VAN GOGH

While we were in Amsterdam, my family and I went to the Van Gogh Museum. This museum was founded by his family, and it is the largest collection of Van Gogh in the world. We saw a lot of the most famous pieces including; “Sunflowers”, “The Yellow House”, “Bedroom in Arles”, “Irises” and many self portraits. 

SUNFLOWERS

“Sunflowers” is a pulchritudinous painting, and probably the most famous at the museum. I personally loved this painting, because it wasn’t just one yellow color;Van Gogh added lots of different shades of yellow, some of which looked more like orange. Although TONS of people gaze in awe at this painting, they usually do not notice all of the wilted or droopy sunflowers. Van Gogh liked to paint these because he was fascinated with the shapes of wilted flowers, in addition to magnificent sunflowers in full bloom. 

THE YELLOW HOUSE

“The Yellow House” was Van Gogh's real home, where he lived from 1888 to 1889. During that time, he even hosted his brother and friends. There is a window with green shutters out front, and it is said to be his bedroom window.

THE BEDROOM

“The Bedroom” is a painting of his bedroom in that same yellow house, and it is a very unique painting. This painting is one of the few Van Gogh painted with straight lines and sharp angles. He was trying to get the angles correct, and it was even said that he  used a ruler. “The Bedroom” is a very colorful painting. Van Gogh told his brother that the walls were pale violet and the floor tiles were red in real life, but in the painting, the walls look blue and the floor is an orangey shade. “The Bedroom” is still a beautiful painting, no matter what the colors. 

IRISES

“Irises” is my favorite painting in the museum, and if you have seen it, you would understand  why. This painting has many remarkable shades of purples and blue, which are very nice in contrast to the yellow vase. It is not a very large painting, but I was still impressed with the stunning colors and sensational work of Van Gogh. 

SELF PORTRAIT WITH PIPE AND STRAW HAT

Van Gogh painted many self portraits in his life, and this museum has the most. He painted self portraits mainly because models were hard to come by, and they were very expensive.  He also was still experimenting with this whole “painter” thing. We saw TONS of self portraits, but my favorite was one of Van Gogh in a straw hat with a pipe between his lips. 

This museum was really cool, and I have a new appreciation for Van Gogh, even if we didn't see “A Starry Night.” I recommend coming here, for sure. 

HET EINDE!