Review of Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum permanent collection and Frans Hals Temporary exhibition.
The Rijksmuseum is the architectural jewel in the museumplein’s crown. A huge building right in the middle, designed kind of like a church. At this museum I saw some really famous and valuable art. Rembrandt, Vermeer, Frans Hals, Geester, Van Gogh, Dürer, etc… It is very cool, but overload!
I make sure to bring a notebook and pencil to take any notes and leave my phone in my pocket. These big galleries with their salon style hang (when the walls are covered frame-to-frame with paintings) are very intense. I think maybe that was the beginning of the rapid visual consumption that we get now by tv, social media infinity scroll, billboards on the street etc.
I tried to at least glance at everything and take some longer moments on anything particularly striking.
I will always find it silly/funny-but-in-a-sad-way the paintings of baby Jesus with blue eyes and blond hair and totally shredded with abs and leg muscles beyond body builder standard.
Frans Hals was a stand alone exhibition which was really amazing. Unlike all his artist friends of the 17th Century, Hals was much more expressive with his brush strokes. He painted faster and with more life and you can tell also by the portraits. He often painted children, or people smiling, and laughing. This was some cool painting.
So we give a generous 9 out of 10 for the Rijks for serving more art than we could possibly eat. But we like that it was the good stuff!
Image- De Heilige Familie, Jan Cornelisz . Ca. 1528-1530
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