Van Gogh in the Netherlands 2

It was my second time to visit the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, which contains the largest collection of Van Gogh's paintings in the world. I was so happy to visit there again and re-discover the beauty of Van Gogh's paintings including his most famous Sunflower and some of his self portraits.



The museum provides a detailed account of Van Gogh's artist life, including presenting his painting and decorating tools, drafts and personal letters. It also compares his paintings to works by other artists from the 19th century in the collection. (My brother and I both agreed that Van Gogh's was not that talented compared to other artists such as Monet and Camille Pissarro)

Anyway I found lots of well-painted works of Van Gogh in the museum after the 4 hour visit.
1. Apples 1887

After moving to Paris, Van Gogh met the founders and key artists of Impressionism and Pointillism and he transformed their colours and techniques in his still-life paintings. I was amazed by the background of this painting. The original setting is diffused by the directional swirls of coloured brushstroke, which reminds me of Monet's Blue Water Lilies.



2.Vase with Gladioli and China Asters

I like the bright colours and looser brushstrokes in this painting. If you observe it closely, you can see how thick the brush is.

3. Seascape near Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer

I like the contrast in this painting created in this painting. Tranquil sky vs Wavy sea. Van Gogh stacked the paint on top of each layer, creating a thinker and defined colour for the sea. He also used blue, green and orange to paint the water in which i find fascinating. The painting depicts flow and balance through the use of these colours and directions of brush strokes, creating waves and tides in the sea. 

In contrast, the layer of the sky is rarely thin and the clouds are slowly drifting over the landscape.

4.Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat

Van Gogh painted over 30 self-portraits between the years 1886 and 1889. His collection of self-portraits places him among the most prolific self-portraitists of all time. He painted this one when he was in Paris. His eyes stare out from his face in half-profile and express his world-weariness. He seems to search for his identity and his style in the artist world.

Van Gogh in the Netherlands 1

I have been to two Van Gogh exhibitions/museums during my visit in the Netherlands.

At first, we went to Kröller-Müller Museum which is located in the midst of the woods in the National Park De Hoge Veluwe. We have spent around 2 hrs taking both trains and bus to arrive there from Amsterdam. But I think it is totally worthwhile to go. The museum is named after Helen Kröller-Müller who was regarded as one of the first European women to hold a major art collection. 

Under the influence and guidance of her aesthetic advisor H.P. Bremmer, she decided that Van Gogh's work was the highest and purest art that could ever be experienced, she roamed dealers and auctions for 20 years (from 1908-1928) to acquire a representative selection of his works, both paintings and drawings. She ended up with an odd 90 paintings and 180 works on paper by the artist.

 

Unspoiled natural surroundings 

 (taken by my Dad) 

We have visited this exhibition which focuses the works from his time in France (1886-1890) when he reached maturity.

From the huge collection of Van Gogh's paintings, I have picked 2 as my favorites.
1. Country Road in Provence by Night (Road with Cypress and Star) 1890

Van Gogh has painted this painting with many similarities to Starry Night, he has painted the artwork with numerous distinct brush strokes that merge and form together as you move further away. When I looked at this painting, there was a sensual effect which lies beyond the visual experience. I could sense the two gentlemen are coming towards me, hear the carriage travelling on the road, feel the silence of the huge night sky. 

"I still have a cypress with a star from down there, a last attempt - a night sky with a moon without radiance, the slender crescent barely emerging from the opaque shadow cast by the earth - one star with an exaggerated brilliance, if you like, a soft brilliance of pink and green in the ultramarine sky, across which some clouds are hurrying. Below, a road bordered with tall yellow canes, behind these the blue Basses Alpes, an old inn with yellow lighted windows, and a very tall cypress, very straight, very sombre. 
On the road, a yellow cart with a white horse in harness, and two late wayfarers. Very romantic, if you like, but also Provence, I think." - 

Vincent van Gogh to Paul Gauguin. Auvers-sur-Oise. Jun 17, 1890. 

2. Terrace of a cafe at night 1888

Van Gogh once again wanted to explore the colour of night. The sky in this painting resembles The Starry Night, but this time he portrayed the sublime nature of the sky. The sky is illuminated by artificial gas lanterns of the partially depicted exterior of a Parisian cafe, which is the focus of this painting. There is a waitress serving the guests while some passerbys taking a stroll under the starry sky. Van Gogh seeks to communicate his emotions and feelings through the entire piece. A strong sense of sublime feeling on such a perfect night is created by his radiant colours and sharp contrasts.

I admire his skills in painting the paving stones of the road. The pinkish violet tone of those stones could only be reflected under the darkness in the night time.

'Here you have a nocturne without any black, only beautiful blue, violet and green and in these surroundings the lighted square acquires a pale sulphur yellow'

Van Gogh note to his sister will

A New Hobby-Geocaching

It was a Sunday morning!
I was lounging around the house in Wittenberg, Germany.
The daughter of the host family introduced me Geocaching and asked me to join her adventure.

Geocaching is an outdoor treasure hunt game, which focuses on exploring and finding hidden things through the use of GPS systems. Participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache (container) hidden at that location. The caches could contain different things, including videos, books, software, money, food. Thus, it is always a surprise.

The main idea behind it may have been around for hundreds of years, but Geocaching itself was only born in 2000. It was introduced by an US citizen Dave Ulmer after the removal of selective availability on civilian GPS receivers. He then celebrated this new found freedom in global navigation and developed the idea of Geocaching.

Before looking for the Cache, we have located the GPS coordinator in Sabina's mobile phone and made a note of the description of the Cache given by the person who hides the Cache, including the size and type. Then we drove to the location and looked for the hidden treasure.

We were led to a mountain in the town. It was described as one of the most beautiful places to view the town. We have enjoyed the view and in the meanwhile looked for the hidden Cache. We finally found it hidden under the big stone. Sabina signed the logbook and we found some small toys and a small camera in the box. We followed the guideline and took a picture of our feet and then we left to look for another one.

The Second one was hidden under a piece of wood. We have searched for the area for so many times. After 10 mins, Sabina found it! This Cache is smaller and contains only some papers.

I have found this idea very interesting. Sabina told me she usually did it on Sunday as she could go for a walk and have some fun at the same time. She also tried to find a Cache located in Hong Kong. To my surprise, there are quite a few in Hong Kong. Some are located even in the TST Pier and urban parks and most of them are located in the country parks. There are some groups in Hong Kong who like this game and they have organized tour regularly . But I doubt if the people in Hong Kong have the mood during weekends to find them. Anyway it is something new and I would like to go for a treasure hunt someday in hectic Hong Kong.

Official Website: http://www.geocaching.com/