Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum
Vincent Van Gogh lived in Holland, and thanks to the support of his brother Theo, who kept sending Vincent money to help him stave off abject poverty, Vincent continued his passionate pursuit of painting. His paintings are considered by many to be the greatest in history, and their distinguishing brush strokes – swirling and moving around the canvas in repeated patterns – are best appreciated up close and personal. Printed copies or photos of the paintings cannot capture their life and texture, and a trip to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam will bring them into focus in a stunning and captivating way.
The entrance fee is minimal, and once you enter the museum, you are confronted by room after room, thousands of square feet of gallery space, all dedicated to the paintings of Van Gogh. The collection includes many of his most famous works, the kind that you will find in art history textbooks but may not ever see in another museum.
It is worth a special trip to Amsterdam just to see this one museum. And if you are a fan of Picasso, you will be glad to know that in one of the last gallery rooms in the Van Gogh museum, there is a nice collection of early Picasso sketches and drawings. All in all, the time spent in the Van Gogh museum is a once in a lifetime experience, and you should dedicate as many hours and days as possible for touring the museum to see these incredible paintings.