In Amsterdam, a city that is known for its art museums, the Rijksmuseum is one of the premiere museums. We arrived late in the day and only had a few hours before the museum closed, but luckily it is relatively small and we were able to see everything we wanted to see, without feeling rushed.
The Rijksmuseum was originally located in The Hague, but it moved to Amsterdam in 1809. Additionally, it moved to its current location in 1885 and underwent major renovations in 2013. The museum's architecture is a beautiful blend of old and new.
Before we entered the Rijksmuseum, we found another Miffy statue.
And a Amsterdam sign. There was no time to bother with walking around to the proper side for a picture, we had "museuming" to do! Don't I look beat after a long day of being a tourist? I do sightseeing in the typical American style: you can sleep when you're dead!!! I'm going to see it all!!!
Isn't it grand? I love architecture.
Our tickets were 17.50 euros each, and we had the option to add five euros for an audio tour, which we declined in interest of time. I'm normally all about the audio tours.
Here is the interior entrance.
The Rijksmuseum had a special Miffy exhibit, showing the art of Miffy creator, Dick Bruna. Miffy was easily one of my favorite things about The Netherlands.
Looking at a zoetrope.
Arguably, the most famous piece at the Rijksmuseum is Rembrandt's The Night Watch. It's enormous, overwhelming, and impressive. It also had a huge crowd, so we didn't take a picture of it. Plus, it really was so massive, that I'm not sure we could have taken a decent picture. In any case, it was amazing to see this famous masterpiece in person. It had a "wow" factor.
Another famous painting: this Van Gogh self-portrait.
Rembrandt and Van Gogh have their own museums in Amsterdam, both of which I visited later in the trip. More on those in a future post.
Here is a sampling of the art that we saw at the Rijksmuseum.
We are fans of modern art, so the small modern art wing was a must visit. Admittedly, it was smaller and less impressive than we had hoped. The Rijksmuseum is definitely not the place for modern art, however, they did have a cool plane and some mid-century furniture.
As we exited the museum, walking a different direction from where we had entered, we discovered a sculpture garden.
Here's the thing, if you're an art lover and you're planning a trip to Amsterdam, the Rijksmuseum is going to be on your itinerary. It's a solid museums with masterpieces. However, I have to admit that the Rijksmuseum was my least favorite stop during my week in Amsterdam. I'd not likely return on a future trip and if you're visiting the city for a limited time, I'd encourage you to think this one through. I'm from Los Angeles and being from a major city, having visited many other major cities....the Rijksmuseum doesn't compare to other big city art museums.