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Now if you walk back from
the "Nightwatch" to the Foyer, you will pass a lot of arched rooms
where the main works are also from Rembrandt or his school. I will not start to
give room numbers, it changes all the time, juts look around, or ask a guard,
he'll help you, but you must not miss Rembrandt's "Jewish Bride" and
the "Syndics", both painted towards the end of his life. And the
followers and pupils of Rembrandt. Check the works of Ferdinand Bol, Govaert
Flinck, Aart de Gelder and others.
Now the Rijksmuseum is not only a painting museum! About half of it is occupied
by sculptures and decorative objects. From
medieval age to Art Nouveau. Loiter around in this section where at random you
will stumble on a 17th century room reconstitution, Delft porcelain and other
items you usually find in those kid of sections. If you descend to the ground
floor again, notice the cute dollhouses in room 164 (if not moved;-)). The
basement halls are not very interesting.
Last part of the museum is the new south wing housing paintings of the 18th and
19th century, Oriental art and temporary exhibitions. In room 19 you can see
some paintings of the Hague School of which Anton Mauve was Van Goth’s first
art teacher. Next room has a few Monet and Van Gogh.
The Asiatic part houses about 500 Buddha’s painted screens, beautiful Chinese
calligraphy and superb, typical Far East jewellery.
Conclusion? The Rijksmuseum ends by no means with Rembrandt's Nightwatch, but
after having seen it, almost anything else risks coming over as anti-climactic.
Better to end on a high note and leave for the wide-open spaces of the
Vondelpark.
Leave the museum at the north side,
follow the Stadhouderskade and make a left when you see the Cornelisz
Hooftstraat (a famous Dutch poet and writer). Now just straight on and you
arrive at Vondelpark, a 48 hectares rectangular green space with great lawns,
trees and lakes. Some of the lakes have even tiny islands on it, and if you made
some feminine (or masculine) encounter in the museum or somewhere else (?) I can
assure you that there are a lot of secret little spots. Isn't democracy a great
thing?? ;-p.
Vondelpark is a lively place, especially in summer, when it becomes the haven
for all what is special and weird in Amsterdam, weird but gentle! Next to the
sunbathers (when the sun is kind enough to be present!), kite-fliers, musicians
ands street entertainers. On certain nights
You can watch freely open -air concerts or "experimental" plays. In
the late 60's and early 70's it was even a paradise of the European liberated
youth, like the "hippies" with their counter-culture, thousands of
people camping and creating a summer-long festival atmosphere. It was even
possible to sleep without any problem in the park. Today, all this is over, gone
and terminated! The hippie dream turned sour with the increase of crimes,
muggings, and hard-drug use. It's like that, why conceal it. Don't spend the
night in Vondelpark today! The police will in any case crack down on people
sleeping in the park.
But during the day, open-air rock concerts, jewellery sellers who flock here on
a summer Sundays (while the Dutch flock in Antwerp every Sunday to buy their
jewels in the Pelikaanstraat!), makes the park an agreeable spot for walking and
taking in some fresh chlorophyll. Or have a little jog, use your rollers (you
brought with you;-) or take a little nap, not more. And if you want a cup of
coffee or tea, you have the Round Blue teahouse ('t Ronde Blauwe Theehuisje).
You can't miss it, it's in front of the statue of Vondel
Oh yes, I almost forgot. The Nederlands Filmmuseum is also a part of the park.
It's a building of contrasts. Outside looking like a 19th century pavilion,
inside a perfect example of how the movie theatres looked in the early stages of
motion pictures. This interior, Amsterdam's first ever movie Theatre was almost
destroyed in 1987 (real estate promoters wanted a sort of water-slide and other
idiot things to make money in this invaluable place) but it was finally
restored.
You can leave the park by the Filmmuseum gate, turn right, walk up Vondelstraat,
cross again the Stadhouderskade and Singelgracht and end the walk at Leidseplein.
Bibliography
Holland, by Adam Hopkins
(Faber and Faber, 1988), Penguin Guide to Amsterdam (ed.Vincent Westzaan,
Penguin 1990), Guide du Routard 1998 (ed.Hachette), De Nederlandse Realiteit, by
J.Oostkamp (own folders).-Die Niederlande in Europa Geschichte (Dieter
Verlag-Munchen 1986)-Dwalen door Amsterdam, Reizen door de Benelux, ed. Lekturama 1984)-Rijksmuseum catalogus 1995
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