The Hague

Incredible Louwman Auto Museum Now Open in The Hague

An incredible new auto museum designed by famed architect Michael Graves has opened in The Hague. The Louwman Museum houses over 230 historic cars as well as world's largest collection of automotive art, all assembled by Dutch car importer Evert Louwman, who bought everything from pioneering autos from the late 19th century to race cars, sports cars and luxury limousines. Most of the cars are rare examples and are preserved in their original, often unrestored state, including the second-oldest automobile in the world, a De Dion Bouton & Trépardoux from 1887. There's also James Bond's original 1964 Aston Martin DB5, as well as the eccentric Swan Car from 1910, a hybrid Woods from 1917, the Jaguar D-type 1957 Le Mans winner, an original condition Mercedes-Benz SSK (above), bubble cars, steam cars, electric cars and more.

Tags: architecture, Aston Martin, classic cars, Jaguar, James Bond, Louwman Museum, Mercedes-Benz, Michael Graves, museum, The Hague

The Glorious Chandeliers of the Escher Museum

by Annie Scott (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Art

On my recent visit to Holland, sponsored by the Netherlands Board of Tourism, we ventured up to The Hague (Den Haag) for the Dutch Fashion Awards and some museums. Though it wasn't originally on the itinerary, everyone on the trip was dying to see the Escher Museum (Escher in het Paleis).

The museum is located in the royal Lange Voorhout Palace, and features well kept original fixtures as well as several rooms dedicated to showing what the winter palace of Queen Mother Emma used to look like. Since then, the legendary Dutch graphic artist who's still blowing our minds almost 40 years after his death has been moved in, and the juxtaposition of decadence and mind-bending art is surprisingly harmonious.

If you're taking a trip to Amsterdam, a 45-minute trek up to The Hague is worth it just to see the museum, which not only has a far more extensive Escher collection than any of us believed was possible, but which also features a stunning array of crystal chandeliers in almost every room.

The chandeliers, like the enormous "Rain Cloud" in the foyer (above), are all works by Hans van Bentem (1965), a ceramics and glass artist from Rotterdam who happens to have a penchant for designing elaborate and unusual chandeliers. How unusual are they? Check out the gallery for a crystallized firefly, shark, trophy, umbrella, seahorse and more. The Hans van Bentem chandeliers are an exhibit all their own, and have appeared in the museum's formerly royal rooms since 2003. This is the full collection:

Gallery: Hans van Bentem Chandeliers at the Escher Museum