Only a 15 min tram ride from Amsterdam Central station is Museumplein – or Museum district. Here you can find three of Amsterdam’s major museums – the Rijksmuseum, the Stedelijk Museum of Modern Art and the Van Gogh Museum.
RijksMuseum
The Rijsmuseum (or the State Museum in English) is one of the most famous art museums in Amsterdam which will contains not only Dutch Art but World Art and there is something of interest to everyone.
The Rijksmuseum contains works by Rembrandt van Rijn,such as these portraits of Marten Soolmans and Oopien Coppit. They are the only couple that Rembrant painted life size, standing in full length.
The Rijksmuseum also contains pieces by Van Gogh such as the ‘Portrait of a man with One Eye’ if you do not have time to visit his individual museum (below).
One of my favourite parts of the Rijs was the library.
Van Gogh Museum
Vincent Van Gogh is one of the most famous artists of his time and his work has inspired many. This museum enables you to take a journey with him and follow in the evolution of his art. There are 200 paintings, over 500 drawings and many of the letters he wrote.
A very modern looking building houses the Van Gogh Museum. Again this is a very popular museum and you must buy a ticket to enter at a certain time.
Vincent Van Gogh was admitted to an asylum in 1889. He began to paint a few of this fellow patients or what he could see from his window. If his health was ok he would be allowed to go outside.
I was pleasantly surprised to see he had work influenced by Japanese culture which I appreciated.
You can see some of this most famous work such as ‘Sunflowers’.
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