Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

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Although not as famous these paiters are the equal of most others. One of them, Judith Leyster shares he time frame of being the first successful female painter. De Hooch is a lesser Vermeer; deNeer exploited moonlight in his landscapes. Flinck was a pupil of Rembrandt, many of whose paintings were attributed to his teacher. Honthorst was very competent as you can easily see.

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For some reason (haste and fatigue of others) we did not see pictures by Jan Steen and Vermeer, but there must have been a few of each! Here are some of the othertop names of the 17C. Avercamp and Saenredam use singular subjects and have unique styles.Ter Borch is very competent. And then there are Hals and Rembrandt.

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The museum is open in an abridged version in the Philips Wing ( remodeling will continue into 2009). I have a 30-year old Mondadori "popular" Art Picture book on the museum which contains almost all the paintings that we viewed (the brochure states there are 400 items on view). My baby-sitters were museumed out when we arrived and even they could accept some of it. It shows ONLY the 17C ( even more limited than the Mauritshuis in den Haag). None of the early Flemish, no doll houses, some Delft pieces, a 17C cannon, a warship model, some silver plates and a statue of a Satyr by de Vries (a pupil of Giambologna, who himself was from Flanders). Even though several Rembrandts were in the Blockbuster (see Tip under Dangers) up the street at the van Gogh, there were more than enough Rembrandts on vitw to satisfy. Of course the Night Watch is there. This is a conscience-free way to do the entire Rijksmuseum (for a non-artlover).

I loved the Rijksmuseum easily as much as any other museum in Europe.

Why?

The things the Dutch Master artists (Rembrandt, Vermeer, et all) did with "light" and the inspiring still lifes are beyond amazing (see Willem Claesz Heda (right) --->)

Rijks is conveniently close to the Van Gogh museum and the beautiful Vondelpark, making it a wonderful 1, 2, or even 3-day excursion. Don't yawn, I could easily spend a few days in just this particular part of town and the pijp.

Rijksmuseum has an outstanding web site in both Engels and Nederlands here:
Rijkmuseum

Enjoy, and be inspired.

Work continues on the reconfiguration, but it still is a marvelous experience. When it is done, it will be even better.

Rijksmuseum is undergoing the biggest rebuilding, renovation and modernization program in its history, part of the collection is being exhibited at 10 museums throughout Holland, Belgium and Germany. While the finest works from the 17th century in the Rijksmuseum, “The Masterpieces,” will continue to be on show in the Philips Wing of the museum, within the city of Amsterdam, the Rijksmuseum also organizes exhibitions in the New Church, Van Gogh Museum, Rembrandt House and Huis Marseille. The Rijksmuseum Amsterdam Schiphol (at Schiphol Airport) features a permanent exhibition of 17th century Masters and hosts three small changing exhibitions each year.

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With a bit of advance planning it is now possible to order and print tickets for the Rijksmuseum online, so as to avoid waiting in line for tickets at the entrance. (Click on the link below for details of this.)

At this writing parts of the Rijksmuseum are closed for rebuilding, renovation and modernization. But this process is being spread out over several years, until 2009, and it's a big museum so there will always be more than enough to see whenever you go there, particularly paintings by the great masters of the 17th century.

The museum is open every day from 9:00 to 18:00, Fridays till 22:00.

Second photo: Entrance to the Rijksmuseum.

the rijksmuseum is an amsterdam landmark. this impressive neo-gothic building was built in 1885. one of the world's great art museums it possesses an impressive collection of dutch art. following is a small sampling of the masterpieces of the museum, dirck jacobsz, "pompejus occo", cornelisz van oostsanen, "self portrait", anthonisz, "banquet of the civic guard", avercamp, "great winter landscape", frans hals, "the merry drinker", versprock, "girl in blue", vermeer's "the kitchen maid", jan steen's "lady at her toilet". the rijksmuseum has a huge collection of the works of rembrandt van rijn, some examples are "the jewish bride", "self portrait as st. paul", " the syndics of the cloth guild", and his famous "the night watch". the rijksmuseum is a must see site when visiting amsterdam.

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With major renovation taking place at the moment (July 2006) and continuing until 2008 the main museum building is closed, however, a special exhibition entitled Masterpieces is on display in the Philips Wing.

This exhibition (containing over 400 exhibits, a fair amount for a lot of museums but hardly a scratch on the surface for the hundreds of thousands the Rijksmuseum contains) concentrates on the Golden Age of Dutch art - the 17th Century.

Exhibits include the amazingly detailed Dolls House owned and commissioned by Petronella Oortman, which as well as representing a wonderful feat of artistry it is also a great historical record of life in a Dutch canal side house. There are pictures and artefacts illustrating Amsterdam and Holland's standing as a world trading power (a very good accompaniment to many of the exhibits in the Amsterdam Historisch Museum) and paintings by Frans Hals, Vermeer and, of course Rembrandt including the magnificent "Night Watch".

Despite the fact that the galleries can get very busy, particularly at the weekend and around some of the more well know paintings, it is still wonderful.

Entry: 10 euro plus 4 euro or an audio guide
Opening Times: 9am-6pm daily

The website (www.rijksmuseum.nl) is a fantastic site and well worth a look.