28 – September 21
From June 28 to September 21, 2025, Museum Belvédère will present a solo exhibition by visual artist Henk Visch (1950) in the museum park and in the rooms of the west wing. With a selection of twelve sculptures in the museum park, two smaller installations and sculptures in the west wing, the exhibition offers an extensive look at the poetic and often philosophical oeuvre of one of the most idiosyncratic artists in the Netherlands.
Henk Visch's sculptures vary from monumental formats to smaller installations. They are usually made of bronze, aluminum, steel or wood and sometimes in combination with added objects made of found material. The titles that Visch gives to his works are remarkable; they are often poetic, written in different languages and evoke associations and meanings.
Henk Visch is known for a visual language that balances between abstraction and recognizability. His images are often quiet and withdrawn, stylized figures of people and animals, almost delicately balanced. They seem to be lost in thought, waiting or floating between worlds. The artist is not concerned with depicting visible reality, his work is rather a metaphor for reality and experiences. His images raise questions about human presence, vulnerability and the unspeakable.
The exhibition brings together both recent and older work, with key pieces from his oeuvre of the past decades. In addition, both old and new work is presented that has never been shown in a museum before.
The arrangement in the museum park creates a dialogue between form, space and meaning – an invitation to the visitor not only to look, but also to think, to feel and above all to wander.
About the artist
Henk Visch (Eindhoven, 1950) is a sculptor, draftsman and graphic artist. He was trained as a graphic artist at the Royal Academy of Art and Design in 's-Hertogenbosch. Visch made his international breakthrough in the 1980s and represented the Netherlands at the Venice Biennale in 1988.
He was a lecturer at the Academies in Amsterdam and Maastricht, a professor in Stuttgart and Münster and a guest lecturer in Beijing. His work is included in numerous collections at home and abroad and is characterised by an interdisciplinary approach in which sculpture, drawing and language are linked.
This handy booklet contains information about two estate walks, both of which start in Museum Belvédère. One walk takes you over the historic Oranjewoud Estate, the other takes you to the special new-build district of Skoatterwâld. In the booklet, both walks are provided with a clear route map, a time indication, extensive background information and inviting visual material.
The publication costs only € 4.95 and is available in the museum shop.
Would you like to know more about the Museum Park? An experienced tour guide from Staatsbosbeheer will be happy to inform you about what grows, blooms and lives in this area. A tour lasts just over an hour and costs € 65. The maximum number of participants is twenty people.
Oranje Nassaulaan 70
8453 HA Oranjewoud
0513-644999
info@museumbelvedere.nl
