Van Gogh Museum and the Stedelijk Museum

A lovely bright Monday morning and I headed off across town again to the Van Gogh Museum. Apparently quietest on a Monday morning. A beautiful day for canal gazing.

Through the gardens to the Rijksmuseum - rather attractive.

 And eventually to the Van Gogh Museum and its ultra modern entrance. Now a confession, and this is a bit like saying one doesn't like Shakespeare. I don't think Van Gogh is that great. Basically, he wasn't good at painting, Which might well account for he fact he could never sell anything when he was alive.

Now the Van Gogh not only has a vast collection of Van Goghs, but also lots of paintings by people he was influenced by, or whom he influenced. Particularly telling was a chap next to me in the gallery with his little girl. He was trying to show her the Van Gogh while she was pointing out how good the painting next to it, by Henri Fantin Latour. Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings....

And the other problem I had with the Van Gogh Museum is just how overcrowded it is. So overcrowded there are signs asking people not to take photos as it just hold things up. which I respected although few others did. The annoying thing is that as I looked around I would guess fewer than half the visitors were actually interested in being there. It was just a place they knew they were supposed to come to, or were kids being dragged around. I couldn't help feeling IO would have been better off just buying an illustrated guide. Which of course I did.

Anyway, after that visit, and a visit to an excellent sandwich shop, I decided to take in the mdern art gallery next door.

This was a more pleasant experience if only because it was less "pressured" by virtue of less crowding. And an interesting mix of really modern avant-garde with 20th ccntury design items. Well I enjoyed it all anyway.