My Favorite Paintings at Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam hosted numerous paintings by the great modern Dutch master, Vincent Van Gogh, from iconic ones to the somewhat lesser known though not minor ones.  After some difficult dideliberation, I chose below two paintings as my favorites.

The first one, Wheatfield with Crow, was a well known one, if not universally loves as his Irises or Starry Night. This painting, painted near the end of Van Gogh's life, was a pictorial cry of unmitigatable despair and looming doom, albeit an astonishingly beautiful one.  This visionary work reflected a tortured mind at the brink of collapse, and cracked open a door toward a dark world most of us could only project but not able to imagine and endure.  It was startling and one could practically hear the wailing of the crows filling up the dense blue sky.

Van Gogh, despite or because of his misery, weaved a magic spell with intense and strongly contrasted, thickly applied paints, in wavy and parallel brushstrokes, and it was really the trembling of his own sense and soul we discern.


Korenveld met kraaien, Wheatfield with Crow, Vincent van Gogh (1890) 
Oil on Canvas, 50.5 x 103 cm, 
Photo courtesy by Pachango on Flickr

The second work I cite below was a very tranquil one, comparing to the one above, with a serene and translucent beauty.


Fishing Boats on the Beach at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, 1888 Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) 
Oil on Canvas, 65 x 81.5 cm, 
Photo courtesy by Pachango on Flickr

This painting was painted during his stay in Arles, France, not far from the Mediterranean, after his visiting of the fishing village of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in June 1888.  He captured something fragile which was deeply personal.  The color scheme was less brilliant than usual, and the brush strokes more continuous and less nervous.  The pale blue sea and beige sand gave this oil painting a look of more delicate pastel painting.  Yet, it was not a weak one.  There were bold strokes, manifested by the strongly outlined boats and their saturate colors, small patches but intense.  More over, the sky was painted with little strokes which invoked some uncertainty, some fearful anticipation, perhaps, an approaching storm.



My Favorite Museum Collection Series

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List of My Favorite Artworks in the Museums I've Visited

My Favorite Paintings at Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Six years ago, when I visited the great city Amsterdam, the Rijksmuseum was under renovation - it is set to re-open on 13 April 2013 after almost ten years's effort.  Mercifully, the museum put the cream of its collections to a wing and I was able to see some of the amazing works, amongst them, my Favorite Paintings are one Vermeer and one Rembrandt.  No surprise here.

To me, The Milkmaid or The Kitchen Maid by Johannes Vermeer, a tranquil domestic scene, was one of the most beautiful and enchanting paintings ever produced in the human history.  It was bold and delicate - look at the intense blue and yellow hues, so strongly contrasted and yet so harmoniously co-existed, furthermore, all the colors were luminous and glowing, without competing one another for dominance.  The details of the daily objects were meticulously done, not to show off the painter's skill, but to create a reality in suspended in time, and to depict the crystal clear northern light.


The Milkmaid, ca. 1660, Johannes Vermeer, Oil on CanvasHeight: 45.5 cm, Width: 41 cm

I could not say better than the description on the Museum's website: "One of Vermeer's most admired paintings is The Milkmaid. She stands in front of a window pouring milk into a bowl, deep in concentration, her head slightly tilted to one side. The daylight streaming in draws the viewer's attention automatically to the pouring milk. This is depicted so perfectly that you can practically see and hear the milk pouring. It is the only action taking place in the room."

The Vermeer painting was small scaled and intimate and the The Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq, known as The Night Watch, by the master Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn was grand and public. 


The Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq, 1642, Oil on Canvas
Height: 379.5 cm, Width: 453.5 cm

For this commissioned work by the militia company, Rembrandt didn't follow the convention of painting the gentlemen sitting or standing in rows facing the viewers like mannequins, rather, he positioned the figures in a lively scene - the captain issued command, flag raised, drum beat, horned blew, children running amongst the throng.  Nothing but static and boring.  Again, we are enchanted by the marvelous play of light and dark.  However, the painting was not so dark to begin with and it became a "night scene" only after the changing of the paints the master employed.

Night or day, it was one of the most memorable group portraits ever created. If some of the figures felt cheated because their full faces were not shown, we, the viewers, however, must be grateful for Rembrandt's confidence and courage.

I am very partial to this painting because I had the opportunity to see its full scale replica in San Francisco, in a private home turned museum.

Since I only sampled the highlights of the Rijksmuseum collection, a return to Amsterdam is a must once Rijks reopened.



My Favorite Museum Collection Series

>> My Favorite Museum Collection Series 51: My Favorite Paintings at Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

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List of My Favorite Artworks in the Museums I've Visited

Van Gogh Museum - Van Gogh's Letters

A vastly interesting exhibition in Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam made me wish that I were there.

"Van Gogh’s letters - The artist speaks" is on display from 9 October 2009 through 3 January 2010. His letters will take center stage in the exhibition. More than 120 original letters will be on show alongside the works that Van Gogh was writing about. These important documents have seldom or never been shown to the public due to their extreme fragility and sensitivity to light.





















The most interesting aspect of the exhibit to me is his letter sketches. According to the official website, "Van Gogh's correspondence has a special bearing on his art because of the sketches of his own work that he included in his letters. These sketches served no artistic purpose but were made with the sole intention of showing Theo and his other correspondents what the paintings or drawings he was working on or had completed actually looked like. Visitors will be able to view a large number of letter sketches and enjoy the unique opportunity of being able to compare them with the paintings and drawings on which they are based."





















Perhaps I shall start to write my journal more often. My friend artist Katja Leibenath does it wonderfully. If you are curious, you can see a sample of hers on her blog.