Willem de Kooning at the Rijksmuseum: How to See the Winter's Big Amsterdam Show

The de Kooning rooms

The museum is at Museumstraat 1, in Cuypers' red-brick building, and the Gallery of Honour runs down to the Night Watch at the far end. De Kooning is the headline, but two more temporary shows sit inside the same ticket. WORN is in the Special Collections galleries. It is a room of clothes that were worn, altered and mended between 1640 and 1930. One is a dress handed down through generations of the Six family. Document Netherlands: New Energy closes on 17 January, the same day as de Kooning.

It is open every day from 09:00 to 17:00, public holidays included. Book an early slot if you want all three shows and the permanent collection, because a mid-afternoon start will not stretch that far. WORN stays up until 21 March 2027, so that is the one you can come back for.

Whistler and Kusama

Two more big shows are a few minutes away on the same square. Whistler. Dandy and Disruptor is on at the Van Gogh Museum, Museumplein 6, until 10 January. It is the first Whistler retrospective the Netherlands has held. It was made with Tate Britain and covers his paintings, prints and drawings, along with his influence on Van Gogh. Tickets start at €25 and under-18s are free. Everyone books a time. The museum opens at 09:00 daily and closes at 17:00 or 18:00, with a late Friday until 21:00. That Friday evening saves you a whole day.

The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam at Museumplein 10 has the Yayoi Kusama retrospective until 17 January. It is the largest Kusama show the country has staged, and it covers more than 70 years of work, including the early nature drawings, the Infinity Net paintings and several walk-in Infinity Rooms. Watch which ticket you buy. The exhibition is €32.50 for adults and €17.50 for students, and the regular €22.50 collection ticket will not get you in. Under-19s are free. It is open daily from 10:00 to 18:00, last admission 17:30. Slots sell out, so book before you travel.

Matisse on the Amstel

The H'ART Museum is at Amstel 51, in a long 17th-century almshouse facing the river, a short walk from Waterlooplein. Chez Matisse runs until 14 February and hangs Matisse with Picasso, Rothko and Barnett Newman. The centrepiece is La Blouse roumaine, which rarely leaves the Centre Pompidou. Adults pay €29.50 and students €18.50, and under-18s are free. Museumkaart holders pay a €7 supplement for this one. It is open daily from 10:00 to 17:00, last entry 16:30, and from 12:00 on 25 December and 1 January.

Mire Lee in the Oude Kerk

The Oude Kerk on Oudekerksplein gives its whole medieval floor to one artist at a time, and you walk across worn gravestones to reach the work. Mire Lee's Vomit My Blessing opens on 13 November and runs to 14 March. It is a moving structure of silicone, steel and motors, built for the church. Adults pay €14.50, students and 13- to 17-year-olds €7.50, and under-13s go free. It is open 10:00 to 18:00 Monday to Saturday, and 13:00 to 17:30 on Sunday.

Three shows on Keizersgracht

For a quiet hour away from the Museumplein queues, go to Huis Marseille at Keizersgracht 401. It runs three photography shows at once, in two linked canal houses with a garden between them. Adolphe de Meyer's Venice pictures and Maya Inès Touam's Belongings are up until 14 February, and Andrzej Steinbach's Hier until 7 February. Adults pay €12.50, students €6.50, and under-18s go free. It is open daily from 10:00 to 18:00, with Thursday until 21:00.

The day trip to Otterlo

The biggest art event of this winter is not in the city. The Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo has brought all 88 of its Van Gogh paintings together for the first time since 1984. The Potato Eaters is among them, and the show closes on 3 January. You need a timed exhibition ticket, which costs nothing extra. A combined museum and park day ticket is €27.75 for adults, €20.80 for ages 13 to 18 and €6.95 for ages 6 to 12. Museumkaart holders get the museum free but still pay €13.85 for the park. Take a train from Amsterdam Centraal to Ede-Wageningen, then a bus to the park entrance. Allow an hour and a half to two hours each way. Free white bicycles inside the park cover the last stretch. Give it the whole day, as the sculpture garden in the pine woods takes a couple of hours on top of the galleries.

Lights on the canals

The Amsterdam Light Festival is open from 26 November until 17 January. The works stand in and over the canals, so walking the route is free. They are lit from 16:30 to 23:00, and close at 21:00 on 31 December. The full loop is 4.5 km and takes about two hours on foot, and you can do it in sections. A heated covered boat along the same route starts at around €27.50 a person and takes 75 to 90 minutes. The festival app, with the route and an audio guide, is out from 24 November, and there is a children's version with a quiz.

If you came for paint on canvas, skip Fabrique des Lumières in the Westergas park, because everything in that hall is projected.

Booking and closed days

Every museum here except the churches and the canal houses needs a timed slot booked before you arrive. The Oude Kerk takes cards only. The Otterlo museum is shut on Mondays and on 1 January, so put the day trip midweek. See the Amsterdam guide and the Amsterdam hotel search.