Van Gogh and a Rock Concert

There are a few museums in Amsterdam that you absolutely must have advance tickets for—the Anne Frank House, the Vermeer exhibit at the Rijksmuseum (sold out now), and the Van Gogh Museum. Luckily, we planned ahead.

Van Gogh produced around 900 paintings over only 10 years. The museum contains the largest collection of his paintings, drawings, prints and letters. It also displays a collection of art that Vincent and his brother Theo assembled together, consisting of works by contemporaries like Gauguin, Picasso, Manet, Toulouse-Lautrec, and many more.

One sort of funny story is that Vincent painted the Almond Blossoms as a gift for his newborn nephew (who would later go on to spearhead the construction of a dedicated Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam). In the audio tour, the nephew talked about how he and his two brothers would have pillow fights in their bedroom, where the Almond Blossoms painting hung. It came through unscathed!

Because of all of the letters the brothers exchanged, the audio tour contained many quotes from Vincent about his art, which really is so much better than art curators surmising what the significance of an art work is.

MIke and Teresa’s apartment is conveniently located within a short walking or tram-ride distance to all of the museums we’ve visited. It was also convenient for us to travel to the concert venue where we saw a concert by former Pink Floyd co-lead Roger Waters. Lots of video imagery and a very creative center stage setting in the Amsterdam Ziggo Dome.Read more