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Barns-Graham settled in 1940 in the artists’ village of St Ives in Cornwall, which, during the 1950s and 1960s and under the influence of artists such as Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, developed into a center of modernist art. From the 1960s onwards, she divided her time between Cornwall and Scotland.

Initially starting as a landscape painter in a naïve style, she gradually developed into an artist who explored the underlying structures of the landscape.

Her predominantly abstract paintings depict the formative forces of nature—processes that simultaneously create order and bring about continuous change.

In her later work, the colors of the landscape take an increasingly central role, resulting in expressive, rhythmic compositions full of light and movement.

With her focus on nature and landscape, Barns-Graham closely aligns with the artists who define the signature of Museum Belvédère’s collection. Like Willem van Althuis, Sjoerd de Vries, Jan Snijder, and Robert Zandvliet, she did not aim to depict the landscape as a visual fact, but rather to represent nature as a formative force.

During the exhibition, works by these Frisian artists will also be on view in the museum’s concurrent collection presentation.

Living the Landscape

Exhibited: May 28 – September 25, 2022

Barns-Graham’s work was previously shown at Museum Belvédère as part of the group exhibition Living the Landscape – Barbara Hepworth, Ben Nicholson, and the Artists of St. Ives (1939–1975).

This was the first museum exhibition outside the United Kingdom focusing on the modernism of the St. Ives School during and after World War II. NATURE IN MOTION – Wilhelmina Barns-Graham (1912–2004) serves as a continuation of the successful 2022 exhibition.

Room Exhibitions

West Wing, June 20 – September 20

In the West Wing, a selection from the permanent collection is on display, along with several guest exhibitors, including:

Peter de Wit – Growing Pains – Children and Their Parents

Theo de Feyter – Memories of the Jan Steenzolder

Fransix Tenda Lomba – The Bittersweet Taste of Chocolate

Mari Shields – Unwanted Species and Friends

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 the nature conservation organization Staatsbosbeheer, 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 Staatsbosbeheer and 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 Staatsbosbeheer men 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.

Art Fair Art Noord VIII

Entire Museum, September 24 – September 27, 2026

An annual art fair featuring approximately 20 participating galleries and art dealers from Friesland and Groningen, along with some guest participants from other parts of the country. Art Noord aims to be an accessible platform where gallery owners, artists, collectors, art enthusiasts, and many others can gather in a relaxed museum atmosphere to view and purchase art.

Interconnections
Relations & Contrasts III

West Wing, October 10, 2026 – January 17, 2027

In the previous exhibitions Relations & Contrasts in 2021 and 2023, selections were shown from the extensive art collection of Hans and Cora de Vries. In this third edition, key pieces from this private collection, which is fully housed in Museum Belvédère, will be displayed in relation to key works from the museum’s permanent collection.