A historical center of Dutch modern and classical art
Two prosperous periods characterize Dutch art: the 19th century and its realist painters, and the 20th century and its modern artists, designers and sculptors. To admire their work, most of the major museums are concentrated in the Museumkwartier, onMuseumplein (Museum Square), created at the end of the 19th century after the 1883 International Colonial Exhibition and the city's cultural heart. To the north is the famous Rijksmuseum, a neo-Gothic building completed in 1885 and dedicated to the fine arts, crafts and history of the country. It is the Netherlands' most important museum in terms of attendance and collection, with over 2 million visitors a year and a collection of around one million works, including the greatest masterpieces of 17th-century Dutch painting. The north-western part of the square is home to the Van Gogh Museum, a modern building designed by Gerrit Rietveld, a leading Dutch architect who also designed the Amsterdam School of Art and Design that bears his name. Entirely dedicated to Van Gogh, it showcases a major work in the history of European painting (with over 2,000 works!), although little considered during the artist's lifetime. Adjacent to the Van Gogh Museum is the city's most important museum of modern art: the famous Stedelijk Museum, renovated and enlarged in 2012. This astonishing building houses works by major Dutch and international artists and designers, from Piet Mondrian to Karel Appel.
The Dutch Golden Age
Every year, crowds of visitors flock to Amsterdam's Museumkwartier to admire 17th-century Dutch painting. Indeed, it was during this period of economic prosperity that the Republic of the United Provinces was born and developed, bringing with it a whole generation of artists who contributed to the influence of their country well beyond the 16th century, depicting its landscapes, its inhabitants and their daily lives with a naturalness and sensitivity never seen before. In fact, thanks to the development of the art market, painters no longer had to wait for commissions to work, but instead prepared paintings with a variety of subjects, ready to be sold. Hence this considerable output, with over two thousand painters listed, of whom Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) and Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) are the two most prominent figures. In early 2023, the Vermeer exhibition made its mark worldwide.
Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669)
The career of Rembrandt, born in Leiden in 1606, followed the history of his homeland, as the peak of his success coincided with a period of economic growth, then waned with the country's decline. After a spell at university, this miller's son learned painting techniques in Jakob Van Swanenburgh's studio. His talent brought him to Amsterdam in 1624, where he spent six months as a pupil of renowned history painter Pieter Lastman, who taught him a technique for expressing light inspired by Italian painting. After setting up his own studio in his hometown, the young painter settled permanently in Amsterdam, where he could fully enjoy his success. He received his first major commission from the surgeons' guild: The Anatomy Lesson of Doctor Tulp, now exhibited in the Royal Cabinet of Paintings in The Hague (or Mauritshuis). His innovative style met with considerable success, launching the artist on the Amsterdam scene. Among the first portraits he painted in Amsterdam (some fifty between 1932 and 1934) were two of the young Saskia, a burgomaster's daughter whom he married in 1634. Five years later, he moved with her to a middle-class house in the Jewish quarter, where he set up a prosperous studio. But an avalanche of tragedies disrupted his family life, starting with Saskia's death in 1642. He then withdrew into solitude to devote himself fully to his practice, misunderstood by his contemporaries, who were baffled by the increasingly audacious style of his work, which was free of artistic conventions and focused on spirituality and emotion. In 1657, ruined, he left his home for the discreet house on Rozengracht, where he continued to paint relentlessly(Saul and David, The Prodigal Son...). His second wife and son disappeared in turn in 1664 and 1668, and he painted his last major canvas, The Jewish Bride, now on display at the Rijksmuseum, before dying in October 1669 in solitude and indifference.
Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675)
Vermeer enjoyed a certain notoriety during his lifetime, but quickly fell into oblivion, only to be rediscovered at the end of the 19th century. In 1866, French art critic Étienne Thoré wrote an impassioned study under a pseudonym, which aroused the interest of art historians. By the end of the century, Vermeer had inspired the Impressionists, Paul Claudel and Marcel Proust. His fame was definitively established in 1947 thanks to the resounding trial of Van Meegeren, a clever forger who managed to sell copies of famous works to several major museums! Vermeer's posterity may have been eventful, but his life, as far as we know, was austere. Born in Delft in 1632, the artist is said to have been trained by Carel Fabritius, a disciple of Rembrandt. He married in 1653, then became a master at the Saint Luke's Guild in Antwerp in the 1960s. In 1672, financial difficulties forced him to return to his native city, where he died at the age of 43. His short career has left us with just forty paintings, mainly in the Rijksmuseum and the Mauritshuis. But this slowness is correlated with the finesse of a body of work whose realism is of a completely different nature to that of his contemporaries: gestures are simple; expressions are restrained and peaceful; and the numerous details are always treated with the same economy. Despite their restraint and sober composition (which follows strict geometric relationships), these paintings are bathed in a harmonious atmosphere that lends them a strong symbolic and moral dimension. And this is in no way due to his subjects, for here too Vermeer remains the painter of simplicity. We mainly find intimate interiors, and in these, women whose densely-packed presence imposes itself through their absence. Concentration in La Laitière, sleep in La Jeune Femme endormie, dreamy idleness in La Femme à la fenêtre. To achieve this sublime, Vermeer needed two secrets in addition to an incomparable technique: the use of a darkroom and subjects in full clarity (contrary to the chiaroscuro fashion that had come from Italy), in a light that Vermeer depicts as varying according to the materials on which it is reflected.
Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890)
Vincent Van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853 in the rectory of Groot Zundert, Brabant. The son of a Calvinist pastor and the nephew of three uncles who were art dealers, he was destined for the art trade, and so made his debut at the Goupil gallery in The Hague (1869), London (1873-1874) and Paris (1874-1875). An anguished and deeply mystical figure, he took on an evangelical mission among the miners of the Borinage coalfield, a mission that ended in painful failure: his generosity, his fraternal approach to the miners, whose living conditions upset him, and his rather free interpretation of the Gospels provoked the ire of the authorities. In 1880, Van Gogh studied drawing in Antwerp and produced sketches of miners inspired by Millet, for whom he still had great admiration ("the only painter who opens a horizon for many people", he liked to repeat). He began to study painting with the material help of his brother Theo and the psychological support of his cousin Anton Mauve, already a well-known painter of the Hague School. At his father's rectory in Nuenen (1883-1885), he tirelessly painted landscapes, still lifes and scenes of peasant life with a tormented realism that reveals a torn sensibility(Les Mangeurs de pommes de terre, 1885, is a good example). After joining his brother in Paris, Van Gogh took classes at the Cormon studio, where he met Toulouse-Lautrec and Gauguin. This was the period in which he painted a number of self-portraits, using very light colors and fragmented brushstrokes. 1888 marked the beginning of a particularly creative period. Settled in Arles, Van Gogh worked feverishly: Vue d'Arles aux iris (View of Arles with irises), Les Tournesols (Sunflowers), Les Barques sur la plage (Boats on the beach), L'Arlésienne (The Arlesienne)... He freed himself from traditional representation in favor of a simplification of forms and a palette of vibrant tones. It was at this time that his relationship with Gauguin, who had come to join him in Arles, became tumultuous. In a fit of delirium, he cut off a piece of his ear. This was followed by two stays at the Saint-Rémy nursing home, where he continued his work: Les Blés jaunes au cyprès, Champs d'oliviers. In 1890, he returned to Paris, then settled in Auvers-sur-Oise, under the supervision of Dr. Gachet, a friend of Pissaro and Cézanne. La Mairie à Auvers and Le Champ de blé aux corbeaux, in which he expresses his dramatic lyricism, date from this period. He shot himself to death on July 27, 1890. A precursor of the Fauves and Expressionism, this visionary, almost ignored by his contemporaries, has become a legendary figure in the 20th century. His work, which he intended to express the terrible passions of humanity, has found an audience today rarely equaled. In 2011, Van Gogh: The Life challenges his death by suicide and sheds new light on the artist's life. A must-read biography, recommended by the Van Gogh Museum.
A dynamic cultural capital to appreciate contemporary art
In addition to its major museums, Amsterdam boasts a hundred or so independent venues that would be a shame to ignore, from De Appel to Mediamatic. We particularly recommend the Foam Photography museum, an excellent landmark for photography enthusiasts, dedicated to showcasing emerging creation in a country where the younger generations of photographers have been particularly in vogue over the past decade. Rineke Dijkstra, Désirée Dolron, Dustin Thierry and Erwin Olaf come to mind, artists whose success is international and who know how to play with light as gracefully as the great painters who preceded them.
Each in its own way, these venues make a point of exhibiting the finest in contemporary artistic creation, and are the best way to familiarize yourself with current production. These establishments often comprise several platforms containing spaces dedicated to exhibitions or concerts, as well as cafés and restaurants. To visit them, you'll be well advised by an excellent monthly magazine, Art Alert, available at all good kiosks. This magazine provides the program for each gallery (in the major Dutch cities) as well as a wealth of information: address, telephone number, opening times and days, even the name of the gallery owner and detailed maps of the city. You'll also find a number of feature articles (in Dutch!), as well as a comprehensive list of museums and other current art events, complete with all the relevant information.
The subtle and colorful street art of Amsterdam
Amsterdam's art is not only to be found in museums and galleries, but also on the city's walls! Just take a stroll through the streets and along the canals and you'll discover works of all sizes - from small "space invaders" hidden away in a nook and cranny to mural frescoes. But compared to street art in other European capitals, Amsterdam's street art is subtle and modest. The works often interact with their surroundings in a humorous way, not seeking to impose a spectacular image, but rather to blend into the urban landscape, inviting walkers to get a better feel for it. The greatest concentration of graffiti is to be found along the Spuistraat, a picturesque street that leads to the famous literary Spui square and boasts many historic sites. Almost entirely covered in paintings, this downtown thoroughfare is well worth a visit. The proof: some companies even offer guided tours! Famous artists include Alice Pasquini, Space Invader, Stinkfish, Zaira and FAKE. Another key street art venue in Amsterdam is the NDSM-werf, a former shipyard transformed into a cultural center hosting art and music events throughout the year. After a short ferry ride, there's nothing like a stroll along the water's edge to admire this young, colorful art! And for those who want to deepen their knowledge of street art, we recommend STRAAT, an eco-museum entirely dedicated to this practice, which strives to enhance its immediate environment, using art as a tool for social dialogue.
