Amsterdam

Yesterday I went to Amsterdam. It was a cool Metropolitan city, which felt a little like Melbourne, with arty stores lining the streets. Trams continually streaming past looping back and forth to central station to the Museum quarter.

However, Amsterdam had a bit of seedy undertone as well it felt a little bit like a circus at times. The European Bali. It seems like lots of Europeans and tourists flock here to make use of the liberated culture. Smoke dope and shag chicks. This was just one feeling in the city, which i am sure is ripe on the weekends.

Anyway, that aside after a long walk being lost on the complex canal system I made it to the Van Gogh Museum. It was teeming with tourists. But tourists aside I put my headset on and zoned out.

It is pretty striking to see how contemporary Van Gogh was for the times. His strong use of colour and texture creates really intense moods in his paintings.

I was most struck by his works featuring cherry blossom trees. I have not really seen these works in reproductions before. However, the works manage to capture the delicateness of the tree and the atmosphere of Spring.

Standing shoulder to shoulder, with streams of people crawling along the walls of the Van Gogh museum appreciating his works, I felt a tinge of sadness. To think Van Gogh’s work went relatively unappreciated until after his death is a bit disappointing. He was probably just considered a mentally impaired man during his life.

It is a little bit ironic the way the arts scene works!