The first thing I did in Amsterdam was visit the Van Gogh Museum. Most travel sites recommend spending an hour or so there, but I spend over 3 hours there and honestly I wish I spend longer. The museum has the largest collect of Van Gogh paintings in the world with over 200 paintings (there are only 860 in the world).
The museum begins with a room filled with Van Gogh self portraits. I was never particularly interested in his self portraits before. But there was something powerful able seeing so many together in one room. It was much easier to see the differences in what Van Gogh chose to emphasize in his different portraits.
The museum is then order by the different phases in his life.
The first phase is when he first starts painting at 27 in the Netherlands. During this time his colors are very dark and his brush work is more reserved. Whats notable is his choice of subject. He wanted to paint the rural peasant life. He admired the peasants connection the the earth and its cycles. His most known piece from this time is the potato eaters, its very different from his later work but still an impressive piece.
In 1886 he moves to Paris. While in Paris he is able to meet many famous artist like Gaugin, Bernard, and Toulouse-Lautrec. He lived in the artist neighborhood of Montmartre which I got to explore while I was in Paris. This is where he was able to experiment. Coming into Paris his previous works would have looked old fashioned compared to what some of the other artists were producing.
He watched how the other painters were using looser brush strokes. They created more abstract forms. They played with brighter and bold colors that would greatly influence his later works. He tried to emulate what he saw in his own way with varying success. I enjoyed his works of attempting pointillism. They are good but they are missing the precision of Pissarro. But you can see the influence it will have in his later works.
In 1888 he moves to Arles. He has learned everything he needed and decided he need some space to hone his style. During this time he produced some of his famous works. His painting of the yellow house was one that I particularly excited to see.
In Arles he wanted to yellow house to be an artist commune. He painted several sunflower paintings to be a message of welcome and friendship. In the end of Gaugin would visit and leave two months later. This would greatly erode his mental health and eventually lead to him being admitted into an asylum.
In 1890 he moves to Auvers-sur-Oise and enters his artistic apex. During the last few months of his life he was producing an average of a painting a day. This is when he has his distinctive style. He uses bright, bold, and contrasting colors. He paints with excessive paint in broad brush strokes. And during this time he particularly enjoys painting outside.
I was excited to see this wheatfield painting. I love all of his wheatfields. They are beautiful paintings. What I love most is how dynamic they are, it feels as if you can see the wind blowing across the fields.
This is the last painting of Van Gogh. Its an unfinished painting of the roots of trees. He started it in the morning and then in the afternoon he shot himself in the chest.
The Van Gogh museum was an amazing experience and I would say it is the best thing to do in Amsterdam. After the museum, I walked the canals and got a stroopwafel.