My brother-in-law was visiting us from Canada for a bit over a week and we went together to Amsterdam for a day while Nicolas was keeping Sofia. I have been to Amsterdam just once before so I felt like a tourist myself there.
We first headed to the anatomy exhibition about human bodies, then had some vegan falafel and ended up our day by visiting Rijksmuseum. It is the biggest art museum in the Netherlands and it is dedicated to Dutch art and history. The vibes of the museum reminded me a bit of MoMA in New York. Also, it had a lot of things to see so we did not quite cover the whole area but here are some things that I found interesting:
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“Still Life with Flowers and Nuts” by Anthony Oberman (1781 – 1845). I just found this image so realistic. Also, an interesting fact is that the blue tulip was originally purple but it lost some red pigment over time.
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I was walking by this picture and thinking to myself that it looks like Monet. And it is Monet who is my favorite painter. Apparently, my eyes can’t be deceived with him. This is “La Corniche near Monaco” where everything glitters in the sunlight.
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This is self-portrait by Antoon Molkenboer in Amsterdam. I found that there is something profound about this image – one thing is to paint others but another is to look into oneself and produce a truthful reflection.
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I liked how museum windows were reflecting all the famous philosophers – I found these mosaics exquisite.
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I found these ceramics really beautiful. Unfortunately, I did not take a picture of the year they were coming from. I think it is about 1600s. Interestingly, I have recently purchased ceramics set from 1941 in one of the antique stores in the Czech Republic. It was in one of the small Czech cities and it cost me 100$ (yep yep). I could not believe my luck.
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What I found interesting about this object is that it is actually a flower vase made of separate pieces. You would put a flower in each of these small tubes until this construction is full. I have never seen anything like this before and first thought that it was some kind of Buddha temple.
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This is not just your regular dollhouse. I mean – who needs devices, TVs and cartoons if you have something like this??
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This is “A Eurasian Eagle-Owl with Other Birds in a Landscape” by Dirk Valkenburg. Again, I just low the colors and the realism – I can feel that this owl is glaring straight at me.
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There is many more things to see in the Rijksmuseum and I will definitely be back. If you are planning to visit, I would definitely recommend booking a day for it just like for MoMA!
Kat's Thoughts 