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| Landscape at Twilight, 1890 |
After I stumbled out of the Rijksmuseum, dizzied and saturated by Dutch art, I wandered down the streets in search of a park where I could eat a Clif bar and recover from the amazingness. I almost made it past the Van Gogh Museum. Almost. Then I saw a building to my left with floor-to-ceiling windows emblazoned with copies of Sunflowers and Wheatfield with Crows, and I stumbled to a halt in front of the Van Gogh Museum. I didn’t mean to go here. I stubbornly walked past it and sat in the park and ate a Clif bar. But it wasn’t long before my feet strayed back to the same place, and I found myself pulling euro-bills out of my pocket and heading for the entrance. I just can’t stay away from Van Gogh.
Why you should go: As the name suggests, this is not a museum where you go to get a sweeping view of many different styles. The displays are mostly Van Gogh (surprise surprise), but there are also some features of artists who influenced him. Van Gogh’s paintings are much better in real life than they are in books. If you appreciate his work and want to see some of his most famous pieces, this is the place for you.
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| The Potato Eaters, 1885 |
How to get there: The Van Gogh Museum is close to the Rijksmuseum and easily accessible by pretty much anywhere in the city. (Googlemaps will help you get around town.)
What to bring: The museum costs 14,00 euros. Cameras aren’t allowed, so be prepared to either write down the names of the paintings you like (as I did), or else bring money to buy postcards of the paintings you particularly want to remember.
What to do: Before you head to the displays, take the escalator downstairs and watch the 20-minute documentary about Van Gogh’s life. It’s spoken in Dutch but has English subtitles. Then go on to the displays, which chronicle Van Gogh’s work in his short life as a painter.
What else you need to know: Not all of the paintings have commentary, so it might be worth it to spend an extra five euros to get the audio tour (available in English). There is only one floor of Van Gogh displays, so I actually went through them twice: once up close, observing his technique, and once about six feet away from each painting, appreciating the way they change from a mass of thick paint to a breathtaking view of pear trees at sunset. You might find a new favorite.
The verdict? I’m glad that I visited. If I had it to do again, I would take a longer break in between the two museums in order to recharge my brain. Featuring some of the most innovative and famous paintings in the world, the Van Gogh Museum is definitely worth the price.
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| The Bedroom, 1888 |
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