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Explore the Van Gogh Museum collection | What to see, highlights, & more

Located in Amsterdam, the Van Gogh Museum houses the world's largest collection of Vincent van Gogh's masterworks, drawings, and personal letters.

Discover the Van Gogh Museum collection

Exhibition room with paintings at Van Gogh Museum, Museumplein, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Stepping into the Van Gogh Museum takes you on an immersive visual journey through the artist's life and dramatic career evolution. The collection spans over 200 paintings, 500 original drawings, and 700 personal letters written between 1881 and 1890. You can trace his transition from dark, realistic depictions of Dutch rural life to the vibrant, expressive colour palettes created during his time in Arles and Saint-Rémy.

In addition to Vincent’s work, the gallery exhibits iconic pieces by Impressionist and Post-Impressionist contemporaries who influenced or worked alongside him.

What you'll see on every floor

Van Gogh Museum collection | What to look out for?

The museum structures its vast repository across distinct thematic categories:

Paintings

Famous oil canvases highlighting landscapes, intimate portraits, still lifes, and emotional self-portraits.

Drawings & sketches

Delicate pencil and ink works displaying his draftsmanship and evolving artistic style.

Letters & personal items

Heartfelt correspondence with his brother Theo, featuring preliminary sketches of famous compositions.

Navigating the Van Gogh Museum gallery

Ground floor (Floor 0): Self-portraits & early years

  • Highlights: Vincent’s striking series of self-portraits and introduction to his early life.
  • Key focus: Trace his early artistic development alongside introductory video installations and personal memorabilia.

First floor (Floor 1): Van Gogh's masterpieces

  • Highlights: Sunflowers, The Potato Eaters, The Bedroom, and Almond Blossom.
  • Key focus: The core highlight of the museum, arranged chronologically to showcase his evolution from dark Dutch realism to brilliant French Post-Impressionism.

Second floor (Floor 2): Drawings, letters, & the Bonger collection

  • Highlights: Personal letters to Theo, fragile sketches, and the Bonger collection.
  • Key focus: An intimate look into Vincent’s inner mind, artistic struggles, and works by Post-Impressionist peers collected by Andries Bonger.

Third floor (Floor 3): Japanese prints & contemporaries

  • Highlights: Japanese woodblock prints (ukiyo-e), French printmaking, and works by Gauguin, Monet, and Toulouse-Lautrec.
  • Key focus: Highlights the artists who inspired Van Gogh and demonstrates his profound fascination with Japanese art composition.

Van Gogh Museum artworks

Van Gogh Museum entrance with large self-portrait display, Amsterdam.
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Sunflowers

  • Artist: Vincent van Gogh
  • Year: 1889
  • Location: Floor 1, Permanent Collection

One of the most famous Van Gogh Museum artworks, featuring bright yellow tones, painted in Arles.

The Potato Eaters

  • Artist: Vincent van Gogh
  • Year: 1885
  • Location: Floor 1, Permanent Collection

Van Gogh's early masterpiece portraying Dutch peasant life in raw, dark, and earthy tones.

Almond Blossom

  • Artist: Vincent van Gogh
  • Year: 1890
  • Location: Floor 1, Permanent Collection

Created as a gift celebrating the birth of his nephew, symbolizing new life and hope.

The Bedroom

  • Artist: Vincent van Gogh
  • Year: 1888
  • Location: Floor 1, Permanent Collection

A vivid depiction of his bedroom in the Yellow House, using bold contrasting colours to show restfulness.

Self-Portrait with Grey Felt Hat

  • Artist: Vincent van Gogh
  • Year: 1887
  • Location: Floor 1, Permanent Collection

Highlights his Paris period, showcasing dynamic pointillist brushwork and intense colour experiments.

Frequently asked questions about the Van Gogh Museum gallery

The gallery showcases over 200 paintings, 500 drawings, and 700 personal letters. It also features 19th-century French prints and works by Van Gogh’s contemporaries like Gauguin and Monet.