So, today I went to the Kroller-Muller Museum. It is in Arnhem, in Gelderland. Yes, that does sound oddly like something from Princess Bride, but that’s part of its charm.
I wish I could upload photos right now from my camera, hopefully I will be able to tomorrow, because WOW what an experience. Firstly, I could take all the non-flash photos of the paintings I wanted in the museum, unlike the Van Gogh Museum, so I took a ton there. And they’re quite good if I do say so myself.
But THEN, on TOP of that, the museum is in the middle of a national park. So today I took a train to a nearby town (arnhem, where I’m staying tonight), then a bus to Otterlo, and then I had to walk a bit to the park, and then they had free bicycles within the park. Pretty awesome, right? Except someone had taken my free bike for a ride when I got out (of course I was like the last person out of the museum) and so I had to walk the 4 km or so back to the bus stop. However, I didn’t really mind this because the park was incredibly gorgeous. I took another hundred pictures while walking back of all the fields and forests and beautiful things all around. It was amazing. The picture below is not mine, but it illustrates a bit of what I’m talking about.
(Of course my pictures are even better.)
Aren’t you kinda thinking, oh yeah, that’s like a Van Gogh? I am. I’ll get you a picture later.
I leave tomorrow for Southern Holland. I will try to update again if I have a chance. I spent another day in the library today, and had a lovely time interacting with my contact there – I couldn’t possibly have been treated better or given more help. It was a joy.
I wanted to share this short video of a very nice display they have outside the museum.
So I actually saw this ad while waiting in Frankfurt for my layover, and I was instantly taken aback. Why? The Sower is a very common theme for Vincent…
And yeah they kinda ripped him off. But I actually like the ad, so no bad blood. Plus, theirs is sparkly.
So yesterday I tried the Rijksmuseum and the Stedelijk museum and although both were supposed to have paintings by Vincent, neither excursion proved very fruitful. The Rijksmuseum was mostly closed (saving a small exhibition of their classics) and the Stedelijk was closed completely! Sad… But more and more I must say I feel that I will have to come back. The Van Gogh Museum library said they would most likely be unable to arrange for me to see the paintings not on display because I am leaving so soon, but I think it would be possible another time… Maybe I can gather a bunch of miles together and work in a hostel and get housing for free and stay for a month or two sometime? Maybe. We’ll see.
In the meantime, I found Vincent all over Amsterdam. Especially, in the water.
I was looking at the paintings in the museum today for another couple of hours and wrote five pages for the novel. Success! I am always fascinated by how productive my visits to museums are writing-wise; it’s just as useful as my research in books. The way people look at his work is very telling…
89 paintings seen in Amsterdam! We’re keeping a tally, Ladies and Gents.
"..art is something greater and higher than our own skill or knowledge or learning. [Art] is something which, though produced by human hands, is not wrought by hands alone, but wells up from a deeper source, from man's soul..."
Vincent van Gogh, letter from March 1884
Twelve years ago, like many others, I fell in love with Vincent van Gogh. I followed this love, never letting go, reading about him and visiting his paintings all I could, and I am still journeying - I hope you will join me, Reader. This path has led me to you and you to me, and both of us to beauty, to art, to life, to death and to something greater...
