Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam
The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam houses the largest collection of Van Gogh paintings in the whole world. This famous painter created about 860 paintings, of which 201 are owned by the Van Gogh Museum. Some other museums that own a large collection of his work are the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo (the Netherlands) and Musée d'Orsay in Paris.
Although his paintings make up the larger part of its collection, the Van Gogh Museum also owns hundreds of his letters and drawings. Work of his contemporaries and friends complete the collection, which gives a fascinating insight into the painter's work and life.
Van Gogh made all of his work in just ten years. His paintings reflect the state he was in when he painted them. An example of this is the well known painting 'de Aardappeleters' (potato eaters), which shows he was quite depressed at that time. His mental health gradually improved when he moved to the French town of Arles. This is reflected in his colourful, expressionist work from that period.
Van Gogh suffered from a mental illness, which led him to end his life in 1890. Only one of his paintings was sold during his life. It was only after his death, that his work became popular.
The museum is divided over two buildings. The main building was designed by Gerrit Rietveld and was opened in 1973. The annex was opened in 1999 and was designed by Kisho Kurokawa. This annex houses temporary exhibitions.
