World-class art in Amsterdam

Amsterdam has a rich artistic heritage that stretches back centuries. In the 1600s, now known as the Dutch Golden Age, wealth flowed into the city, and prosperous merchants commissioned paintings and portraits, to decorate the walls of their gabled mansions. Artists set up workshops to meet the demand, including Rembrandt in the capital and Frans Hals in nearby Haarlem.

No surprise then that the city is now home to three of the world’s leading art museums – all within walking distance of one another.

Perhaps no Dutch artist is more revered than Van Gogh, and though he lived only briefly in Amsterdam, it’s here that you can see the largest collection of his works – some 200 paintings and 400 drawings – at his namesake museum. The nearby Rijksmuseum houses an unparalleled collection of Old Masters, including Rembrandt’s celebrated ‘The Night Watch’ and four paintings by Vermeer.

The 20th century saw important Dutch art movements such as De Stijl and CoBrA, whose influence spread far beyond the country’s borders. A stellar assortment of these works – including the precise, primary-colour-blocked paintings of De Stijl founder Piet Mondrian – can be seen at the Stedelijk Museum, which also holds a first-rate modern and contemporary collection by international artists.