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Rijksmuseum Review

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Rijksmuseum

Address: Stadhouderskade 42, ; entrance during renovations: Jan Luijkenstraat 1, Museum District, Amsterdam
Phone: 020/674-7000
www.rijksmuseum.nl

State Museum

Category: Museums/Galleries
Location: Museum District

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Fodor's Review:

The Rijksmuseum is home to Rembrandt's Night Watch, Vermeer's The Kitchen Maid, and world-famous masterpieces by Steen, Ruisdael, Brouwers, Hals, Hobbema, Cuyp, Van der Helst, and their Golden Age ilk. Sadly, this national treasure is closed until 2010 for extensive renovations. Happily, the South Wing (now renamed the Philips Wing after its sponsors) is open to showcase the museum's "Best of" works. When the museum reopens, you can look forward to more than 150 rooms of paintings, sculpture, and objects with Western and Asian roots, dating from the 9th through the 19th century. The bulk of the collection is of 15th- to 17th-century paintings, mostly by Dutch masters, as well as drawings and prints from the 15th to 20th century. Until 2010, you can view the finest 17th-century collection in The Masterpieces exhibit, and get an overview of more than 400 Golden Age masterpieces in the redesigned Philips Wing. Don't leave the country without visiting the mini-museum (Holland Boulevard between piers E and F. 020/653-5036. Weekdays 7 AM-8 PM. Free) at Schiphol Airport. To check out the renovations drop in at the Information Center (10 AM-4 PM daily) located in the garden of the Rijksmuseum (take the Jan Luijkenstraat entrance). View a 3-D film on the project or go on the popular "Hard Hat Tour" through the construction site.

Designed by P. J. H. Cuypers in the late 1880s, the Rijksmuseum is a magnificent, turreted building that glitters with gold leaf and is textured with sculpture—a fitting palace for a national art collection.

Cost: EUR 10
Open: Sat.-Thurs. 9-6, Fri. 9 AM—10 PM. Museum ticket counter closes at 5:30 PM (Fri. at 9:30 PM). Infocenter (The New Rijksmuseum): Tues.-Sun. 11-4. Library, Print Room, and Reading Room: Tues.-Sat. 10-5. ID required. Rijksmuseum Amsterdam Schiphol (behind the passport control): Daily 7 AM—8 PM

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