Van Gogh Museum

The Van Gogh Museum on Amsterdam's Museumplein holds the largest collection of Vincent van Gogh's work anywhere in the world — more than 200 paintings and 500 drawings spanning his entire career, from the dark Dutch interiors of the early 1880s to the luminous Provençal landscapes painted just before his death in 1890. The main building was designed by Gerrit Rietveld and opened in 1973; a curved wing added by Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa in 1999 houses temporary exhibitions. Van Gogh's extensive letters to his brother Theo are displayed alongside the canvases and offer an unusually direct window into his working process and fragile mental state. Advance booking is strongly recommended as daily capacity is limited; Friday evenings typically see the lightest crowds.

200 paintings, 500 drawings, 700 letters — Vincent's life work in chronological order, drawn from the family's private holdings.