Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.
The Van Gogh Museum on our list.
A first time visit to the Van Gogh Museum. Our Contiki tour started off with a bang in the beautiful city of Amsterdam. It was my first visit to the country of my ancestors and I wanted to explore as much as possible.
Time of course was a problem and I knew I would not be able to see everything. A group of us decided to visit the Van Gogh Museum, Anne Frank House and the Rijksmuseum before we were meeting up in the evening for a tour to the famous Red Light District.
Where to buy van Gogh Museum Amsterdam tickets ?
With great excitement we jumped on the tram only to realize that we were going in the wrong direction! After a lot of laughter we arrived at the Van Gogh Museum. We were early but people were already standing in a long row and we still had to buy our tickets.
Buy your tickets online because this museum gets insanely busy! It will save a lot of time.
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| My Ticket! |
Why visit the museum?
Why was I so eager to visit this museum? My first reason was the fact that I have seen some Van Gogh imitations at the house of an artist friend of mine many years ago. I was intrigued by his work and also because he was often called “crazy”!
The second reason was the lack of art museums in South Africa where we can view famous paintings like the Rembrandts and Van Goghs. Historical museums like this don’t exist where I come from.
Van Gogh Museum Paintings.
The museum made quite an impression on me. It looks very modern from the outside and inside but I found it exceptionally warm. I guess the reason is that most of the paintings are not behind glass and you can actually go quite close to study the art. Not that I am an art expert but Van Gogh was known for his unusual technique.
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| Inside the Museum |
You will find this museum fascinating even if you are not a Van Gogh art lover. The art in this museum have been arranged in a way to give you a glimpse into the life of the artist, Van Gogh. It was intimate and warm and I could almost see his life unfold in front of my eyes.
My favourite painting from the Van Gogh Collection.
My favourite painting is “The Bedroom”. It was painted in 1888. I took this explanation from the Van Gogh Museum page:
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| The Bedroom and my favourite Van Gogh Painting |
Here, Van Gogh has depicted his bedroom in the Yellow House, furnished with simple pine furniture and his own paintings. Over the bed hang his portraits of the poet Eugène Boch and the soldier Paul-Eugène Milliet.
Color and Perspective
The most striking aspects of this work are the bright patches of contrasting color, the thickly applied paint and the odd perspective. The rear wall appears strangely angled. This is not a mistake: this corner of the Yellow House was, in fact, slightly skewed.
Elsewhere, however, the objects seem to tilt upward because the artist has not applied the laws of perspective accurately. Van Gogh worked this way on purpose. In a letter to Theohe stated that he had “flattened” the interior and left out the shadows so that his picture would more closely resemble a Japanese print. But the artist was interested in more than just making a Japanese image. The simple interior and bright colors were meant to convey notions of “rest” and “sleep,” both literally and figuratively.
His career stretched over a period of 10 years.
I found it very interesting that Van Gogh’s artistic career stretched over a period of only 10 years. During this time he produced a full 864 paintings and almost 1,200 drawings! He must have been a busy man. The Museum in Amsterdam has the largest collection of his work. More than 200 paintings, 437 drawings and 31 prints.
His work can also be found in at the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo (The Netherlands) and the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. The rest of his work is divided among a large number of museums and private collections around the world, including many in the Netherlands, France, Germany, the United States and Japan.
Although the museum is mainly dedicated to the work of Van Gogh it also hosts art from other artists who inspired Van Gogh or whom he inspired in return.
I spent an amazing 2 hours in this museum and I will always remember this visit fondly.
Date Visited: 31 March 2004
Place: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Address of the Van Gogh Museum.
The Van Gogh Museum is on Museumplein in Amsterdam, between the Rijksmuseum and the Stedelijk Museum. The museum entrance is at Paulus Potterstraat 7.
T +31 (0)20 570 5200
F +31 (0)20 570 5222
Travelling by public transport.
From Central Station in Amsterdam, take tram 2 (towards Nieuw Sloten) or 5 (towards Amstelveen Binnenhof) to the Van Baerlestraat stop.
From Station Amsterdam Zuid/WTC, take tram 5 (towards Central Station) to the Van Baerlestraat stop.
You can also take tram 3 or 12 to the Van Baerlestraat stop, and trams 16 and 24 or bus 145, 170 or 172 to the Museumplein stop.
Van Gogh Museum Hours.
Museum: daily 10:00 to 18:00 Friday to 22:00
Ticket office: daily 10:00 to 17:30, Friday to 21:30.
Shop: daily 10:00 to 17:45, Friday to 21:45.
Museum café: daily 10:00 to 17:30.
Library Museumplein 4: Monday to Friday 10:00 to 12:30 and 13:30 to 17:00
Closed 1 January
For more information about the museum visit their Website:
http://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/
The museum strictly prohibits visitors to take photos. I have found these images on the Internet.
I've always loved Van Gogh's works. This was a great post! Thank you so much for sharing.
I know everyone says this, but my favorite Van Gogh is Starry Night. Have always loved that painting. Your love of Van Gogh truly shines through in this piece, Nelieta.Good stuff here!–Chris
You're Dutch? Yet another reason why you're really a citizen of the world, Nelieta. 🙂 Very informative post. Learned something new – Van Gogh's decade-long career as an artist. No wonder he descended to madness. He was so prolific in that one decade!
I was able to visit Rijksmuseum but not Van Gogh 🙁 I had issues with my budget then. Netherlands is the first overseas country I visited!
