Visiting the Rijksmuseum

Over the christmas holidays I visited the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. 

The museum holds over 8,000 art works from the years 1200-2000, among which are pieces by Rembrandt, Frans Hals and Johannes Vermeer. Over the term of this course, I have been exploring different mediums such as sculpture, painting and drawing- all of which are explored at this gallery in many different, fascinating ways. Not only was visiting this gallery a great experience, it was

 also very significant in discovering new source material for my personal work; discovering the brilliant work of many different artists- ranging from sculpture to paintings, and many other different mediums; the fascinating sculptures that I saw at this exhibition made me consider using sculpture in my work more often. 

Here are some of my most favourited pieces from the exhibition. 

This was a small sculpture that I saw, depicting seven men and women gathered around a table. There is a strong element of unsettlement, which is portrayed through their dazed, and rather miserable facial expressions; this unsettling atmosphere is furthermore reemphasised through their dreary, dark clothing.  

This was one of my most favourited sculptures from the exhibition, a sculpture of a young man, looking down in a sort of daze. What caught my attention most about this sculpture was the deep crack that cuts through his whole face. I wasn't sure whether the artist made this crack deliberately or just whether this sculpture has dishevelled over time. There's something very unsettling about this piece, especially whist I was taking the photograph, it seems as if this character is going to suddenly turn to look at me. I find doll faces very fascinating, but extremely unsettling, creepy- and sinister in some ways.