THE
HEDGE
MUSEUM
The Abadía Retuerta Le Domaine estate
includes an extraordinary museum designed
to showcase the sculptures of internationally
recognized contemporary German artist
Ulrich Rückriem.
The Hedge Museum is of interest both for
its exceptional collection and its singular
architectural concept.
Floor Relief, Stele, TV
TV and Dual Relief
Floor Relief
Detail
Floor Relief and Kubus
The artist Ulrich Rückriem extracts massive stones from the earth
and reassembles them on its surface. The subject fundamental to
the artist’s work is process: the cleaving of buried stone to separate
it from rock, raising the stone to the earth’s surface, and the final
acts of splitting, chipping, grinding, polishing and positioning the
massive bodies. With three exceptions, the sculptures here were
Rückriem’s own, a personal “archive”, and thus afford the viewer a
unique perspective on his oeuvre and life’s work. Le Domaine is
privileged to possess this rare collection.
The collection The Hedge Museum is an outdoor open-air sculpture
garden whose walls are high photinia hedges. A tall stele marks
the entrance; the only sculpture visible outside the museum and one
designed for the estate. The rectangular museum is divided into
six exhibition areas. An opening in the hedge wall leads to an interior
akin to a “cella”, the innnermost chamber of a Roman temple.
With no views except of the sculptures and the sky, this secluded
place instantly inspires a calm, contemplative mood. The tamped
cement walls were built for Rückriem’s leaning sculptures, and two
wall reliefs were created specifically for this cella.
The other spaces, with high hedge walls, contain the freestanding
statuary arranged according to stone-cutting technique. One houses
sculptures that have been split; another, pieces that are ground;
and one features the spectacular Black Kubus, a block whose high
polish appears to capture the sky in its surface. This sculpture could
serve as a metaphor for the museum itself, with its atmospheric,
ever-changing ceiling of sky being the very antithesis of the rocksolid, gravity-laden geometry beneath it.
Black Kubus
The architect Marco Serra is responsible for the games with nature
that provide the museum’s particular magic. At first glance, the
museum’s architecture is essentially nature itself. It barely imposes
itself in the pastoral Spanish landscape. The 3m high, 90cm thick
walls of photinia are strictly manicured, yet despite the discipline, the
walls are protean, blending chameleon-like into the verdant vineyards
until fall, when the leaves turn crimson and transform the museum
into a bright red box. For that short season it shows off and inside the
red box the Rückriem sculptures seem to change in response.
Wall Relief
Off museum grounds in the heart of the abbey church,
a noteworthy Rückriem sculpture has been given
a central role: The Altar. Nearby stand two towering
“figures” entitled “The Monks”.
The Monastery Altar
The Monks
Abadía Retuerta Le Domaine
The Hedge Museum is only a five-minute
walk from the abbey. The proximity of the two,
and their contrast in character and mood,
create an interesting architectural dialogue
on the estate.
16
15
The Hedge Museum
The Hedge Museum
Scale 1 : 500
1
Stele, 2009,
Anroechter Dolomit
2
Wall Relief, 2009,
Bleu de Vire granite
3
Kubus, 1994,
Bleu de Vire granite
4
Floor relief, 1985,
Bleu de Vire granite
5
Scheibe Buckel, 1996,
Bleu de Vire granite
6
Black Kubus, 2000,
Swedish black granite
7
Agon, 1991,
Bleu de Vire granite
8
Dual relief, 2009,
Anroechter Dolomit
8
Dual relief, 2009,
Anroechter Dolomit
9
8
10
11
6
8
12
7
2
13
5
4
14
3
1
9
TV, 1995,
Bleu de Vire granite
10
Stele, 1991,
Bleu de Vire granite
11
Floor relief, 1991,
Bleu de Vire granite
12
Kubus, 1991,
Bleu de Vire granite
13
Block Documenta VI, 1982,
Anroechter Dolomit
14
Sand-colored Kubus, 1994,
Bleu de Vire granite
Ulrich Rückriem was born in Düsseldorf in 1938.
His work in stone, iron and wood represents
a singular and outstanding contribution to the
field of process art. He began sculpting
when he was 24 and since his widely praised
first exhibition at the Galerie Konrad Fischer
in Düsseldorf in 1969, he’s participated in
important exhibitions worldwide; the Haus
Lange in Krefeld in 1970, at documenta 5, 7, 8
and 9 in Kassel, in the Centre Georges Pompidou
in Paris and the Venice Biennale. He was
Professor of Sculpture at the Hochschule für
Bildende Künste Hamburg from 1975-84;
the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, 1984-87; and
the Staatliche Hochschule für Bildende Künste/
Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main in 1988.
The artist lives in Ireland.
Acknowledgements
Hotel Director
Master Architect
Landscaping
architekten, Basel
Project Managment
General Planners
Graphic Design
15
Altar, 2009,
Anroechter Dolomit
16
Monks, 1991,
Anroechter Dolomit
Javier Rueda,Valladolid
Marco Serra, Basel
Künzel LandschaftsReto Gisiger, Basel
Burckhardt + Partners,
Basel
Mifflin-Schmid Design,
Zurich
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Abadía Retuerta Le Domaine 47340 Sardón de Duero Valladolid/Spain
T +34 983 680 368 F +34 983 680 286 www.ledomaine.es