A lavishly illustrated museum guide containing the most important highlights of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam which houses the largest collection of Vincent van Gogh's paintings, drawings, letters and prints in the world. Written in an engaging style, the book describes the masterpieces of the collection.

In November 2014 the Van Gogh museum redesigned the presentation of its permanent collection, putting more emphasis on the artist’s tortured life. You will be able to follow Van Gogh's development by seeing all of his great works, and will also get to know his personal ambitions, his emotions, the myths and his major influence on art until today.

If you enter the permanent collection of the Van Gogh museum you will be face to face with half a dozen of painted self-portraits exhibited against a background of larger than life blow-ups of the artist’s multi-coloured self-portrait. In the presentation Van Gogh’s paintings have been given ample space, and the walls vary in color between a greyish green-brown for the early Brabant paintings and drawings, and a green-blue for the Paris pictures. Because of the fragility of works on paper, a changing selection of some ten drawings is being exhibited.

The most important issues are being discussed such as the ear incident, the suicide and the mental illness, death and recognition, the discoloration of his paintings and the origins of the museum. On the top floor of the building is a gallery with works by Van Gogh's followers.

Although the display is basically chronological, the work has been arranged according to certain themes. As a visitor you can follow the on-going search of an extraordinary artist.

In this Van Gogh Museum guide you will be introduced to his masterpieces, and you will discover some of the ideas and ambitions behind his art. For the purpose of clarity, we will stick to a chronological presentation, while discussing works by Van Gogh and by other artists separately.

After briefly discussing the artist's life and work, the book not only focuses on Van Gogh's masterworks such as the Potato Eaters, the Sunflowers, the Irises and his Bedroom in Arles, but also describes many of his less well-known paintings.

Since Vincent and his brother Theo van Gogh collected work by their contemporaries, these are also on display at the Van Gogh Museum. The book contains many pictures by Seurat, Pissarro, Lautrec, Gauguin and Bernard, some predecessors such as Millet and Breton, and artists that followed in his footsteps. This will show you the context, and the impact Van Gogh had on modern art.

If you read this book before you visit the museum, you will be able to fully appreciate and understand the works on display.

Recommended before visiting the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam

The series consists of:

1: Rijksmuseum Amsterdam - Highlights of the Collection

2: The Anne Frank House Amsterdam - Anne's Secret Annex turned into Museum

3: Van Gogh Museum - Highlights of the Collection

4: Hermitage Amsterdam. Highlights from the Hermitage Museum St Petersburg

Set of the Complete Amsterdam Museum Books Series: Vols 1 - 4 Things to Do in Amsterdam: Museums