Van Gogh Museum tickets and tours

Van Gogh was largely self-taught, beginning his education with a powerful focus on figure and landscape drawing. He found he was able to use coloured chalk, charcoal, reed pen and pencil to quickly capture images before later adding watercolour detail. He also experimented with lithographs to reach a larger audience.

Van Gogh used muted colours in these early years to suit his subjects (peasants and manual workers) but his move to Paris in 1886 showed him the work of the Impressionists and inspired him to use more colour. He also began to experiment with broken brush strokes and pointillist technique (see Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat, 1885).

In 1888, van Gogh moved to Arles and lived with Gauguin, emulating his friend’s habit of painting from memory. This resulted in more fantastic, less realistic images that used colours according to mood rather than to represent the truth of nature. He was also influenced by Japanese prints, as seen in The Flowering Orchard.

Opening times

• 9.00am-6.00pm – 25 March to 14 July (Fridays until 10.00pm)
• 9.00am-7.00pm – 15 July to 4 September (Fridays until 10.00pm, Saturdays until 9.00pm)
• 9.00am-6.00pm – 5 September to 6 November (Fridays until 10.00pm)
• All other days: 9.00am-5.00pm and Fridays until 10.00pm

About the Van Gogh Museum

Not only does Amsterdam have the world’s finest collection of Vincent’s paintings, but it also provides an excellent way to understand and appreciate them. As well as Van Gogh’s work, the museum also exhibits collections related to his influences and his period so that you can really view the works with a rounded context.

For example, you’ll find pictures by Vincent’s personal friends such as Gaugin and Bernard to see what he would have seen. You can also look at the work of contemporaries such as Monet and Manet in order to get a sense of the larger aesthetic movements of the time. From where did Van Gogh draw his inspiration? An exhibition of artists such as Lhermitte, Daubigny, Millet and Delacroix provides some interesting answers.

There’s also a collection of Japanese prints on show so you can see how these influenced many of Vincent paintings. View these and then view the collection of French prints for comparison and to understand the decadence of Paris towards the end of the nineteenth century.

One thing is sure: you’ll have a much better understanding of Vincent Van Gogh’s life and work after a visit to this fantastic museum.

Address

Museumplein 6, 1071 DJ Amsterdam

Getting there

• By tram
  • From Amsterdam Central Station
    • Line 2, direction Nieuw Sloten, stop Van Baerlestraat
    • Line 5, direction Amstelveen Binnenhof, stop Van Baerlestraat
    • Line12, direction Amsterdam Amstel, stop Museumplein
    • Line12, direction Station Sloterdijk, stop Museumplein
    • Line 5, direction Amsterdam Central Station, stop Van Baerlestraat
    • 170, direction Uithoorn, Amstelplein, stop Rijksmuseum or Museumplein
    • 172, direction Kudelstaart, stop Rijksmuseum or Museumplein