Therese Sta. MariaIn a mood for a starry starry night? Well, we may not be able to see Vincent Van Gogh’s works in person due to travel restrictions, but we can still take a virtual tour through the one and only Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam!
Granted, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam doesn’t actually house the Starry Night painting (this is found in the Museum of Modern Art in New York), but it contains the world’s largest collection of Van Gogh paintings. His self-portraits, paintings of fields and flowers, as well as portraits of people he met before his untimely death, are all found in the Amsterdam museum.
Also read: How to Visit the Louvre Online and See Its Entire Collection for Free
How to enjoy the Van Gogh Museum from home
On the museum’s website, there are actually several options for Van Gogh admirers to learn about dear ol’ Vincent. You may choose to go on a 4K virtual tour to explore the different galleries; you can also “unravel Van Gogh’s paintings” as you study the layers of each of his masterpieces and read about how he would describe them; for the sentimental at heart, the website also shares Van Gogh’s greatest letters and quotes as to let people dive deeper into the mind of this artistic genius.
Navigating the website is easy. Here’s how to do it:
The Van Gogh 4K virtual tours
Image credit: Jean Carlo Emer
Simply scroll down the homepage of the Van Gogh Museum website and look for “YouTube.” You’ll see the thumbnail for the 4K virtual tours right below it. Once you click it, you’ll be transported to the museum’s YouTube virtual tour playlist.
The virtual tour series is composed of eight videos overall. Each video has a length of one and a half to two and a half minutes on average. The videos will show you what the museum looks like inside as they take you closer to each painting for your perusal. The mood music in the background of each video also helps set the tone of the experience, as each spectator witnesses Vincent Van Gogh’s greatness through the screen.
Unravel Van Gogh
Image credit: Jean Carlo Emer
This feature is another educational treat for the audience. On the website’s homepage, scroll to the bottom and find “Unravel Van Gogh” below “Apps and more.” Here, you will learn about the hidden stories behind some of his special paintings.
Each page is also an interactive display where you can appreciate layers of the painting, from the sketch and colouring to the framing, with a swipe of your cursor or finger (depending on the device you’re using). The paintings available in this feature include Field with the Irises near Arles, The Bedroom, The Cottage, Garden of the Asylum, and many more.
What else can you do on the museum’s website?
If you’d rather just view the Van Gogh collection online minus the virtual tour of the museum, you can also do that here. The website basically quenches any artistic thirst you might be experiencing during this pandemic. It won’t only take you around the museum and give you a peek into Vincent’s thoughts; it will also offer you resources to learn more about his life.
It will answer frequently asked questions, and even teach you how to paint like him. There’s also a section dedicated to children who want to become as skilled as the greatest post-impressionist painter to have ever lived.
Vincent Van Gogh lived a life of simplicity mixed with a lot of turmoil. Our gratitude to him may come too late, but we offer it tenfold nonetheless. Want to see his paintings in person post-pandemic? Read about the different locations here. Until then, happy virtual tour of the Van Gogh Museum!
Featured image credits (L-R): Frans Ruiter and Jean Carlo Emer| Unsplash
