Van Gogh Museum Reviews (Amsterdam, Netherlands)

Van Gogh Museum: Amsterdam's Must See Venue

Huddersfield, United Kingdom

August 5, 2012

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Best of IgoUgo The other "must see" attraction we deemed necessary for our first time visitor to Amsterdam was the Van Gogh Museum. The museum is a couple of mile walk from Central Station, so we took advantage of the hike to wander through one of the main ...Read more The other "must see" attraction we deemed necessary for our first time visitor to Amsterdam was the Van Gogh Museum. The museum is a couple of mile walk from Central Station, so we took advantage of the hike to wander through one of the main shopping streets on the way to our destination.

Unfortunately, you are never going to get the museum to yourself so I steeled myself for people walking in front of me, bored teenagers scuffing their feet behind loud speaking Americans and massed tour groups huddling around the most famous paintings. I just took my time and slowly got to the paintings I wanted to rediscover (having been to the Van Gogh museum on a number of occasions now, I don't try to study every painting).

One tip is to buy your tickets before you arrive to save some of the queuing. While the website doesn't say it, there is a special entrance for those that have prepaid. You can buy tickets on the web and for completely instant access you can visit the information centre in one of the diamond centres across the road and buy your tickets there.

Another tip is to dine at the rather good Van Gogh Museum cafe; we had a very nice salad at the museum in relative quiet (just try to avoid the obvious lunch time beloved of tour groups).

The Van Gogh Museum may disappoint some as much of the displays are not by Van Gogh; instead, it is a comprehensive look at how he influenced and what influenced him. So, we have paintings that Van Gogh would have been looking at when he started out, and from those artists he met in Paris which influenced the change in his style from the traditional dark Dutch style to the bright new impressionist style. Later you see art from the early 1900s influenced by Van Gogh.

There are however still Van Gogh's galore including sunflowers and irises. When I first went to the museum 20 years ago, there were a lot of early Van Gogh's painted in the Dutch style. As the man had little cash these were largely of his dinner; potatoes and the like, and to be honest once you had seen one or two you got the picture. Over the years this section has diminished, although there is still a good representation of how his art developed as he became more accomplished and confident.

One thing that always surprises me is that as a "classical" artist representing objects, Van Gogh is not that good a painter (unlike say Picasso who could (had he wanted to) drawn a perfect representation). What shines out is his technical ability and his later eye for colour and use of unusual perspective.

I always reflect that Van Gogh only signed those paintings he was pleased with, and many of those later works (often painted at the rate of one a day) remain unsigned as his illness and frustrations meant he was less and less satisfied with his progress. It is well worth seeing these paintings in the flesh - seeing the brush strokes is so much better than just looking at a poster.

The museum doesn't make anything of the recent claims that contrary to shooting himself, Van Gogh was shot by a drunken friend in an accident, and that Van Gogh simply implied he had shot himself in order not to implicate his friend. I think many prefer the image of the tortured artist.

At 14 Euro, the Van Gogh is very reasonably priced, and is not too huge to be over facing. I enjoy visiting the museum and it is usually one of the places I aim to visit each time I come to Amsterdam.

Tip: we usually time it so that we can visit the fun House of Bols opposite afterwards – this is a place where rather than be stimulated by sight, smell and taste is more important. For 13 Euros you get a free cocktail and a couple of Jenever samples.
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From journal More Summer in Amsterdam

Sunflowers, Self Portraits and Lots More Besides!

by chrisandmark

Birmingham, England, United Kingdom

February 7, 2012

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Best of IgoUgo A must see while in Amsterdam is the Van Gogh Museum, the largest collection of Van Gogh paintings in the world. I decided to visit after sampling some of the culture of the city in the form of the Anne Frank House (another must see) and decided to ...Read more

Visiting Vincent

by eilidhcatriona

London, United Kingdom

August 8, 2011

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Best of IgoUgo The Van Gogh Museum is one of major tourist attractions in Amsterdam. With a large permanent collection of the artists work and letters, it is a destination for art aficionados as well as the casual tourist.Vincent Van Gogh is a name most of us are ...Read more The Van Gogh Museum is one of major tourist attractions in Amsterdam. With a large permanent collection of the artists work and letters, it is a destination for art aficionados as well as the casual tourist.

