Amsterdam Van Gogh Museum maintains the world’s largest collection of the works of the world’s most popular artist - Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), his paintings, drawings and letters, completed with the art of his contemporaries. Each year, 1.6 million visitors come to the Van Gogh Museum, making it one of the 25 most popular museums in the world.
The collection features the works of Vincent van Gogh – more than 200 painting, 500 drawings but also works of other artists, his contemporaries – Impressionists and Postimpressionists. Van Gogh's work is organized chronologically into five periods, each representing a different period of his life and work: The Netherlands, Paris, Arles, Saint-Remy and Auvers-sur-Oise. The museum made part of its collection accessible on Internet throughGoogle Art Project.
The modern main building was designed by Gerrit Rietveld, completed by his partners after his death (opened in 1973), with later built elliptical exhibition wing by Kisho Kurokawa (opened in 1999).
References:The Château de Foix dominates the town of Foix. An important tourist site, it is known as a centre of the Cathars. Built on an older 7th-century fortification, the castle is known from 987. In 1002, it was mentioned in the will of Roger I, Count of Carcassonne, who bequeathed the fortress to his youngest child, Bernard. In effect, the family ruling over the region were installed here which allowed them to control access to the upper Ariège valley and to keep surveillance from this strategic point over the lower land, protected behind impregnable walls.
In 1034, the castle became capital of the County of Foix and played a decisive role in medieval military history. During the two following centuries, the castle was home to Counts with shining personalities who became the soul of the Occitan resistance during the crusade against the Albigensians.