Haags Kunstmuseum

The Haags Kunstmuseum, the art museum of The Hague, stands on the Stadhouderslaan on the edge of the city centre, in a building that is a work of art in its own right. It was designed by the architect H.P. Berlage, a leading figure of Dutch modern architecture, and completed in the 1930s as his last major work. Its long brick facades, restrained geometry and carefully proportioned rooms are typical of his approach, and the building's light and calm are part of the pleasure of visiting. The museum was long known as the Gemeentemuseum, the municipal museum, and it has adopted its present name more recently.

The museum's greatest claim to fame is its collection of the work of Piet Mondrian. It holds the largest collection of his paintings in the world, covering his whole career from early landscapes through his steps towards abstraction to the grids of primary colours for which he is best known. The last painting he worked on, Victory Boogie Woogie, left unfinished at his death in New York in 1944, is the centrepiece. Seeing the development of Mondrian's style in one place is rewarding, and the museum also holds works by other artists of the De Stijl movement and by the wider Dutch and European avant-garde.

The collection extends further than modern art. The museum has an important display of Delftware, the blue-and-white pottery of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, along with silverware, furniture and applied arts from the region, shown in period rooms that let visitors imagine how a house of the time looked. There are also holdings of fashion and musical instruments, and works by artists such as Monet and Picasso give an international dimension. The museum organises major temporary exhibitions, which are often among the most popular events in the Dutch cultural calendar.

The building is relaxed and easy to navigate, with a cafe and a shop, and its surroundings make a pleasant walk. The Hague's other major sights, including the Mauritshuis with its Vermeer and Rembrandt paintings, the Binnenhof and the Peace Palace, lie a tram ride away, and the beach at Scheveningen is not far.

The museum suits art lovers, architecture fans and anyone interested in design and the history of Dutch taste. Allow two to three hours. Check the opening times and tickets online, particularly for popular exhibitions, which may need advance booking.