Vincent Van Gogh is a name most of us are familiar with. Born in 1853 in the Netherlands, he studied with many of the great painters of the day in Brussels and France, such as Gauguin, Pisarro and Toulouse-Lautrec, until his death by suicide aged only 37 in 1890. He is known for his paintings, which gained acclaim after his death, as well as for allegedly cutting off his own ear (in actual fact, a piece of his ear).

During our recent visit to Amsterdam, the Van Gogh Museum was one place I was keen to visit. Having been to an exhibition in Edinburgh several years ago featuring many of Van Gogh’s paintings, I wanted to see more of his work. I am not very knowledgeable about art – I can recognise a few styles, and I know what I like (Van Gogh, Salvador Dalí, Rene Magritte...), but I enjoy looking at paintings. I’m not so keen on older works, as I prefer the bright colours of more modern works.

Entrance to the museum is €14 for adults. We passed the museum on the tram every day, and there was always a long queue. So we decided to buy our tickets in advance, which would mean we didn’t have to queue – you can do this from the website, or from any of the Tours & Tickets outlets around the city. You do not have to visit the museum at any particular time or on any particular date if you buy from Tours & Tickets. There is no saving in buying in advance from Tours & Tickets (I thought there was, but I was remembering the price wrongly from what I had seen online), although you can save quite a bit on other attractions. The museum is located on Museumplein, beside the Rijksmuseum, and is easily reached by public transport from the city centre. It is fully accessible for wheelchairs.

The Van Gogh Museum has a permanent collection of some 200 paintings, 500 drawings and 700 letters, as well as the artist's own collection of Japanese prints. Not everything is on display. The main display is arranged over three floors, and by time period of Van Gogh’s life. These periods tie to the various places he lived in while painting, such as Paris, Arles, Saint-Rémy and Auvers-sur-Oise. Each section of the collection includes notices detailing what Van Gogh was up to at this time, in Dutch and English, and all the paintings have labels in both languages (there is an audio tour available in various languages, but we chose not to take it – it was €5, and I always end up getting lost with what I’m supposed to be listening to/looking at).

The collection is presented well, and what at first glance looks like wasted space between paintings, where more works could be displayed, soon makes sense when you realise the size of the crowds around each painting. In addition to works by Van Gogh, there are works on display by artists whom he admired or was trying to emulate at that particular point in his life. These offer an interesting comparison to Van Gogh’s work, although not always a positive one. There was one section in particular which stood out to us, on the technique of pointillism, where two paintings by another artist were shown alongside one of Van Gogh’s works (the other artist may have been Millet but I cannot be sure) – Van Gogh’s looked appalling next to them. It seemed he did not master this technique very well, as it really was not a good example of the style, particularly when shown alongside two very good works.

I don’t know if Van Gogh can be called a good artist – I don’t know enough about art to say. He is certainly popular. I like many of his paintings, but especially those of the French countryside. My favourite is Wheatfield with Cypresses, painted while he was in the asylum at Saint-Rémy – this however resides in the National Gallery in London, where I saw it last year, so I had to make do with other paintings. I also particularly like Almond Blossom.

In addition to the permanent collection, the Van Gogh Museum has a few temporary exhibitions. There were four running when we visited in July 2011, including two about greater examination of Van Gogh’s works – his reuse of canvas and an in depth study which had been carried out into his works from Antwerp and Paris from the late 1880s. There was also a small exhibition about the restoration of his famous painting of his own bedroom, including a full size replica of the room, and a display of prints and posters from Montmartre, by artists such as Toulouse-Lautrec and Steinlen.

