STEDELIJK MUSEUM - MUNICIPAL MUSEUM

Revamped, dressed in white and enlarged (by a surprising construction called the Bathtub) by architect Mels Crouwel, the Stedelijk Museum is a must-see Amsterdam landmark. The museum now attracts visitors as much for its bold modern architecture as for its masterpieces. Located right next door to the Van Gogh, it is housed in a vast neo-Renaissance building, built in 1895 with an additional wing added in 1954. It boasts an impressive collection of works from the end of the last century and especially from the beginning of the ^20th. With the collection constantly enriched by new acquisitions, the museum is a veritable laboratory for contemporary artistic production, acting as a living institute of contemporary art, with a clear vocation to reflect all the graphic and pictorial trends of the moment. It hosts over thirty different exhibitions each year, making any attempt to describe them to you futile. However, their names speak for themselves. From French and Dutch modern painters (Braque, Cézanne, Chagall, Dufy, Ernst, Gestel, Léger, Isaac Israëls, Mondrian and Picasso) to American Action Painting (De Kooning, Pollock...). The German Expressionists, with their anti-conformist, pacifist style, are fairly well represented (Kokoschka, Kandinsky, Campendonck...), as are the Cobra group, with its taste for death and chaos. Kineticism, pop art, constructivism and Dutch lyrical-expressionism are also in the spotlight. In short, this is modern painting, that is to say, political and committed, violent and salutary. The sobriety of the premises reinforces the militant character of the works on display. The museum's permanent collection is organized along three axes, featuring modern classics as well as lesser-known artists:

Yesterday Today, the collection up to 1950.

Everyday, Someday and Other Stories, the collection between 1950 and 1980

Tomorrow Is a Different Day, the collection from 1980 to the present day.

Temporary exhibitions are also organized, as are guided tours in English and Dutch. The museum store is also well worth a visit: not only does it offer a vast selection of books, it also sells small design objects. An absolute must-see.