The Van Gogh Museum is one of the most popular museums in Amsterdam, everywhere in the city you will see tourist walking around with the blue poster holders. The museum holds the world’s largest collection of works by Vincent van Gogh (30 March 1853 – 29 July 1890): more than 200 paintings, 500 drawings and 850 letters.
The origins of the collection stretches back to Van Gogh himself and his family. During his career Van Gogh relied on financial support from his younger brother Theo (1857-1891) who was an art dealer. Theo van Gogh was the original owner of the collection, after it’s dead it was passed on to his widow Johanna van Gogh-Bonger (1862-1925). When she died the collection was inherited by her son Vincent Willem van Gogh (1890-1978).
As the collection was considered to be one of the most important Dutch art collections, the Dutch government initiated the transfer of the collection to the Vincent van Gogh Foundation. The collection is now on permanent loan to the Van Gogh Museum and is on display in chronological order. The Museum also presents a broad range of paintings, graphic art and sculpture from the period c. 1840-1920 including displays of Realism, Impressionism and Post-Impressionism as well as Salon and Symbolist art. Many of these works are by artists Van Gogh admired, including progressive contemporaries like Paul Gauguin and Georges Seurat, but also traditional painters such as Ary Scheffer and Léon Lhermitte.
The Van Gogh Museum is located at the Museum plein. It opened its doors in 1973 and was designed by Gerrit Rietveld. The Exhibition Wing was completed in 1999 and is designed by Kisho Kurokawa. This is one of the “must see” attractions in the city. Take your time to walk around and enjoy the beautiful works of one of the most famous painters in the world. We would recommend to do an audio tours for about € 4,- , this is the best way to explore the museum in you own paste.
Exhibitions: World's largest collection of works by Vincent van Gogh