The Van Gogh Museum has a cafe in the building, but given the prices and the food on offer, I would say it is more a restaurant than a cafe. We had a look at the menu and decided to wait until we had left. There is also a large gift shop (of course), with a huge selection of themed gifts and books. I like a lot of the Van Gogh souvenirs, which I have seen elsewhere, but resisted the urge to buy a handbag with detail from Almond Blossom printed on the side. Instead I stuck to a couple of small gifts for my mum. I heard the American lady in front of me in the queue saying she was only making a purchase so she could get a museum carrier bag...once I had my own bag I was quite disappointed, I expected something special after hearing that, but it wasn’t that great. Maybe she collects carrier bags...

I enjoyed our visit to the Van Gogh Museum, but now we have been, we are unlikely to go back unless there is something specific we want to see. I can go see my favourite Van Gogh painting for free anytime at the National Gallery. It is somewhere I would recommend visiting if you are in Amsterdam however, as it is an interesting place to visit – and there is plenty of art to see.
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From journal Amazing Amsterdam

Van Gogh Museum

by Jctravel1983

Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands

May 10, 2011

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Best of IgoUgo I have visited the Van Gogh Museum during my vacation. In principle I am not a fan of certain mainstream sightseeing tours, but the museum's visit I saw this as an important element of my to-do list in Amsterdam. To get in I had to pay an entrance ...Read more I have visited the Van Gogh Museum during my vacation. In principle I am not a fan of certain mainstream sightseeing tours, but the museum's visit I saw this as an important element of my to-do list in Amsterdam.

To get in I had to pay an entrance fee of 12,50 euro’s which I think is quite a lot and discount is only available for children. I have mixed feelings about paying this because in a city as London as the museums are for free so why not here? Anyway I knew it was going to be worth it so without complaining I paid the 12,50.

The waiting time was negligible for me. This must be noted however that I visited on a Thursday morning so I can imagine that the lines are much bigger when it’s the weekend and especially during high season but that’s what one can expect going to a popular attractions as this one. Coming inside you could first hang your coat at the wardrobe before you have even a body scan in airport-style security you had to go through - annoying, but tolerable.

On three floors extending the comprehensive Sammelsorium of the museum. I particularly found that in addition to excellent works by Vincent van Gogh and Expo Ante of icons such as Claude Monet, Eduard Manet, Camille Pissarro, Paul Gauguin, Paul Cezanne, etc. were on display. A very impressive selection of Impressionist and early days of Expressionusmus so I could ogle and now happen in my mind's eye can still look back - beautiful woman calculations. Particularly breathtaking, I found a sculpture by Auguste Rodin. He is considered one of the founders of public sculpture in his work "thinker". The artist presented the first time any person from history, etc. However, a hero but a natural template inspired and backed by allegorical functions.

The conversation with other museums in Amsterdam seems to work: There is an impressive collection of the Stedelijk Museum Malevich to see here. Well I also found the very exploratory nature of the exhibition: The Vita van Gogh's attempt to outline the basis of important key works and to be empirical data in English and Dutch to the recipient, presented

Too bad I was, however, again the very entertaining character in the form of the offered audio guides. Surely this is just for foreign visitors a good services respecting But I am personally of the opinion that as the visitors far too much is removed and no longer an independent examination of the exhibits is given. Also uses the art of any single language. Therefore, one should be documented with stories about particular works very carefully. This Perspektve to frontal clouds the view of alternatives or their own thoughts. The accessibility of the museum's is very easy and public transport is good. Worth the visit.
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From journal Amsterdam the capital of Holland

Two Museums for the Price of One

by artslover

Calgary, Alberta

October 1, 2009

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It took us about five tries to learn how to say Van Gogh the way the Dutch pronounce it. But however it’s said, it was a really informative visit. The museum contains the largest collection of Van Gogh’s paintings in the world. The displays are ...Read more

