Are you curious about the next Van Gogh exhibit in Amsterdam?
You’re in the right place. This year alone, I have visited the Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, four times.
Two times to see the spectacular and unique exhibit “Van Gogh in Auvers – His Final Months.” Which is now closed in Amsterdam, but you can still see it in Paris. See below.
I’m a Van Gogh fan since I don’t know how long. The colors have always captivated me. And when I grew older, I found his life story interesting—so many setbacks and beauty, but still a lot of suffering.
This article will focus on the new Van Gogh exhibition in Amsterdam: “Van Gogh along the Seine.” On Display from 13 October 2023 until 14 January 2024 – A collaboration with The Art Institute of Chicago.
But we also touch on the previous exhibition about his final months in Auvers, which made such an impact.
Table of Contents
One More Change To See “Van Gogh in Auvers”
Until September 3rd, you could see the unique exhibit “Van Gogh in Auvers – His Final Months.” at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. If you missed it, you’re in luck. The exhibition will be displayed again in Paris at the Musee d’Orsay from October 3, 2023, to February 4, 2024.
That exhibit was part of the 50th-anniversary celebration of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. And it was for sure a highlight!
During his final seven weeks, Van Gogh, known for his bright colors, created 74 paintings. That is more than one a day! Can you imagine that?
50 of the 74 paintings he made in Auvers in his final months come together in one gallery for the first time — a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Are you now debating whether to go to Amsterdam OR Paris?
Why would you do that?
Combining a trip to Amsterdam with Paris is easy with the fast high-speed train connection. Reaching the city of light from Amsterdam Central Station takes less than three hours. I wrote everything you need to know about this trip: Get from Amsterdam to Paris here.
Getting your Musee d’Orsay tickets in advance is essential because it will be popular. Get yours here.
Are you not able to go to Paris? The van Gogh Museum created a stunning virtual visit video of the “Van Gogh in Auvers – His Final Months” exhibition on YouTube. This is free for you to watch.
New Van Gogh Exhibition “Van Gogh along the Seine”
After the fantastic Auvers exhibition, The Van Gogh Museum is wrapping up its anniversary year with one more exhibition worth visiting centered around art created along the river Seine in France.
Did you ever wonder why talented artists like Van Gogh, Seurat, Signac, Bernard, and Angrand were drawn to paint scenes along this river near Paris?
One reason was that in the 19th century, the introduction of bridges and trains made it easier for people to explore areas outside Paris.
This period also saw the skyline increasingly dominated by smoke from factory chimneys.
The exhibition showcases how these artists, with their eyes, captured the changing landscape in their masterpieces.
Asnières, once a peaceful town near Paris, takes a center role during this exhibition. This town transformed post-1850 due to its industrial growth.
This change attracted artists like Vincent van Gogh and Georges Seurat, who captured its evolving beauty.
Van Gogh once told his sister Willemien, “When I painted landscape in Asnières this summer, I saw more color in it than before.”
Want to see this exhibition yourself?
You can! From October 13, 2023, to January 14, 2024, at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.
A Guided Tour Adds Value
I was lucky to be on a small-group tour during the “Van Gogh in Auvers – His Final Months” exhibit.
Something the Van Gogh Museum always organizes with temporary exhibitions for only €5. That is a fantastic deal. And it’s available daily in English and Dutch.
I highly recommend a guided tour, especially for a price like this. Or to go on a private tour: it will be more expensive but flexible, and there will be no strangers. A life-guided tour gives you more depth and insight than a self-guided or audio tour.
So What Tour To Choose? Spoiler Alert: Not A Tour Company
Many other blogs recommend booking a small group tour with a tour company, which is not the best choice.
Let me be the first to say there is nothing wrong with these tours. In general, they’re great. However, they’re way more expensive than tours from the museum without added value.
Usually, it is best to book your guide directly at the museum. The quality of the Guide is the same or even better. These guides don’t come just for your tour, as external guides do. But they are employed here, contracted, often for many years, and are also researchers or tutors, and the museum vets them.
On my tour, my tour guide was Floor from the Van Gogh Museum. I was amazed at how well she could answer questions that were not that easy. Two ladies in my group studied Van Gogh and asked detailed questions. Floor answered them all with ease.
