Things to see inside the Van Gogh Museum

The Van Gogh Museum is home to the largest collection of Van Gogh and his contemporaries’s artworks.

The museum has over 200 paintings, 500 drawings, and 700 letters in its permanent collection.

It has everything from famous masterpieces such as Sunflowers and The Potato Eaters to lesser-known gems.

There are always special exhibits at the museum featuring Van Gogh’s work from other museums.

With a single entry ticket, visitors can have an intimate look at the genius behind the brushstrokes.

In this article, we will describe in detail the things to see on the different floors of the Van Gogh Museum.

How do you go inside the Van Gogh Museum?

Visitors need to book their Van Gogh Museum tickets to go inside the museum, which are only available online.

Booking the tickets is a simple, three-step process:

1. Go to the booking website and select any of the basic entry/guided/audio-guided tickets.

2. Select the preferred date, time and number of tickets.

3. Complete the secure payment process and receive your tickets.

Once tickets are booked, you can show them at the entrance, pass the security check, and enter the Van Gogh Museum directly.

Want to take a glance at the whole Van Gogh Museum before entering it? 

Check out the Van Gogh Museum map and have a clear picture in mind before visiting it.

What to see inside the Van Gogh Museum | Rietveld Building

Upon entering the premises, you will find the Rietveld Building (the main building) and the Kurokawa Wing.

Rietveld is the main building that houses the permanent collection of the museum. It has four floors.

Ground Floor: Self-Portraits & Timeline

On the museum’s ground floor, visitors will find a chronological timeline of Van Gogh’s life along with his famous self-portraits.

The timeline covers all the major events from his birth to death, with the help of his artwork, including the potato waters and more.

The self-portraits were a significant part of his artwork, as these were the primary way for him to practice human figures.

One self-portrait of Van Gogh stands in front of an easel, holding a palette and brushing.

At first glance, a grey shadow appears thrown across the artist’s face. 

However, upon closer investigation, this grey color is actually made up of brushstrokes of red and green, which combine to give the illusion of a grey shadow.

This shows his understanding of colors and the use of brush strokes.

Besides the self-portrait, this floor also consists of other facilities, including the information center, shops, cafe, etc.

Some Famous Paintings on the Ground Floor:

Self-Portrait with Pipe and Straw Hat (1887)

Self-Portrait as a Painter (1888)

Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear (1889)

Self-Portrait with Grey Felt Hat (1887)

First Floor of Van Gogh Museum

The museum’s first floor shows the works of Van Gogh arranged chronologically.

The first floor contains various galleries or exhibit rooms dedicated to specific aspects of Vincent van Gogh’s life and work. It includes:

1. Van Gogh’s Models

2. Painter of Peasant Life

3. Back to Basics

4. New Perspectives

5. Modern Art in Paris

6. Artist Friends

7. Artistic Flourishing

8. Dreaming of Japan

These galleries include some of his famous masterpieces, such as The Potato Eaters, Sunflowers and Bedroom in Isles.

The Potato Eaters:

“The Potato Eaters” is one of Vincent van Gogh’s most famous early works, painted in 1885.

In this painting, Van Gogh depicts a scene of a simple meal shared by a family of peasants in the Netherlands.

Van Gogh used earth tones to paint the five figures in a dimly lit room illuminated by a single hanging lamp.

It shows weathered faces and bony hands, depicting the harshness of their lives.

Sunflowers:

Vincent van Gogh’s series of sunflower paintings, created between 1888 and 1889, is among his most celebrated works.

One of the most renowned pieces in this series is simply titled “Sunflowers,” painted in August 1888 while Van Gogh was living in Arles, France.

He made the entire painting with three shades of yellow ‘and nothing else’.

The painting features a vase filled with colorful sunflowers set against a yellow background.

Bedroom in Isles

Bedroom in Arles is a series consisting of three distinct paintings created between 1888 and 1889.

These paintings depict the artist’s bedroom in the “Yellow House” in Arles, France, where Van Gogh lived for a significant period of time.

The first version was painted in 1888 in Arles. The second was a “repetition” of the original scale, while the third painting was a “réduction” in smaller size.

The painting features a room with a narrow bed, a small table, and various personal belongings, representing both tranquility and simplicity.

Check out the list of the top 10 must-see paintings at the Van Gogh Museum here.

Second Floor of Van Gogh 

The museum’s second floor contains information about painting restoration and has space for minor temporary exhibitions.

It has separate galleries and exhibition rooms dedicated to different themes. It includes:

1. A Life in Letters

2. Family Treasures

3. Family

4. Artistic Exchange

5. Friends

6. Friends in Pont-Aven

7. Van Gogh at Work

8. Van Gogh – Draughtsman

The second floor contains some masterpieces, such as the Almond Blossoms, the Head of a Skeleton with a burning cigarette, the Wheatfield with a Reaper, etc.

Almond Blossoms

Created in 1890, the series features delicate almond tree branches in bloom set against various backgrounds of light blue skies.

Van Gogh painted this to honor the birth of his nephew and namesake, Vincent Willem, the son of his brother Theo and sister-in-law Jo.

The painting expresses a new, joyous life with hope. It also has a Japanese influence, reflecting Van Gogh’s admiration for Japanese art in his style.

Skull with Burning Cigarette

Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette is another popular painting by Vincent Van Gogh created in 1885-1886 during his time in Antwerp, Belgium.

It features a close-up of a human skull holding a lit cigarette between its teeth on a plain, dark background.

It was likely created as a form of academic exercise while Van Gogh was studying at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp.

Third Floor of Van Gogh

The third floor of the Van Gogh Museum shows paintings of Van Gogh and his contemporaries across three sections:

1. Painting Against All Odds

2. Impassioned Nature

3. Van Gogh Inspires

It is aimed at showing how his contemporary’s work relates to/differentiates from Van Gogh’s art.

Some of Van Gogh’s contemporaries include Gauguin, known for his intense, colorful paintings and Monet, the founder of Impressionism.

Pissarro, another Impressionist famous for his depictions of daily life and landscapes, and Toulouse-Lautrec celebrated for his paintings of Parisian nightlife and cabaret scenes.

Some of the must-see paintings of his contemporaries across this floor are:

Here is a list of must-see paintings by Van Gogh’s contemporaries:

1. Montmartre in the Rain

2. Tulip Fields Near The Hague

3. The Mango Trees

4. Lake with a Boat

5. Pleasant Family at the Table

6. The Blue Dress

7. Boy Sitting in the Grass

8. The Jetty of Boulogne-sur-Mer

9. Profile of a Woman

10. Flowers

In addition to these famous paintings, the third floor also has a bookshop where you can find books about Van Gogh’s life and artwork.

If you are an art enthusiast/ keen reader, you must check out the bookshop.

Kurokawa Wing

Besides the main building, there is another building of the museum called Kurokawa Wing. It features an oval floor plan and spans three stories.

The building is designated for major temporary exhibitions. It is accessible through the atrium of the museum.

You can check out the list of upcoming exhibitions at the Van Gogh Museum here!

Planning to visit the museum? Check out some of the most important tips for visiting the Van Gogh Museum here!

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Featured Image : Vangoghmuseum.nl