Gemeentemuseum Den Haag presents XXSmall Doll’s houses and other miniatures an exhibition on view 12/11/2011 – 25/3/2012.
Over the centuries, every conceivable household object has been replicated in miniature: from chairs to beds, from silver table services to Blue Delft vases, and from copper saucepans to Princess Mabel’s wedding dress.
Gemeentemuseum Den Haag
Doll’s houses were once a serious affair. Wealthy 17th and 18th-century enthusiasts sometimes spent as much on them as on their own houses. XXSmall shows the history of the Dutch domestic interior via a sequence of doll’s houses stretching from the grand examples of the 17th century right through to their modern design equivalents of today. The exhibition will even include a miniature museum containing tiny authentic painting and drawings by leading artists of the twentieth century, such as Sol LeWitt, Damien Hirst and Louise Bourgeois. XXSmall offers a model world of the past and present that will enthral visitors of all ages.
The items on display will not be limited to Dutch interiors; they will include doll’s houses from Germany, England and Italy, and even a Japanese kitchen and a Chinese temple. The interesting thing about the typical 18th-century English house is that it is an exact copy of a building that is still in existence: number 27 in King Street, King’s Lynn. The tiny townhouse from Bologna, Palazzina Giocattolo, is a visual delight, with its flamboyant painted ceilings and frail-looking, typically Italian furniture. Another highlight of the show is a fully equipped toy farm, given to Princess Juliana by her parents on her second birthday to help her learn about country life.
The exhibition will be accompanied not just by a lavishly illustrated catalogue featuring essays by Jet Pijzel-Dommisse and Madelief Hohé (WBOOKS, € 27.95), but also by the book Nederlandse zilveren miniaturen uit de 17de en 18de eeuw byJohn Endlich and others (WBOOKS, € 29.95).
The exhibition has been made possible by the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds.
www.gemeentemuseum.nl