The Van Gogh Museum
A short stroll to 7 Paulus Potterstraat brings you to the Van Gogh Museum, which has the world’s largest collection of works by Vincent van Gogh. This is currently the only one of Museumplein’s – and Amsterdam’s – big three museums to be in place and intact.
Designed by De Stijl architect Gerrit Rietveld, it was built in 1973 as a permanent home for some 200 paintings and 500 drawings by Van Gogh, together with works by other 19th-century painters and sculptors. There are also 700 letters, all bequeathed by Van Gogh’s nephew, who was also called Vincent.
In 1999 the museum completed an extensive renovation and saw the completion of a striking new wing. Almost double its former size, and with major improvements to the facilities, including air-conditioning and better lighting, it is like a new museum, light and spacious, with whitewashed walls and open-plan floors.
The permanent collection features a selection of paintings by Van Gogh hung in chronological, and to a degree, thematic order – though the location of individual works may change from time to time.
The first floor is designed to give an overview of the main developments in his oeuvre. The early works, typified by scenes from the daily lives of peasants, show his early preference for heavy forms and dark, sombre colours.
The numerous studies of peasants in the province of Noord-Branbant culminates in The Potato Eaters, a painting Van Gogh regarded as one of his finest but whose uncompromising ugliness did not impress friends or critics. His intent was not to idealise or sentimentalise, but to portray peasant life as he observed it.
Vincent’s move to Paris in 1886 shows his vision transformed. Exposed to the rainbow colours and broad brush strokes of Impressionism and other new painting styles. He began to paint with a brighter palette. The intensity of his period in Brabant gradually disappears and gives way to lively Parisian street scenes, café interiors, windswept landscapes and vivid portraits of some his friends.
Works from the collection of 19th-century art are on show on the ground and third floors. These include paintings by Van Gogh’s friends and contemporaries, and new acquisitions, and are displayed in rotation. Among these are works by Toulouse Lautrec, Gauguin and Emile Bernard, all of whom had an influence on Van Gogh.
The second floor houses changing presentations of drawings and graphic art and has a study area with computers where visitors can find out more about Van Gogh and the art of his time by viewing the reserve collection and the museum website.
The new wing of the Van Gogh Museum, designed by Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa, was created to house a programme of changing exhibitions. This austere modern structure stands slightly apart from Rietsveld’s building, and almost two thirds of it is carved out below ground level. Its striking 21st-century form, inspired by such geometric elements as cones, ovals and squares, are moulded in granite, aluminium and titanium.
The latter metal takes on surprisingly varied reflections and colours in the changing conditions of light and weather. The use of natural stone on the curved gable is another of the building’s original gestures. A tranquil pond makes a strong Zen statement and serves as a testing place between the two buildings, linking old with new.
Situated in the middle of Museumplein is an annexe of the Van Gogh Museum shop, which is co-operative venture with the Rijksmuseum, selling an extensive range of gift articles and souvenirs relating to the two museums.
Opening hours
Open daily 10am – 6pm
