Amsterdam Day Three

A visit to the Van Gogh Museum was the highlight of the day.
We woke to give Dave best wishes for his 21st, only to realise in the day that it was NOT the 28th April. Tim and I will have to make a new day for Dave tomorrow.

The Van Gogh Museum was our first stop for the day. 'Self portrait (in a straw hat)' was the work I wanted to see. This was the work I used on the cover of Michael Moy's book 'Men in Straw Hats'. I did see it and many other wonderful works he made over a period of about ten years. He may have been crazy but he had incredible precision with his brush strokes. 'The Potato Eaters', 'Sunflowers', ‘The Bedroom’ and ‘The Yellow House’ were just a few of the works. http://www3.vangoghmuseum.nl/vgm/index.jsp?lang=en

The special exhibition at the museum was a selection of works by the expressionist Max Beckmann. This exhibition is the first extensive retrospective of work by Beckmann during his years in Amsterdam.

‘The Night Watch', Rembrandt's hugh masterpiece (4m X 6m) was the next experience, together with other works by him as well as the incredibly detailed works by Vermeer, such as the 'Milk Maid'. These works were at the Rijksmuseum. http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/index.jsp?lang=en

I also had a chance to go to the Stedelijk Museum. http://www.stedelijk.nl/
This is the main public contemporary art gallery in Amsterdam. There was a very interesting exhibition by Paul Chan - Lights & Drawings. Light and shadow are the literal and figurative focus of the exhibition. He is an American artist and activist. His projections, together with charcoal drawings, collages and digital studies are presented in six rooms. The works all revolve around the digital animation series The 7 Lights which Chan has been working on since 2005 and which will ultimately consist of seven pieces. The exhibition in Stedelijk Museum CS, Chan’s first major museum presentation in Europe, presents all the Lights Chan has completed so far.

Boom Chicago in the Leidsplein Theatre finished the day with laughter. A contemporary theatre cabaret based on responses from the audience.