From journal Three Nights in Amsterdam

The One Museum You Must See

by ch2001

Chicago, Illinois

September 23, 2009

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The Van Gogh museum was a highlight of our trip, and from the line to get in it's a popular site for most visitors. There are a couple ways to avoid the line: buy your ticket ahead of time or buy an "I amsterdam" card (free admission to museum).The ...Read more

From journal A Week in Europe 2009: Amsterdam for Three Days

AKA the The Van Gagcht Museum

by Carmen

Cary, North Carolina

April 27, 2009

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I think I’m learning something about myself, as I traipse around Europe’s museums - I am not a museum person. That’s an important tidbit of information to keep in mind as I write about the Van Gogh Museum. If you ask someone where the "Van Go" ...Read more

From journal Amster-DAM That Was Fun!

Worth the Price of Admission

by anitaellen83

Dallas, Texas

January 8, 2009

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I could have spent all afternoon in this museum. While it is primarily dedicated to housing the major works of Vincent Van Gogh that are not at the other big museums, it also contains special exhibits as well as other famous artists from the ...Read more

From journal Spring Break in Hamburg, Frankfurt, and Amsterdam

The Van Gogh Museum Was our Favorite Museum

by NiceGinna

Evanston, Illinois

July 26, 2008

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The Van Gogh Museum is close to the Rijksmuseum, so easy to "do" both in a morning. There is a wonderful collection of his works and works by his contemporaries including several paintings of Van Gogh, himself, by other painters.

From journal Weekend in Amsterdam

Van Gogh Museum

by Travelny2

New York, New York

April 9, 2008

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Best of IgoUgo The Van Gogh Museum was a very interesting experience. Even if you are not a huge fan of art it is worth a trip just to pay homage and learn a little bit about one of the most famous painters of all time.The museum is about a 20 minute walk from Dam ...Read more The Van Gogh Museum was a very interesting experience. Even if you are not a huge fan of art it is worth a trip just to pay homage and learn a little bit about one of the most famous painters of all time.

The museum is about a 20 minute walk from Dam Square or the Red Light District where most people tend to stay. It is located on museum square, a big open space that was recently redesigned into an expansive public plaza. It is a large park like setting with benches and fountains and we sat out here for a while just taking in the scene before going into the actual museum. Bring a couple of beers or some lunch and just sit and enjoy the people watching for a little while if you have time.

I believe tickets to the museum were about 10 euro when we went in June. We forgot our student IDs but if you have one there were definately the usual discounts for students, kids, seniors etc. The nice thing about this museum was the lack of massive crowds. It was the only museum that we went to where we didn't feel like herded cattle. Right to the ticket window and through a simple security check and we were in.

The artwork on display was suprisingly varied for what we expected. All of us were unaware how prolific Van Gogh was and how varied the subjects of his work were. There are very detailed descriptions of all the works and they really paint a full picture of Van Gogh's life. Sections of the museum are divided both by the style and type of the artwork as well as by the periods of Van Gogh's life.

I know that the museum has rotating displays from the brochure but there are a large number of paintings, letters, sketches and drawings on permanent display. The paintings included a number of self portraits in addition to a vast array of still lifes and landscapes.

The famous "Sunflowers" painting is located in this museum which was really interesting to see. It is always fun to see a piece of art in person that you have seen pictures of your whole life. It is important to note that "Starry Night" is NOT at the Van Gogh Museum despite being pictured in the museum brochure. We spent the whole time looking for it and never found it. It is probably Van Gogh's most famous painting so be forewarned if that is your motivating factor for a trip to the museum.

There are also a number of works scattered throughout the museum by other artists, some of whom I'd heard of and some not. For only 10 euros and an hour or two of your time this is a worthwhile experience and shouldn't be missed. Close

From journal 24 Hours in Amsterdam

IgoUgo

Van Gogh Museum

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