I love visiting museums and spending my time gazing at the paintings… There is so much to see or ponder about those creative works of art.
nice..always been inspired by his work..except for the ear thing..
True Syed..I did not even mention it in my blog! I found this interesting link about another version. Maybe you would like it: http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=7506786&page=1
I can spend days in museums. I often find I don´t have enough time 🙁 Thanks for the visit Savira!
Hi Jessica, you are welcome! Maybe somebody should make a movie about his life. It could be interesting 🙂
Need to put this on my bucket list. XoxoJess
Looks amazing. Great post HTCheersBlogNostics
I've traveled to Amsterdam while living in Europe and it's one of my fave cities in the world. That said I love Van Gogh and his namesake museum, he was a profilic painter for sure. Seems all geniuses are a little crazy…that explains me 🙂
this is the first time i m hearing about this place ..Nice museum
Been a fan of Van Gogh for ages. In fact we made the same excursion to the museum way back in 74 I think, and Anne Frank House. Both are places every visitor to Amsterdam should visit.
Hi AJ, not by birth but my ancestors came from Holland. My native language is Afrikaans which is a Dutch dialect. We can understand each other but the spelling is different. LOl..yeah I guess you could call me a citizen of the world 🙂 I could write a lot of Van Gogh the man but I limited the blog to the museum. He must have been a fascinating man!
A must but this will not beat that awesome car on your list!
Thank you BlogNostics 🙂 This is a must visit when you are in Amsterdam! Ciao xxx
Hi David, I love Amsterdam. I went back in 2007 and it was another great trip. A beautiful city indeed. He must have been a fascinating man..must have been great to know him as a person. LOL…a little crazy is good 🙂
Thanks Sheril! It is a great museum to visit 🙂
I to have been fascinated by Van Gogh ever sense seeing Kirk Douglas portray him in a movie. when I started my photography I realized that one of the reasons I was so appreciative of his art is his use of vivid colors, something I try to convey. I think the idea of such a tortured soul producing such beautiful images is what draws so many into his art. So self destructive that he cut off his ear at one point and then eventually killed himself. He really is a fascinating man with such wonderful talent.
I agree Jim! There is a lot to see in Amsterdam but the Anne Frank House and the Van Gogh Museum is a must see.
Hi Jim, imagine having a glass of wine with him or to see him in action. He was indeed a fascinating man. Thank you so much for mentioning the movie. I am obviously in Van Gogh mode so I am going to try and get hold of the movie. I would love to see it. He was a genius just a pity people did not appreciate his art when he was alive..they called it strange. Thank you for your lovely comment!
I love visiting art museums and galleries..this sounds like an amazing place! And I really enjoyed learning more about Van Gogh…during those ten years he must have been extremely busy!Thank you for letting me tag along on your wonderful adventures, Nelieta!
truly an amazing artist! I love the vivid colors…thank you so much for sharing your adventures.
Hi Chris, thank you for the visit! That is also a beautiful painting. I also like the sunflowers which are very popular but I still find the bright colours moving and beautiful!
Hi Gail, what a great start to International Travel! Holland is a beautiful country and one of my favourites! I love to go back there. Travelling in Euros are always expensive..I know the feeling 🙂
I didn't know there's Van Gogh Museum here, I guess it had been overshadowed by its notorious red light district 🙂
Hi Becky, I agree with you! Such beautiful art museums and galleries around the world. Jim recommended a video ´Lust for Life´ about the live of Vincent van Gogh. We are watching it now. It is an incredible movie about his life and in there you can see how busy he had been. Happy to have you on board Becky!
Hi Amy you are welcome! I love the vivid colours. He put on canvas what he saw and how beautiful it is!
Hi Claire, yes it is one fo the famous museums in Amsterdam. The other ones are the Anne Frank House and the Rijksmuseum. I loved them all but the Van Gogh Museum is by far my favourite.
I would love to visit this!! Thank you for sharing.
Ahhhh. I went there once. It was a glorious day. His work is amazing. 🙂
Oh I'd like to visit Anne Frank's ;)…Anyhow, on the subject of Van Gogh, a post-impressionist artist… I've come to know of his life depicted in the song,'Vincent', and it was afterwards that I saw his paintings.His art style is unique… and portrays most of his emotions…the colors are vibrant…I like "Starry Night'…Thanks for sharing this Nelieta 🙂 I would love to visit it someday (even in my dreams)
Hi Rachel, great then you know exactly what it looks like 🙂 Great museum with so much to see!
Hi Mari, it comes highly recommended! Thanks for visiting 🙂
Hi Melissa, if you can get hold of the movie "Lust for life" watch it. You will learn so much more about the influences and different techniques that were doing the rounds those days. It is a little dramatic but a great movie. I am sure you will enjoy it!
Thanks for the tour of Van Gogh's museum- many years back when we visited Amsterdam, the museum was closed [I think it was a Monday or something] – so it was great to get a peek via your visit. I like the balance of personalised text and general information in your post. A recent BBC documentary on the Impressionists gave a little more background on the artist's life- I think he had to trade in a painting of the pub-landlady for a pub lunch! A tortured genius but what energy in those paintings!
My comment disappeared Nelieta, but I loved this post. Van Gogh is very near to my heart, both as an artist, and as a sufferer of mental illness. Being an artist, and psych nurse, you can see why. Thanks so much for the post.~cath xo
Hello, nice site. Posted by myself in bookmarks