Amsterdam and Art

As you may or may not know, Amsterdam has over 50 museums and a countless number of galleries. Among the most popular are the (obvious) Sex Museum...but why pay a fee when the stores and windows are open to everyone?! The Van Gogh which is truly amazing if you are a fan, but if not doesn't really offer much variety in terms of artists and periods (I am a fan however and love love this space...bright, colorful and somehow ironic considering he was a sad and dark man living in shacks all though his life..go figure.). And the locally proud and impressive Rijksmuseum which is where we spent our Saturday morning.

The last time I was in Amsterdam I went to this museum three times alone. I know, daring and not for everyone to try in fear of absorbing too much Flemish art, but I just couldn't seem to help myself. But with such uninteresting (to me) subject matter pared with such impeccable detail I found a new side of art that I thank this museum for endlessly. Not everyone can appreciate countless paintings of Dutch or English royalty or landscapes that no matter how beautiful will ever compare to seeing untouched plains for yourself or massive images of fruit. Yes, the way I just described this museum, why run to wait in line, right? Wrong. These people may not have had a whole lot going on and the truth in the art is that it shows. The detail is absolutely incredible. Some of the paintings easily look like photographs and it's enough to make anyone ask, "do people still paint like this?" honestly it's hard I say but it's too bad if they don't because it's unbelievable. I took a few (non flash) photos to give you a taste...

The other artistic aspect of this city that is amazing is not just the museums you pay to get into, but the small (and bigger too I guess) galleries that are nestled within the city streets. Sometimes you don't even know its a gallery but you see a bizarre sculpture or painting in the window and you are just magnetized in. This for me is one of the best ways to be inspired because its unexpected and fresh but it doesn't necessarily bode well for people you're with. This may be the case in particular if people are either uninterested in being pulled in left and right without notice, are in need of a toilet that your obliviousness failed to register and/or particularly nervous husbands who come looking for you in a gallery you said you were going into only to be lured into the basement to see the private and older collections and not hear your own name when called. As a warning...

But without further ado, please enjoy some of my little favorites from he Rijks...