We spent last weekend visiting museums in Amsterdam.

On Saturday, after checking in at the fantastic Conservatorium Hotel, who gave us an amazing suite with a huge bathtub overlooking the city view, we met our private guide (Peter, a retired History Professor), who took us into the sold-out Van Gogh Museum, skipping all the access lines. The museum is very nice, and thanks to Peter I learned quite a few things about an artist I had extensively read about before. But definitely the David Hockney - Van Gogh temporary exhibition felt like a stretch, a marketing ploy. One thing I did enjoy was seeing a video of the whole process of Hockney making one of his paintings using Brushes (now Brushes Redux) in the iPad.

After that we headed to the Moco Museum. As much as I love Banksy, Warhol, Basquiat, Haring, Koons, Kusama, Hirst or Dali, the truth is that the museum is small and the curation almost non existent. Although Lichtenstein’s 3D installation room and Arsham’s exhibition were worth it. Perhaps it was the annoyingly small crammed space or the narrow stairs. Or perhaps the selfie crowd. Yes, definitely it was the selfie crowd.

After the two museums, we were invited to a cocktail at the Tunes Bar where I had my first virgin pornstar martini, and then we headed to Tomaz, for some traditional Dutch dinner. Before going to bed, we “had to” try the fabulous bathtub and of course I took the opportunity to have fun in twiter:

https://twitter.com/jorgecortell/status/1127339299408576512?s=20

On Sunday we visited the All the Rembrandts exhibition at the Rijksmuseum. It was really crowded, but online ticket purchase and an excellent companion app made a big difference.

And, to round up a magnificent art weekend, we went to the Stedelijk Museum, which has a very nice collection (and curation) of modern and contemporary art. Perhaps my only complain is that the Maria Lassnig exhibit tries too hard to position her as a “legit top artist”. Again, a marketing push, and a reminder that “who’s your daddy, o who your daddy knows” matters more than anything in the art industry. Another thing I do not like, but surely the museum had nothing to do with, is that although it opens 365 days a week, on Thursday the 16th it will not open because possible celebrations by Ajax soccer team’s fans will collapse the Museum Plein access. Very sad… and telling.