The Van Gogh Museum is one of Amsterdam’s most important attractions. In 2017, it became the most visited museum in the Netherlands, as 2,260,000 people visited it!
The Vincent Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam dates back to 1973. To organize such a museum decided the nephew of the artist, who had a huge collection of his works.
Especially for this purpose, a spacious building with huge windows was built in Amsterdam, the project of which was developed by the famous Dutch architect Gerriet Thomas Rietveld. In 1998, an exhibition extension was added to the building, the author of the project was the architect Kise Kurokawa from Japan.
What you can see in the museum
The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam exhibits 200 paintings and 500 drawings by the master – this is the largest of all existing collections of his works. There are also a variety of documents and correspondence wizard.
In addition to the works of a famous artist, many canvases of other painters of that time were collected here: Gauguin, Monet, Picasso.
Van Gogh’s works are exhibited in chronological order, which fully corresponds to the stages into which experts divide the artist’s work.
These are mainly portraits of peasants and paintings depicting their life. Pictures created in depressing dark shades embody a huge share of hopelessness. The most famous canvas of this period is “Potato Eaters”.
The artist’s style of writing is changing, an unusual short energetic smear appears, which has become his hallmark. The palette takes on lighter tones.
Among the works, landscapes saturated with bright colors with endless fields, flowering trees predominate. “Sunflowers” is the most famous painting of this creative stage of the painter.
The plots of the paintings convey the atmosphere surrounding Wag Gogh (he is in a mental hospital): wards and corridors, patients. Outside the walls of the clinic, the author creates landscapes. The style of writing remained the same, and the palette acquired softer and more restrained shades. This period is represented by the well-known “Iris” and “Wheat field with a reaper.”
Panoramic landscapes occupy the main place among the works of Van Gogh. A distinctive feature of this period are intense, too bright colors. The most famous work of this stage is considered to be “Wheat Field with Ravens”.
Museum Location
The Vincent Van Gogh Museum is located at: Amsterdam, Museumplein, 6.
From Amsterdam Central Station (Amsterdam Centraal) to Museum Square you can walk – the road is quite scenic and takes only 30 minutes in time. You can also take a tram or bus:
- by tram number 2 and number 5 to the stop Van Baerlestraat;
- by bus number 347 and number 357 to the stop Rijksmuseum or Museumplein.
Museum Square is also conveniently accessible from other areas of the Dutch capital :
- tram number 12 runs between the Amsterdam Sloterdijk and Amstel train stations, while in both directions it stops at the Museumplein stop;
- From Amsterdam Zuid WTC train station to Van Baerlestraat there is tram number 5 (direction Amsterdam Central Station).
A ticket for public transport in the city costs 2.90 €. It remains valid for an hour and during this time you can make the necessary number of transfers with it.
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Museum Tickets: What You Need to Know
The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam is open daily from 9:00 to 19:00, and on Fridays and Saturdays from 9:00 to 21:00.
Admission is paid for adults – 18 €, and tourists under the age of 18 and those who have special cards (Museumkaart, I Amsterdam city card, Rembrandt card) can visit the museum for free. Visitors are offered to purchase a media guide (available in 10 languages, including Russian) for 5 € for adults and 3 € for children from 13 to 17 years old.
It is best to buy tickets to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam on the official website www.vangoghmuseum.nl. There are always many who want to get acquainted with the work of a famous artist, and the queues to the ticket offices are huge. Buying tickets online day to day is often impossible, so you need to plan your visit well in advance. You can become a ticket holder even 4 months before visiting the attraction, but the date and time of the visit should be noted.
Tickets are valid only for the time indicated on them! Tardiness is allowed no more than 30 minutes, otherwise the ticket will already become invalid.
The ticket to the museum staff can be shown in printed form, or you can show a QR code (electronic version on the phone). There must be an original: by mail or in saved documents. The museum has Wi-Fi, so access to e-mail is always possible.
It is also advisable for owners of all types of museum cards to pre-book their visit time on the Internet (this service is free). You can come without reservation, but then you will need to stand in line and if there will be a lot of visitors, you can’t get into the room.
See also : Madame Tussauds in Amsterdam – a meeting place with celebrities .
What else you need to know about the museum
- Most visitors gather from 11:00 to 15:00, so it is better to choose a time from 9:00 to 11:00 or after 15:00 to inspect the exposition. The last entrance to the museum is possible 30 minutes before closing time.
- The average time for studying all the exhibits of the permanent collection is 1 hour 15 minutes. If you listen to a multimedia guide during the inspection, you will need 2.5 to 3 times more time for an excursion.
- Taking photographs and videos in the museum is strictly prohibited. But the building has specialized photo zones, and there, in memory of a visit to one of Amsterdam’s most popular attractions, you can take a few pictures.
- At the Information desk for the child, you can order an interesting game called “Treasure Hunt”. The child will receive a sheet with questions in English, and in the exhibition halls he will need to find answers to them. The answer sheet should be given to the employee at the same Information desk, who will give the child a keepsake.
- The museum of the artist Van Gogh provides tours for groups, they are in English. They are organized on Thursdays and Fridays at 15:30 and 19.00, respectively.
- Themed parties are held on Fridays. By visiting the museum’s official website, you can find out about the show’s program for a specific date.
- The museum building also has a cafe “Le Tambourin” and a souvenir supermarket with beautiful products decorated with paintings by the painter: ballpoint pen (3,5 €), dog leash (18 €), baby stroller (759 €), high-quality leather handbag (295 €), a porcelain vase (709 €).
