Van Gogh Museum

Infobox Museum
name = Van Gogh Museum

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imagesize = 300
established = 1973
location = Museumplein Amsterdam, Netherlands [ [http://www3.vangoghmuseum.nl/vgm/index.jsp?page=213&lang=en&section=sectie_museum Van Gogh Museum - The building ] ]
type = National museum, Art museum
visitors = 1,417,096 (2005)
director = Axel Rüger
curator =
website = [http://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/ www.vangoghmuseum.nl] The Van Gogh Museum is a museum in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, featuring the works of the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh and his contemporaries. It has the largest collection of Van Gogh's paintings and drawings in the world.

Main exhibition

The main exhibition chronicles the phases of Van Gogh's life, from his childhood to his various, crazy,emotional stages through his death. Highlights include "The Potato Eaters", "Bedroom in Arles" and one of the three "Sunflowers" paintings with a yellow background.

The museum holds extensive exhibitions on various subjects from 19th Century art history. [citation | title= Van Gogh Museum: About | publisher=ARTINFO | year=2008 | url= http://www.artinfo.com/galleryguide/23071/9589/about/the-van-gogh-museum-amsterdam/ | accessdate=2008-07-30]

The building

The main structure was designed by Gerrit Rietveld and opened in 1973. The architect of the Exhibition Wing was Kisho Kurokawa; it was completed in 1999.

Theft of paintings in the museum

On the night of 7 December 2002 two of Van Gogh's works were stolen from the museum: "View of the Sea at Scheveningen" ("Zeegezicht bij Scheveningen") and "Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen" ("Het uitgaan van de hervormde kerk te Nuenen").

On December 12 2003, Octave Durham was arrested in Puerto Banus, Spain. Henk Bieslijn was arrested on an unspecified date in 2003 in Amsterdam. On April 8 2005, Durham was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison, and Bieslijn was sentenced to 4 years. They were also ordered to pay €350,000 in damages. To date, the stolen paintings have not been recovered. Due to loopholes in Dutch law, both men may be able to claim ownership of the stolen works after 20 to 30 years.

References

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/3326825.stm 'Monkey' held over Van Gogh theft]
* [http://www.vggallery.com/news/20050408.htm Two men, convicted of stealing two paintings from the Van Gogh Museum, have been sentenced]
* [http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/outlaws/major_art_thefts/6.html The Van Gogh Museum Robbery]

External links

* [http://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/ Museum website]
* [http://www.vangoghgauguin.com Award winning site of the Van Gogh Gauguin Exhibition 2002]
* [http://www.vggallery.com/index.html The Vincent van Gogh Gallery, with pictures of all his paintings and drawings]

ee Also

*Amsterdam Tourist Attractions