External tour companies usually ask for their “small” group tours, €100 or more per person. The Van Gogh Museum charges €5. Yes. That is not a typo. It’s an incredible deal.
The drawback is these tours don’t run often. The English tour is only given at 10:30 a.m. on weekdays and 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on weekends. There is one tour daily in Dutch, only in the afternoon (3 p.m. on weekdays and 2:15 p.m. on weekends).
PS: I had difficulty booking this tour. It’s barely advertised on the website. For example, it’s not under the tours section of the main menu. Even inside the museum, I was sent to three different places. That means demand is low. (Which is such a contrast to how the Rijksmuseum advertises their highlight tour). But a good thing for you.
The second great option is to book a private tour directly with the Van Gogh Museum—a guide just for you. You can also bring other people on the tour, but the guide will be exclusively available. No strangers.
Now, you might think that sounds expensive. It’s not. For just €105, you can book a guide at a time that suits you. €105 per party, that is, not per person.
Here is how you book a Private Tour with the Van Gogh Museum directly:
- Make sure you have tickets and a time slot first (book those here).
- Open this link to book a private tour directly with the museum.
- Ignore the confusing text on the page above the form. This is also the correct form to book a private tour for less than five people.
- Select your group size (can be as small as one), date, and time for your tour.
- On the next screen, ignore the ticket options (leave everything at 0)
- Select “Yes, I would like to complete my order” at the bottom, and check out.
- The total price should be €105.
Conclusion
Are you looking forward to visiting the “Van Gogh along the Seine” exhibit when it’s on display in Amsterdam? Then, make sure to get tickets ahead of time.
Availability on the day itself is rare. Book your tickets ahead of time and choose a timeslot to avoid disappointment. If you have the option, get a timeslot before 10 a.m., before the tour buses arrive. You might also like my article with more Van Gogh Museum Tips.
I hope you’ll consider buying your entrance ticket through this link so you can help this website at no extra cost and get a better cancelation policy.
I highly recommend going on a guided tour. A guided group tour is available for just €5 (book at the information desk), but English tours are only in the mornings, and it’s first come, first serve. Book the earliest time slot to enter to get your spot.
An alternative is booking a private tour, which is more expensive but more flexible and with no strangers—booking directly with the museum. See my instructions earlier in this article on how to do this.
I would only recommend this external tour if the museum does not have capacity.
Practical Tips
Do not bring your luggage. Only small and medium-sized lockers are available (free of charge) that can store no more than a normal-sized backpack. Not a trolley or a suitcase.
Plan to spend at least 2-3 hours here so you can explore the art at your leisure. When I do Itinerary review coaching calls with people, I often see they planned 1-2 hours for their visit to the museum, that is not enough.
You’ll feel rushed. You might get annoyed with other visitors if there is a hold-up before the most famous paintings. The result is often that you’ll likely miss some of his best pieces at the end.
By that, I mean the collection is on multiple floors chronologically, and Van Gogh improved over time. His latest and best paintings are on the top floor. But you start your tour on the bottom floor (as I would recommend doing to get the complete picture). But you might linger too long here. Then you may never see the “Almond Blossom” at the end of the route on the top floor.
Also, get the multimedia tour with your ticket or buy it separately after you arrive if it’s not included, even if you go on a live guided tour.
It’s not the best audio tour (it’s a bit outdated technology, minimal, not all items have an explanation, and often the information is a little bare). Still, it costs just a few euros, and you get more information than just walking past. So it’s worth it.
Ensure you have a meal or snack before entering, and bring water. The food and drink options at the Van Gogh Museum are expensive at €4 for a can of Coke, for example, doesn’t work for me, no matter how much I want to support them. Better spend your money in the gift shop instead (don’t miss the bookstore upstairs, either).
Tip: You can purchase an excellent, fully illustrated catalog specific to the current exhibition in the shop. Another great find in their store is the Masterpieces book.
Going to an art exhibition is tiring. If possible, don’t go on the same day you arrive in the city after a long-haul flight. Give yourself time to rest first. Also, try not “to do” two (or even more) prominent museums in one day. It should be either the Rijksmuseum or the Van Gogh on a single day. If you try to do too much, you most likely will not enjoy the 2nd one as much. It’s just too much to take in.
More Helpful Content
Here is more helpful reading around the topic of Van Gogh and museums.
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