Vincent Van Gogh

Yesterday we awoke to a light rain.  A perfect day to do a museum which were my plans.  Originally, I thought to do the Van Gogh museum because it looked to be within walking distance of our hotel and I've always been fascinated with his style.  As it turned out, the museum was not close so I took a tram.

I had walked to this tram (#16) station on Sunday so knew it took 30 minutes.  I had a transit guide and began counting down the stations as we made our way across the city.  As we passed the Olympic Stadium, I wondered when Amsterdam had hosted the games.

The summer games of 1928 saw a Canadian, Percy Williams, win gold in the 100 and 200 meter sprints.  They were the first to light an Olympic torch and its tower still looms over the stadium today.   The Amsterdam games also standardized the event to 16 days (they used to drag on for months) and was the first to have Greece lead the parade of nations with the Netherlands ending it.

I didn't need to worry about missing the museum as the tram stop was called Museum.  It was 10:30 and there was a line-up so if you go, get there early (above photo is outside as no photography is allowed inside the museum).  As a single, I couldn't use a credit card to pay my entrance fee (14 euros or ~$18) so bring cash if you find yourself in a similar circumstance.  Also leave your backpack in your hotel room as you are not allowed through security with it.  The gentleman in front of me had several infractions including a camping knife which horrified the woman searching his man-bag.  What was he thinking?

The first two floors of the museum (opened in 1973) are devoted to the works of Van Gogh.  His sister-in-law kept most of his work as well as others in Vincent's brother, Theo's collection.  Their son, Vincent Willem Van Gogh, transferred (in 1962) the collection to the Vincent Van Gogh Foundation which loans it to the museum.

Vincent was born to a Dutch Reformed Church minister and despite excelling in school, quit to apprentice in his uncle's art galleries.  He worked in various cities including London and Paris before deciding his real calling was the clergy.  He becomes obsessed with ministering to the poor.  He enrolled in a theology school but soon gave up to become a lay preacher.  He espoused poverty and gave away all his belongings.  Soon the church dismissed him for his extremism.

He then decided to become an artist but rejected studying in favour of independent study.  He relied on his brother, Theo for money to live.  In 1881, Anton Mauve, a cousin by marriage, taught him watercolours and oils and you see some of Mauve's work in the museum.  In 1883, Van Gogh began painting Dutch peasant life, mostly dark portraits.  Theo told him these wouldn't sell as the bright paintings of the Impressionists had become the fashion in artistic circles.  Van Gogh had just painted his famous The Potato Eaters.  I knew where it hung because of the crowd gathered around it.  This was the same for all the well-known Van Gogh paintings so be patient.

In 1886, Vincent moved to Paris to live with his brother.  The Impressionistic style of Monet and Manet influence him and pieces in the museum show how he used their techniques as an inspiration for his own works.  He also meets, through Theo, Paris's modern painters--Gauguin, de Toulouse-Lautrec, and Pissaro.  Seurat and Signac introduced him to pointillism which he modified into his famous colourful, brush stokes.

In 1888, Van Gogh left Paris for the south of France and invited Gauguin to join him there.  He painted a series of sunflower pictures to decorate Gauguin's room.  A few months later, Van Gogh had a psychotic episode where he threatened Gauguin with a razor then cut a piece off his own ear.  He admitted himself into hospital but refused to paint his personal bleakness.

By 1890, Vincent began to achieve recognition as an artist.  His Irises and Starry Night are praised and one critic links him to the Symbolists.  He returned to Paris and placed himself into the care of a homeopathic doctor.  Theo had become disillusioned with his uncle's gallery and decided to go into business for himself.  He warned Vincent they would soon have less money.  Depressed,Vincent went into the wheat field he was fond of painting and shot himself.  He died a few days later.

Once you've travelled through Vincent's life in his paintings at the museum, you ascend the stairs and see those art works which he and Theo collected.  I was fascinated with all the Moulin Rouge posters done by the likes of de Toulouse-Lautrec.  Scattered among these were other Van Gogh works reflecting that influence.  The final floor explores lithography and shows how Vincent re-used his canvasses.

Adjacent to the main museum building is the Exhibition Hall where special exhibits are housed.  Until June, the exhibit is Dreams of Nature.  Symbolism from Van Gogh to Kandinsky.  I'm a great fan of Kandinsky and was not disappointed by the two paintings on display.

I spent over 2 hours wandering the museum and it was well worth the effort.  The massive crowds on the first floors diminish as you go upstairs and there were even fewer people in the Exhibition Hall.  My rather limited knowledge of Van Gogh was increased and I saw paintings which were far from famous and yet just as exciting.  One piece that surprised me was one he did of a Japanese courtesan.  At the time, Paris was exhibiting Japanese wood blocks and Vincent took inspiration from these.  His background for the courtesan painting was cranes and frogs, words that meant prostitute at that time in Paris.

I took a different tram (#5) back to the hotel and had my lunch in the bar.  Glen returned at 4:30 having successfully manned his poster and enjoyed several seminars.  Dinner was the conference banquet and it began with an hour long canal cruise from the conference centre to a famous downtown hotel, The Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky.  A jazz quartet played who lead singer/pianist was reminiscent of Diana Krall in the hotel's Winter Garden room with a glass and iron roof.