The Solo Scale:
When you’re in Holland, it may feel like it’s necessary to see some of Van Gogh’s works. He’s a famous Dutch master, which deserves a visit. Maybe it even feels like a required stop to visit a Van Gogh museum while you’re in the country. Luckily, Amsterdam is ready to provide.
If you do intend to go, make sure that you buy your tickets in advance. They sell out, which means that if you decide to wing it, you might be out of luck. In terms of availability, they were still open until about a week before. However, on the day of, they weren’t allowing any new entries into the museum if you hadn’t already bought tickets.
In terms of what you’ll see, the biggest draw is Van Gogh’s Sunflowers. It’s incredibly beautiful and popular for a reason, but it’s just one of many of Van Gogh’s work that’s able to be seen in the museum.
TRIP TIP: Instead of fighting the crowd at Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, head to the gift shop. There’s a version there for those with vision disabilities that allows you to touch and feel the brushstrokes. True, it’s not the original, but it’s so much cooler.
Van Gogh’s work is scattered around the world. You may have already seen some of his works in other museums, but the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam is the most concentrated place for Van Gogh’s works that I’ve ever visited. Not only are there the paintings, but there’s other paraphernalia related to the Van Gogh family. I actually found some of these pieces the most interesting, especially the brothers’ letters to one another.
As you might expect due to the popularity of the piece, Sunflowers had a massive crowd around the painting. However, some of the paintings that really drew me in the most were some of the self-portraits that you could get really up close and personal with. That close, you can really see the way his brushstrokes evolved through the medium of his self-portraits, landing on the style that’s most associated with Van Gogh today.
When you’re through with the museum (I’d recommend about two hours total), don’t skip the gift shop! For one, there’s the Sunflowers copy that you can touch to feel the brushstrokes and layers, but also because there may be other cute add-on exhibits. When I was there, they had little Lego displays of some of Van Gogh’s more famous works.
Once you finish with the gift shop, you can head back to the Museum District. There’s lots to see in this area (like the Rijksmuseum (LINK), and a modern art museum). If you’re hungry, there are plenty of food stalls, but the food quality can be pretty hit and miss and I recommend heading back into the city.
This is still a popular museum, so if you intend to go, make sure to plan in advance. Check the website to see how you can buy tickets and for more visit details!
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