Robert Smithson's Broken Circle / Spiral Hill, an earthwork built into a sand quarry

Robert Smithson's Broken Circle / Spiral Hill designated as a Provincial Monument in the Netherlands

Land Art Contemporary and Holt/Smithson Foundation are delighted to announce that the Province of Drenthe in the Netherlands has just designated the artwork Broken Circle/Spiral Hill by Robert Smithson as a provincial monument. This marks the development of a sustainable future for this world-renowned artwork in Emmen, the Netherlands. Later this year Broken Circle/Spiral Hill, a work not normally open to the public as it is located on private land, can be visited during eight open weekends.

The Dutch Land Art Contemporary (LAC) and the USA-based Holt/Smithson Foundation, in consultation with the current owners, local government and partners, are committed to the management and sustainable future of this iconic 1971 example of land art. “We are very pleased that the province has taken the initiative to designate the work as a monument. This recognizes the cultural-historical importance of the artwork for Emmen, Drenthe and rest of the world. The only surviving 'earth work' by Smithson outside the U.S. is now better protected for the future.” said Anne Reenders of Land Art Contemporary. 

Lisa Le Feuvre, Holt/Smithson Foundation Executive Director said: “Robert Smithson is an artist who rethought the possibilities of art. Broken Circle/Spiral Hill is his most significant work of art. It draws on both the geological and industrial history of the region. At Holt/Smithson Foundation we are extremely happy that this unique artwork has been made a provincial monument, and we look forward to celebrating its importance long into the future with the people of Emmen.” 

Excursions to Broken Circle/Spiral Hill in four seasons 

In coordination with the owners of the sand excavation mine where Broken Circle/Spiral Hill is located, eight open weekends in the coming year have been planned. Together with DIEP—space for visual arts in Emmen, LAC is organizing field trips to the artwork in the spring, summer and autumn of 2025 and the winter 2026. For more information and tickets: brokencircle.nl/visit_english

Robert Smithson, Broken Circle / Spiral Hill (1971)
Emmen, The Netherlands
Broken Circle
Water, sand, and boulder
Diameter: 140 ft. (42.6 m); canal: 12 ft. (3.6 m) wide, 10-15 ft. (3-4.5 m) deep
Spiral Hill
Earth, topsoil, sand
Diameter: 75 ft. (22.9 m) at base

© Holt/Smithson Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society, New York

Archived News

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Films by Holt and Smithson on view at The Museum of Modern Art

Three films by Nancy Holt and Robert Smithson are currently on view at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, in collection gallery 411 of the David Geffen Wing. This presentation focuses on Spiral Jetty (1970), Swamp (1971), and Sun Tunnels (1978). Newly restored scans of the first two works are presented as part of a collaboration between Holt/Smithson Foundation and MoMA to preserve their moving-image work.

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Chapter Nine of Tuesday Texts

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"Nancy Holt: Light and Shadow Poetics" at the MAK Center for Art and Architecture, Los Angeles

What does it mean to notice how we see? "Nancy Holt: Light and Shadow Poetics" at the MAK Center at the Schindler House in Los Angeles offers an encounter where art and architecture shape perception together. This exhibition to brings Holt’s work into a responsive dialogue with the Schindler House, inviting visitors to experience art and architecture as partners in seeing.

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Nancy Holt started making art in 1966, and her first works took the form of concrete poems: artworks testing the structure, content, and form of language. A key concrete poem, "The World Though a Circle," from 1972 is currently on show in the exhibition Deep Fields at the Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles in Paris until March 23, 2026.

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Nancy Holt's Starfire acquired by Powder Art Foundation

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