Visit this European city of canals, a hotbed of art–from museums to galleries to markets
When you’re seeking an escape to an arts-driven destination, it’s hard to beat Amsterdam.
Full arts immersion begins as soon as you land at Schiphol Airport. Art installations are scattered throughout the terminals. And, travellers can view 17th century pieces painted by Dutch masters free of charge 24-hours a day in the main terminal, thanks to an innovative museum outpost of the famed Rijksmuseum.
Museums
The Van Gogh Museum is home to Van Gogh’s iconic works like Sunflowersand Almond Blossoms, and it’s where you can see his self-portraits and private letters, which reveal much about how the artist viewed himself. There’s also a collection of work by his impressionist contemporaries, including some illuminating pieces by Gauguin that were completed while staying with Van Gogh. Occasionally, the museum will throw open its studio so that the visitors can try their hand at recreating Van Gogh’s techniques on canvas.
The Rijksmuseum is a massive museum with a collection of over one million objects, including Vermeer’s iconic piece The Milkmaid, the small painting which draws a crowd as large at the Louvre’s Mona Lisa. There are also 40 Rembrandts on display, including the enormous and beloved Night Watch, which is revered for its use of light and shadows, along with a trove of other Dutch masters’ works.
Provocative and fresh, Moco Museum is an inviting juxtaposition with its Victorian-era house hosting exhibits by pop art icons like Jeff Koons, Andy Warhol and Banksy. Downstairs, visitors step into an alternative realty when they enter the Amethyst Ball Cavern, which is a disorienting cave crafted from tennis, volley and basketballs covered in a luminous purple fabric.
Don’t let the Amsterdam Museum’s focus on history put off art lovers, since many galleries, even those focusing on DNA and cartography, are seen through an artistic lens. The museum building dates to 1578, when it was built to house the orphans left behind by the plague and that history is reflected in pieces such as Regents of the Old City Orphanage, an oil painting by Abraham de Vries.
The Rembrandt House Museum is located within the home where the great painter lived and worked in the mid-1600s until his bankruptcy forced him to forfeit his canal-fronted home. It’s now flanked by a modern addition, which displays his work, along with contemporary artists, who have been influenced by the old master.
Street Art Museum Amsterdam (SAMA) is located in Nieuw-West, a neighborhood that was mostly built after 1950 and is undergoing massive urban renewal. Less a museum than an experience, the actual streetscape provides the canvas for artists, who tag walls to make statements about life in the modern world. SAMA leads street tours—including bike tours, which are kind of perfect for a bike-centered city.
Art Galleries and Markets
Threaded with canals distinguished by narrow arched bridges, Jordaan is one of Amsterdam’s most beautiful areas and one of the best places to discover some of the city’s finest galleries, such as KochxBos, where you can buy surrealist underground art via a novel lay-away plan; Torch, where you’ll find modern photography with a quirky twist; and GlasGalerie Kuhler, where affordable glasswork is exhibited along the canal front.
Amsterdam hosts 27 markets each week. Artistically minded vendors are studded throughout most of them, but there are two markets that are exclusively arts-related. Spui Art Market, which is held each Sunday in a central neighborhood encircled by bookshops, has 25 vendors selling high quality artwork and gives buyers a chance to interact with local artists. The Thorbeckeplein Modern Art Market, also open on Sundays, is located in a charming square and focuses largely on abstract art, making it a magnet for international collectors.
Artsy Stays
For those who literally want to be ensconced in an arts space, the art’otel Amsterdam, a 107-room boutique hotel, is the perfect choice. Each room has a unique sculpture created by Rotterdam-based artists Joep van Lieshot, and the top floor of the hotel houses a gallery that showcases the work of contemporary artists and occasionally hosts artist receptions.
The Pulitzer Amsterdam, which is spread among 25 canal houses that originally belonged to Dutch aristocracy of the 17thand 18thcentury, offers fun-loving artistic details such grownup swing pods in the courtyard. The hotel runs arts weekend specials, where gusts can work with painters for private lessons. For guests looking for private space the sprawling Art Suite includes a Thierry Bruet original riff on The Last Supper. And, all guests can book a cruise aboard the gorgeous wood canal boat called the Tourist, where they will explore the canals of Amsterdam, on the very vessel that Winston Churchill once did.