An art gallery is one of those places that should be quiet. You walk slowly, looking at the works on the walls, occasionally stopping front of one that takes your interest for a closer examination.
An art gallery is not the sort of place where you expect someone dressed as a security guard to come up to you and ask for your view on the market economy.
“If you are happy to talk with me and some other visitors about the market economy, I will give you 3 euro,” the man offers.
It’s an interesting proposition and the cash would buy me a coffee. I agree.
I’m on the second floor of the Stedelijk Museum, one of the best art galleries in Amsterdam. Although the whole museum is focused on modern art, this section is highlighting some of the most contemporary works. I think I have just become a part of one.
The organiser of our discussion ropes in a few more people. One man says he would prefer not to do it.
I suggest that this is a good example of the market economy working well – the money being offered wasn’t worth his time and he was able to choose to walk away.
Our little group grows and I’m joined by tourists from all around the world. They’re Dutch, British, American, Spanish, Australian.
The conversation flows organically and the very literal examination of market economy turns to politics, then to the influence multinationals have in the political system, then to museums and whether they are democratic or the perfect example of the negatives of a market economy.
For the record, I argue that art galleries are actually not representative of a strict market economy because they allow everyone to see the same works for the same price and prevent the most valuable masterpieces being locked away in private homes for just the wealthy elite who can afford them.
A Dutch woman disagrees with me, saying that the act of curating art and choosing who should be displayed and given prominence is a form of market in itself and doesn’t facilitate true representation.
I’m not sure who is right (although I probably still think I am) but it’s an interesting idea to ponder. And it’s very appropriate because I am here in Amsterdam with the specific aim to explore art.
To be more exact, I am here in the Netherlands for the 125th anniversary of the death of Vincent Van Gogh, one of the most famous Dutch artists of all time.
I have been to Amsterdam before but not for any great length of time. And what I have never done before is look at the art scene here in any great depth.
When I began to do that, though, I was amazed to find out how much there is on offer in the city.
It would be easy to spend days and days visiting museums and galleries full of a range of different artworks in various media and from so many different eras.
To help you get an idea of what you could see for yourself on an art trip to Amsterdam, I’ve put together a list of some of the best art galleries in Amsterdam.
There are certainly a lot more than these – but these are the highlights if you want to visit the top ones!
Van Gogh Museum
Considering my mission in the Netherlands this time is to learn about Vincent Van Gogh, I have to put the Van Gogh Museum at the top of this list. It is an incredible collection of the Dutch artist’s work with more than 200 paintings and 400 drawings.
The museum is well organised into sections that illustrate the different periods of his artistic life and show the other artists who influenced him. There are three floors and the highlights of his career are given prominent displays.
Some of his letters are also shown within the museum and there is a lot of information about his career and personal life.
The Van Gogh Museum is located at Museumplein 6, 1071 DJ Amsterdam, Netherlands.
The Van Gogh Museum is open daily at these times:
March to September: 09:00 – 18:00
October: 09:00 – 18:00 except on Fridays when it closes at 21:00, and 7-10 October when it closes at 17:00
November: 09:00 – 17:00, and closes at 21:00 on Fridays
December: 09:00 – 17:00, Fridays until 21:00, and on 21-23/28-30 until 18:00
Entry to the Van Gogh Museum costs €22 for an adult. It’s free for children under 18.
You can find out more information on the Van Gogh Museum’s official website.
Stedelijk Museum
Next door to the Van Gogh Museum is the Stedelijk Museum and it’s worth doing both galleries at the same time. This modern art gallery features works from famous artists like Van Gogh, Matisse, Pollock, and Warhol.
Most of them are on the ground floor, as is a large section for industrial design over the decades. In my view, the real highlight is the 20th century collection on the second floor. There are hundreds of works of different sizes and media, representing every major art movement of the time.
As I mentioned in the introduction, there are even some surprising performance art pieces happening in these rooms.
The Stedelijk Museum is located at Museumplein 10, 1071 DJ, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
The Stedelijk Museum is open daily from 10:00 – 18:00 (last entrance: 17:45)
Entry to the Stedelijk Museum costs €22.50 for an adult and €10 for students. It’s free for children under 19.
You can find out more information on the Stedelijk Museum’s official website.
Rijksmuseum
The Rijksmuseum is the most popular museum in the Netherlands and is just a few minutes away from the Van Gogh Museum and the Stedelijk Museum. It has a huge collection of about a million objects and normally displays about 8,000 of them at any one time.
For visitors interested in art, the main attraction is the 2,000 paintings from the Dutch Golden Age including many from Rembrandt. There is also a small but fascinating collection of Asian artworks.
The building is incredible in itself and only reopened in 2013 after a ten-year renovation.
The Rijksmuseum is located at Museumstraat 1, 1071 XX, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
The Rijksmuseum is open every day between 09:00 and 17:00.
Entry to the Rijksmuseum costs €22.50 for adults. It’s free for children under 18.
You can find out more information on the official website of the Rijksmuseum.
Hermitage Amsterdam
The Hermitage Amsterdam is an offshoot of the famous Russian museum of the same name. It hosts several temporary exhibitions at any one time (although each exhibition often runs for more than a year).
At the moment, it has an incredible collection of enormous portraits from Amsterdam in the 17th century. They show the different guilds and social groups that controlled the city during the economic height of European maritime trade.
The main room with 35 large portraits is a beautiful sight and a real highlight.
The Hermitage Amsterdam is located at Amstel 51, 1018 DR, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
The Hermitage Amsterdam is open every day between 10:00 and 17:00.
