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Two Hobbit doors with Xmas tree

Whew, today was an intense day. Together, Deb and I visited two different museums before lunch and then I followed it up with a third museum in the mid-afternoon. I mentioned yesterday that we had reservations for a visit to the Jan Six House museum. So that was our first stop this morning, we were quite fortunate in that our particular time slot only had just over half the allotted number of attendees. We didn’t want to miss the tour by being late so we started our walk over with an extra 15 minute cushion. We didn’t really need it but it gave us peace of mind. We actually arrived maybe 10 minutes early and were preparing to wait in front when a docent opened the door and ushered us in. They don’t allow any photos within the house (it’s still a private residence) so we divested of coats and phones in the little cloakroom. The house sits on one of the major canals in Amsterdam, and was a very prestigious address when it was

The Six house

built. The Dutch felt that Amsterdam was every bit as beautiful as Venice and tried to present it as such. In truth it is a very lovely city but I’m afraid Venice may have a more beautiful facade. The highlights of the visit were the two Rembrandt portraits of Jan Six I and his wife and a wonderful Frans Hals portrait of the mayor of Amsterdam, known as Dr. Tulip. The mayor was also the personal physician of Jan Six I and his wife. Our guide was a lovely young woman studying art at a university here. She was very knowledgeable and quire charming. We tried to not pepper her with too many questions but there was so much to see that inevitably we peppered her. But we weren’t the only ones, the Italians were bidding to compete. At one point as we were listening to an explanation about a display case in a stairway hall one of the Six family members came down the stairs and passed through our little group. So our tour ran somewhat longer than the normal tour, but things are pretty laid back. Deb had to buy a book reproducing a tulip catalog from the 17th century so that helped smooth the departure. 

Following our visit we had decisions to make. Originally we thought we might take a canal trip through the old part of the city. But our hosts at the Six house mentioned that there was a Brancusi exhibit across the canal at another museum.  It took about 30 seconds to weigh the alternatives and go across the canal. The Brancusi exhibit was on temporary loan from the Pompidou Center in Paris. Pompidou is undergoing a major facelift and will be closed for the next 5 years, so this was an opportunity we couldn’t pass on. It was arranged over two floors and included perhaps 10 rooms. It was a unique opportunity to see how he progressed from basically modern representational sculpture into his full blown abstract works.  We have seen individual pieces of his work before but never an in-depth survey. One very interesting fact that came to light was that he conceived

each of the plinths on which a sculpture rests individually and specifically for that piece. It really changes how you have to look at a piece and think about what he was trying to convey. Also he designed many of his pieces to be mobile because he wanted to demonstrate the dynamism inherent in his work.  When he sold a work, before giving it to the buyer he would make a full sized copy in plaster so as to not create gaps in his output. When he died in the 50’s he bequeathed his entire body of work to France with the proviso that it be displayed as a whole body of work. Each piece to be displayed in the same relationship to its neighbors as they were in his studio. It was a wonderful surprise to be discovered while we were on such a short visit. 

We decided to have lunch at the museums restaurant and save ourselves the work of trying to find another place to eat. Over the years we’ve found that (at least un Europe) the restaurants located within the museum are all pretty darned good. Maybe not worth going out of your way to eat, but definitely good food at reasonable prices. Besides maybe 30 years ago we were having lunch in the cafeteria of the National Gallery in London and I went through the line next to Vincent Price. He was a very accomplished art collector. He was also very nice and quite polite.  So if it was good enough for him it’s good enough for me.  Deb had an Indonesian spiced chicken sandwich and I had a cup of onion soup and a tuna sandwich. Both of our dishes tasted quite good, with a minor exception. Mine also came with a croquette of some unidentified variety, I’ve decided that with very few exceptions croquettes taste like deep fried gravy, I’m not a big fan. 

After lunch we walked back to our hotel, when we walked in the desk staff asked how we had enjoyed our visit. So we spent several minutes telling them about the house and what lovely things we had seen. They were not aware of it but now they may have another place they can send customers to, if they can get reservations. Deb wanted to rest and I had a ticket to the Van Gogh museum which is literally around the corner from our hotel.  Deb is not fond of Van Gogh’s work for the most part. She says it sets up visual patterns for her that are quite uncomfortable. I don’t seem to suffer from the same problem so I wanted to go.  Man, it is gigantic, and crowded too! The entry is a very large open space with wings off in two directions. In one direction is the permanent collection while in the other are presented temporary exhibits. I began with the temporary exhibit space where there was a group of portraits of family in Arles who befriended Van Gogh.

3 Madame Roulin portraits

The Roulin family, the patriarch was a postal carrier who figured in several of paintings, while his wife sat for Van Gogh as well.  Van Gogh recreated her portrait 5 different times and for the show there were three of the copies on display, for her husband there were two recreated copies as well as a third larger painting.  In addition there were paintings of the Roulin child and monsieur Roulin’s brother. To give a sense of location where Van Gogh painted they also included some of his cityscapes, like the yellow house.  It was very intriguing to see the multiple copies of the portraits displayed next to one another. I don’t think that opportunity will be presented again in my lifetime. After going through the temporary space I went across to the permanent collection side.  The museum owns over 300 works by Van Gogh and at least as many more by

friends, contemporaries, and followers.  I was surprised by how many works he created that were very much conventional for the time.  So much emphasis is given to his ground breaking pictures that seeing how he progressed as an artist into that highly individual manner is fascinating. He was very prolific in his self-portraiture, there was one full room dedicated only to those. He created over 60 in one year while in Arles They stated he was exploring how to depict facial emotion by assuming various mannerisms. He really wanted to paint “people of the earth”, so he studied Millet and Breton and folded some of their ideas into his own work. But he was friends with Paul Gaugin and Emile Bernard and lived with them in Arles for a period of time. The museum has 3 full floors with some galleries in half-floors so it is definitely a place worth spending a full day exploring. I spent about 3 hours and while I was in all the galleries I couldn’t take nearly enough time to fully appreciate all the delights being offered.  There were paintings by Monet, Degas, Manet, Pizzarro, Gaugin, Bernard, Munch (no scream) and Rodin to name but a few.  Surely a ‘must see’ if you’re in Amsterdam and you like Van Gogh.