🇳🇱 Igor Mitoraj in Scheveningen

On the dunes of Scheveningen, the seaside district of The Hague, stands Tsuki-no-hikari (Moonlight) by Igor Mitoraj — a permanent outdoor bronze sculpture near the renowned Beelden aan Zee (Sculptures by the Sea) museum. This is one of only three known replicas of the work; the others are located at the British Museum in London and in Poznań, Poland. The work's presence on the North Sea dunes creates a striking dialogue between Mitoraj's classical language and the raw coastal landscape.

The three known casts of Tsuki-no-hikari are distributed across three continents — Hokkaido (Japan), London (UK) and Scheveningen (Netherlands) — reflecting Mitoraj's truly global public reach. Scheveningen is the beach resort of The Hague and home to Beelden aan Zee (Sculptures by the Sea), one of the finest outdoor sculpture collections in Europe. The placement of Mitoraj's work on the North Sea dunes — between the cold northern light and the vast horizon — creates a dialogue very different from the warmer Mediterranean settings of most of his installations.

Beelden aan Zee — Sculptures by the Sea — opened in 1994 in the dunes of Scheveningen and holds one of the largest collections of figurative sculpture in the Netherlands, with particular strength in 20th-century bronze. Its setting, in a pavilion embedded in the dunes with sea views from every room, makes it one of the most unusual museum buildings in Europe. Mitoraj's Tsuki-no-hikari stands outside in the open dune landscape, exposed to the North Sea wind and light — conditions very different from its sister works in Hokkaido and London, but equally resonant.

Permanent Works