Entry to the Hermitage Amsterdam costs €22.50 for an adult and €15 for ages 12 – 17. Children under 12 are free.
You can find out more information on the official website of the Hermitage Amsterdam.
FOAM Photography Museum
There are several photography museums in Amsterdam but FOAM is the best known of them all. It changes its exhibitions regularly to showcase photographers from around the world.
The building is an old grand house and so the layout takes you through different rooms and levels, creating an interesting way to explore various themes from a single artist.
In a smaller part of the building, some works from local and upcoming photographers are on display and available for purchase.
The FOAM Photography Museum is located at Keizersgracht 609, 1017 DS, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
The FOAM Photography Museum is open from:
- Monday – Wednesday 10:00 – 18:00
- Thursday – Friday 10:00 – 21:00
- Saturday – Sunday 10:00 – 18:00
Entry to the FOAM Photography Museum costs €17.50 for adults. It costs €14.30 for students.
You can find out more information on the FOAM Photography Museum’s official website.
Even more museums
If all of those museums aren’t enough for you (and they would take about two days to see properly), here are a few more to consider.
These are a bit smaller and offer some more niche displays. I would definitely recommend trying to go to one of two of them so you can see the full range of the best art galleries Amsterdam has to offer.
- Museum het Rembrandthuis: A house where Rembrandt lived and worked for several years. It has a reasonable collection of his paintings and etchings.
- The Cobra Museum: Works and information about the Cobra art movement in the 1940s and 1950s, which had creative freedom and social engagement at the heart of its values.
- EYE film museum: The building is a stunning piece of modern architecture on the waterfront but is slightly tricky to get to because it is on the other side to most of the tourist sites. It hosts temporary exhibitions about Dutch film and visual arts.
- Huis Marseille: A photography museum that has 13 different spaces, each with their own character. It places an emphasis on the visual quality of the images and less on the idea of photography as a mass medium.
THE BEST ACCOMMODATION IN AMSTERDAM
Amsterdam is not a cheap city for accommodation but I think it’s worth paying to stay in the city centre.
BACKPACKER
It’s not the cheapest but I think the Generator Hostel is the best backpacker option.
BUDGET
Not your average hotel, CityHub Amsterdam is a cool idea for an affordable ‘room’.
BOUTIQUE
For a great designed boutique hotel, I would highly recommend The Hoxton.
LUXURY
And for cool modern luxury, have a look at the awesome W Amsterdam, with a great location.
When I was in Amsterdam many many years ago as a young backpacker, I visited the Sex Museum – quite an eye opener and amusing seeing all the old photographs.
Ha ha – yes, I didn’t think it was quite appropriate to include in a list of art museums. But I guess it could have been there, if you think about the artistic quality of those photos! Hmmm….
You’re lucky that area has a lot of galleries. Some countries don’t have as much places to visit. I love the variation in all the galleries.
There’s a huge variety of art museums and that’s one of the things that makes Amsterdam such a great place for exploring the galleries. You never get bored and always find something new!
At first, I was thinking the Van Gogh museum would be the best but that Hermitage museum looks awesome!
I thought the Hermitage was really cool because I didn’t know what to expect. I kind of went in on a whim and loved that enormous room with the portraits. The Van Gogh Museum is fantastic too but it’s probably how you would expect it to look.
There are so many museums to choose from in Amsterdam! On my recent fleeting visit, I saw the Anne Frank Museum. I must admit I was more than a little intrigued by the Heineken Museum and the Sex Museum, but I saved them for another day…
Yeah, there are some weird museums there too, aren’t there. Apparently there’s one about bags too, which seems a little niche, but y’know…
Great read. It reminded me of how much I used to go to museums in my travels. Now after seeing so many, I am a bit more selective. But I have to say this is a great list.
I can sometimes be a put off by museums too if I think they’re just going to be full of information I could have read in a book. But I do like art galleries because you can’t get the same effect from seeing a photo. There’s something really transfixing about seeing the world’s best artwork in person.
Didn’t realize just how many art museums Amsterdam had to offer! It is definitely interesting to think of art museums in the context of a market economy…how curious.
I didn’t realise it had so many either. You could easily spend days and days seeing them all. In fact, I really wanted to do exactly that but didn’t have time on this trip!!
What a great round up of museums! I have been to the main ones, but didn’t have much time to get off the tourist trail as I was only there over a weekend…. and I was 20 at the time… so I might have had other priorities as well being in Amsterdam…. haha
Ha ha – I know what you mean! 🙂
Most people probably only go to the main ones because they are only in Amsterdam for a couple of days. But if you get the city pass for a few days, you can go to lots of the museums for free – just pop in for 30 minutes and have a look as you’re passing by.
Amsterdam is my favorite city for art.
I can now see why. I had never really given it much thought before but there is just so much to see!!
I love art and architecture, beautifull photos, great post ..
The vast majority presumably just go to the fundamental ones since they are just in Amsterdam for two or three days. In any case, on the off chance that you get the city go for a couple days, you can go to bunches of the galleries for nothing – simply pop in for 30 minutes and observe as you’re cruising by.
I really like reading through an article that will make men and women think. Also, many thanks for permitting me to comment!
I loved it this museum! Thanks for sharing this tips 😉
Amsterdam is truly fantastic destination to visit, these many art galleries and museums, really interesting, I feel connecting with art forms is completely personal and intuitive, your introduction is really evocative. Thanks for sharing the most wonderful post.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about outrageous-do-essay-for-me-tips.
Regards