Amsterdam Art Galleries

As

with any modern city Amsterdam

has art galleries and plenty of them! Maybe it’s because of the Dutch fondness

for the painted medium or their many prolific artistic sons, but it can be said

that Amsterdam

has art for all.

Situated in the Museum Quarter at

Stradhouderskade 42 the

Rijksmuseum is newly re-opened in April

2013 following a 10 year, €200m refurbishment this is now the jewel in

Amsterdam’s crown. With Art from the 15th

century through to 1900 with over 40 Rembrants including the famous

Nightwatch and four Vermeers including

Woman Reading a Letter – the museum also

holds a range of artefacts and decorative arts including jewellery, weaponry

and lacquerwork. Spanish architects Cruz y Ortiz have given Cuypers original

1885 masterpiece of a building a modern facelift which has had mixed reviews in

terms of the architecture but the exhibitions are always well received. The museum is open between 0900-1700h, 365

days a year and gets very busy between 1100-1500h on Fridays, Saturdays and

Sundays. We’d advise you to buy tickets in advance either online, or buy a

Museumkaart from another museum or from

Uitburo

at

Leidseplein. If you plan on

visiting a few places the card can pay for itself. Set aside a couple of hours if you want a

whistle stop tour or up to a whole day for serious art junkies!

Just behind the Rijksmuseum is the

Van Gogh Museum

Paulus Potterstraat 7 . A Museum dedicated to arguably one of Amsterdam’s most

(in)famous and prolific artists with 200 paintings and 500 drawings forming

part of the permanent exhibition. There are also examples of the artist’s

Japanese prints and changing temporary exhibitions that are supplied from

either the museum’s own collection or from private collections showcasing work

from Van Gogh’s contemporaries and influences. The museum is opened 0900-1700h

in winter months and 0900h-1800h over the summer months and has late night

opening on a Friday. Queues can be an issue so either arrive early or purchase

a time specific ticket online and beat the queues!

If modern art is more your thing then head

over to the

Stedelijk Museum of Modern

Art at

Museumplein 10, again in the Museum Quarter minutes from both the

Rijksmuseum and The Van Gogh Museum. Covering a range of styles and movements

the museum has a wide collection of modern paintings, sculpture, drawings and

photographs ranging from pre-war artists such as Picasso, Cézanne and Kandinsky with post-war offerings from

Lichtenstein, Warhol and De Kooning. The original 1895 Neo-Renaissance building

was designed by architect Adriaan Willem Weissman and the ultra contemporary

extension completed in September 2012 by Benthem Crouwel Architects – the

juxtaposition of the two buildings is in itself a work of art! Some have said

that the entrance fee is a little steep for the exhibitions inside but if you

are a modern art aficionado or just someone who likes to see modern art in the

‘flesh’ then it’s well worth a visit. The Stedelijk is open daily from

1000-1800h and 1000-2200h on a Thursday.

A little further out though just a 25

minute tram ride from

Museumplein in Amstelveen is the

CoBrA Museum of Modern Art

Sandbergplein 1-3. CoBrA stands for

Copenhagen

, Brussels

and Amsterdam a

group of artists that aimed to radically reinvent the language of paint in 1948.

Formed by Karel Appel, Constant, Corneille, Christian Dotremont, Asger Jorn,

and Joseph Noiret on th 8th of November 1948 in the Café Notre-Dame,

Paris; The doctrine was for complete expressiveness through spontaneity and

experiment, drawing inspiration from children’s drawings, primitive artwork and

the artists Paul Klee and Juan Miró. The thought was that anyone could produce

art, regardless of talent; an antithesis to Surrealism, the art produced by the

movement has typically bright colours, abstract figures and violent brush

strokes and is seen as a very influential to art in the 20th century

even though it only lasted a few years. Open 1100h-1700h Tuesday to Sunday –

closed some public holidays. With fewer crowds and a cheaper entrance fee this

may be a place to escape the crowds for a short while and is included in the

Museumkaart!

If you find yourself in Central

Amsterdam and crave a little free art then why not pop into the

Schuttersgalerij (Civic Guard Gallery)

– sandwiched between two buildings in a glass covered alleyway there are 15

large works of art dedicated to portraits of the Civic Guard. Located next to

the Amsterdam Museum at

Kalverstraat 92, entry is free and it is open daily from

1000-1700h.

These are the main galleries in Amsterdam, but there are

many more, smaller commercial galleries in the city dotted in and around the

districts so don’t be afraid to explore if you want to see something a little

less obvious!

For something completely different why not

take a look at the

Electric Ladyland –

the First Museum of Fluorescent Modern Art – located at

Tweede Leliedwarsstraat 5, Jordaan. As I said there is art for

everyone in Amsterdam

and this may appeal to those with a yearning for something a little bit

different! Upon entering you are asked to remove your shoes and given

fluorescent slippers! Emphasis is put on being part of the exhibition

temporarily instead of just being spectators, the guide Nick is very

knowledgeable about all things fluorescent and there’s an informative section

on the origin of fluorescence in nature. The museum is small so can’t

accommodate large groups and once a tour is in progress you may be asked to

wait before you can be buzzed inside but for a meagre entry fee it’s well worth

a visit and children find it lots of fun too.

If you want to position yourself close to

the Museum Quarter we do have several apartments available in the immediate

area or just a stone’s throw away as well and also there are many apartments to

choose from in the Central and Jordaan districts as well.