A Museum visit during a pandemic

 Although the museums reopened after a few weeks of lock down, it is still quite an enterprise to enjoy the ones in other towns and cities. I have a railway card, a season ticket  which I paid for and which includes 10 days of almost free unlimited day travel a year. Because of all the restrictions since March, I had hardly been able to make use of my card. The same applies to my museum card. There are many interesting exhibitions, planned long before this disastrous year for the Arts, and I would love to see some of them. The method is to book immediately the museums are open, as only online tickets with a time slot are valid, even if the entrance is free with a season ticket.

Bartje, a character from a well-known childrens book, standing in front of the museum, corona proof!

There is a very interesting exhibition of paintings by a well-known Dutch artist, Henk Helmantel in the Drents Museum in Assen, a train ride of almost 2,5 hours from where I live.  In order to get my daily dose of exercise I walked to the station, a 35 minute walk, bringing my packed lunch, a ryebread sandwich with cheese. Of course, one can’t eat nor drink anything on the train as mouth masks are compulsory at all times on public transport. A friend joined me in Amsterdam. Once arrived at Assen, our destination,  we bought a take-away coffee at a stall. Although normally there are tables and chairs, all restaurants and café s are closed, which means we were not allowed to sit down except on a public bench outside to drink our coffee. In November this isn’t always an inviting idea, so we drank our coffee on the hoof, out of necessity, knowing that the very attractive museum café with its delicious cakes and sandwiches, would also be closed. Fortunately the powder rooms were open!

Details form larger paintings

The exhibition was worth the long train journey. We spent almost 3 hours there, admiring and taking in the astonishing paintings. When we were done, lunch was far overdue. Normally my friend and first go for a coffee with a treat, then do our museum tour, after which perhaps some shopping may be included, followed by a nice meal in a place which had taken our fancy, before setting out for home again. Alas, given the circumstances this was no option, so we headed directly back to the station, eating our late lunch, a packed sandwich, on the way there. Back in my hometown, I grabbed a microwave dinner and walked home again as the buses don’t go that frequently.

At least the exhibition was well worth the effort and discomfort. Besides, there were some health benefits as well as I had taken over 14.000 steps, and done almost 10 km’s, not at all bad.

Food for thought?

I thought the exhibition was wonderful - for those who like contemporary figurative art. Perhaps not interesting for modernists, but I was in awe. Having had no lunch, his larger than life painting of cheeses, originally for a cheesemaker, and his crusty loaves, made me hungry! Most paintings have a grey blue background, and often he uses red as a striking contrast. Living next to one of the many historic churches up North, his church interiors have a certain serenity. Helmantel plays around with light, shining on and through old glasses and bottles. His fruit and vegetables, eg. onions in a cardboard box, can almost be plucked from the paintings. He has an amazing eye for the smallest detail. Some of the paintings are large, and they were given the appropriate space so that they could impress even more. But also the very tiny ones, paintings of dead birds for instance, moved me. Such a waste, a  delicate and colourful bird, even more beautiful in death.

In spite of the limitations, it was a day well spent.