Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Top 10 Paintings
1 Sunflowers
2 The Potato Eaters
3 The Bridge in the Rain
4 A Pair of Shoes
5 Self-Portrait as an Artist
6 Fishing Boats on the
Beach at Les Saintes-
Maries-de-la-Mer
7 Vincent's Bedroom in Arles
8 The Reaper
9 Almond Blossom
0 Wheatfield with Crows
A Pair of Shoes
Van Gogh gives
character to a pair of
worn boots in one of
the first paintings after
his move to Paris (1886).
The dark palette harks
back to his Nuenen work.
Self-Portrait as an
Artist
The last and most
accomplished in a series
of self-portraits painted
in 1887, shortly before he
left Paris, reveals Van
Gogh's distinctive inter-
pretation of Pointillism.
He chose himself as
subject since he could
seldom afford models.
Fishing Boats on
the Beach at Les
Saintes-Maries-de-la-
Mer
A trip to the sea in 1888
produced these colourful,
stylized boats. Look close
and you will see grains of
sand, blown on to the
canvas and fixed there
forever as the paint dried.
Vincent's
Bedroom in Arles
The mastery of this
painting (1888) lies in the
simplicity of the subject
and the subtly alternating
blocks of colour. Van
Gogh was so happy with
the result that he made
two copies
(see p19)
.
Almond Blossom
Van Gogh made this
picture of white almond
blossom against a blue
sky for his new nephew,
born in January 1890 and
named after him.
The Reaper
While undergoing
treatment in Saint-Rémy,
Van Gogh found solace
painting people who
worked the land. He
painted three versions of
The Reaper (1889).
Museum Guide
Van Gogh's paintings
are displayed by date
and place of execution
on the first floor of the
main building. Works by
contemporaries are split
between ground and
third floor. Exhibitions of
drawings and graphic
art are staged on the
second floor, which also
has a study area, where
drawings and documents
too fragile to be display-
ed can be viewed. The
new wing has three
floors, devoted to
temporary exhibitions.
Wheatfield with
Crows
One of the panoramic
landscapes that Van Gogh
painted in 1890, during
the last days of his life,
this famous picture with
its dead-end track and
menacing, crow-filled sky,
perhaps reveals his
tortured state of mind.
Key
Basement
Ground floor
First floor
Second floor
Third floor
For more Amsterdam museums
See pp40-41
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