The Netherlands is justifiably proud of its heritage of painters, from centuries ago up to today. We had to be selective. With Dirk’s help, we knocked it out of the park.
Of all the artists of whom they are proud, Van Gogh is the rockstar around here. We went to three museums with significant Van Gogh collections.
Rijksmuseum
The Rijksmuseum is the biggest. It has artists from across the centuries, a very nice library, and the famous Rembrandt masterpiece “The Night Watch.” There were a lot of people there, particularly around the latter work. There are scores of works by Vermeer, Rembrandt, Hals, Van Gogh, and hundreds of others. Quite impressive.
Van Gogh Museum
The Van Gogh Museum is kind of the “hot” ticket here. Unfortunately, that means it is packed with people. Most are great, realizing that with so many people, we all need to maintain a polite awareness of those around us, give each other turns, and try not to be jerks. Unfortunately, there are those who push, shove, annoy, and disrupt.
It is a fine facility. Van Gogh’s nephew, (Theo’s son), was the driving force behind establishing the Van Gogh Foundation, and eventually the museum. They have almost all of his letters. They do not allow photos.
Only picture I took before being told that there are no photos allowed.
Kröller-Müller Museum
Dirk borrowed a car for us to drive to visit his parents in Arnhem. On the way we stopped at the in the Hoge Veluwe National Park in Otterlo in the Netherlands. The museum was founded by art collector Helene Kröller-Müller and opened in 1938. It has the second-largest collection of paintings by Vincent van Gogh, after the Van Gogh Museum. Once again, we find that it is nice to be rich.
Lots of very skilled pickpockets around Amsterdam this time of year.