Next to the Van Gogh Museum is the Stedelijk Museum (Ph: 573 29 11) at Paulus Potterstruat 13, the Municipal Museum that focuses on modern art paintings, sculptures, photography and anything else that qualifies from 1850 to the present. It's one of the world's leading museums of modern art, though this wasn't always the case: when the Dutch Renaissance building opened its doors in 1895 it housed the private collection of art patroness Sophia de Bruijn, mainly bric a brac that was thrown out in subsequent years. Before WWII it evolved into the national museum of modern art, and under the driving force of its postwar curator, Willem Sandberg, it amassed the eclectic collection you can enjoy today.
This includes works by Monet, Van Gogh, Cezanne, Matisse, Picasso, Kirchner and Chagall as well as other modem 'classics', including a unique collection of some 50 works by the Russian artist Malevich. There are abstract works by Mondriaan, Van Doesburg and Kandinsky, and
post WWII selection of creations by Appel (great mural in the cafe restaurant), De Kooning, Newman, Ryman, Judd, Warhol, Diblels, Baselitz, Dubuffet, Lichtenstein, Polke and Rietveld's furniture. Sculptures include works by Rodin, Renoir, Moore, Laurens and Visser. Some of these are on display in the sculpture garden overlooked by a pleasant cafe restaurant that draws the glitterati of the (inter)national arts scene.
The museum displays most of its permanent collection in the summer months. At other times of the year many of the works make way for changing exhibitions that some people will consider pretentious nonsense while others will be ecstatic, though the planned expansion onto Museumplein should provide space for everything. It's open daily from I I am to 5 pro and costs f9 (A.50 with discounts); special exhibitions might cost extra. Grab a floor plan from the information desk to your left as you enter. Phone or check the Web site www.stedelijk.nl for lectures and art history courses.
