Van Gogh Gallery.

I went to the Van Gogh Museum in the Hermitage in Amsterdam as the usual Van Gogh gallery was closed for refurbishment.
Unfortunately this was the only gallery where I was not allowed to photograph in much to my disappointment as the paintings are absolutely stunning. The museum was full of people and it was quite difficult to get to the pictures to have a close look. They talk about the famous sunflowers picture but for me the picture of the irises were gorgeous, the paint strokes and these striking colours made  the painting standout amongst all the others.
The images below I have taken from the Internet but the problem is his pictures do not copy very well. You need to see his work in person to get the sheer brilliance of the man.

A Self-portrait.

 This is a painting of his bedroom.

 The famous sunflowers.

 The field of Iris and poppies.

 This is a picture of the Irises. The picture doesn't do the painting any justice, it doesn't show the pure beauty of his work.

 As you can tell I absolutely loved this exhibition quite happily go and see it again. I hope that sometime in the future the readers of my blog with the able to go and experience the same joy of looking at Van Gogh's paintings.

Rembrandt's House. Amsterdam.

I went to the  Rembrandt's house, although Rembrandt was was bankrupt and all his goods were sold.   The Dutch had a list of all the furniture and items that were sold from the home to cover his debts. So when the house was purchased and made into a museum they knew the kind of furniture and items they would need to refurbish the house to the same style as his era.

Rembrandt's House.

Another photo of the house.

A very gloomy kitchen.

A piece of carved wood.

The print room.

The notice on the wall.

Etching plate.

One of the stoves in his studio. 

Mixing pigments for paint in the studio. 

The view from the studio window.

This is the the type of bed that Rembrandt would have slept in.

A self-portrait etching.

Another self- portrait etching.

I  found  the house delightful with very quirky spiral staircases. The rooms were large and spacious but his studio was the largest room of the house and the only one that had two fires  installed. I have only put a small selection of his work on my blog as there were too many for me to show.
I felt very privileged to be able to wander around the house Rembrandt lived in and look out the windows that he would have glanced out of from time to time looking at the same canal view outside.

Another view of the house and some paintings.