Author Terry Lee Marzell on her recent field trip to the Vincent Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Just about every educator would agree that field trips are an excellent example of experiential learning, and a terrific learning tool for teachers. But, let’s be realistic, very few teachers can afford to escort a group of students to Europe. Most of the time the best the teacher can do is take a tour personally, and then share the experience with the class upon return home. One field trip I would definitely recommend to any art teacher is a tour of the Vincent Van Gogh Museum located in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

I have to say, visiting this museum, coupled with my reading of Irving Stone’s landmark biographical novel Lust for Life, truly expanded my knowledge and appreciation of this iconic 19th-century Dutch painter. Here’s what I learned. In Van Gogh’s day, most painters studied how to realistically reproduce pictures of the human body, because they relied on painting portraits of wealthy patrons in order to earn a living. Many of these portraits depicted prominent citizens and their families or servants seated in the affluent surroundings of their homes or businesses. Usually, these portraits were pragmatic representations using dark and somber colors, steady brush strokes, and clear outlines for the objects in their works.

“View of Arles with Irises in the Foreground” by Vincent Van Gogh in 1888. Hanging in the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

But Van Gogh was an innovator. He preferred to paint pictures depicting breathtaking landscapes of expansive fields full of blooming flowers. If he chose to paint portraits, his subjects were the common working man and his family, such as farmers or coal miners. These were portraits Van Gogh did not get paid for. He didn’t worry about earning a living because most of his life he was supported by his younger brother. Van Gogh’s paintings are characterized by brilliant colors and swirly, dramatic brush strokes which convey energy and movement. And as forerunner of the impressionist movement, he used indistinct outlines for the objects in his works.

Once inside the museum, standing before these stunning paintings, I fell in love with Van Gogh’s art.

What I learned about Van Gogh through my reading and my field trip to the Amsterdam museum is probably nothing new to the art teacher. But because of these experiences I achieved a monumental mind-shift in my understanding and appreciation of art in general, particularly 19th-century art, and specifically Van Gogh’s art. This mind-shift would not likely have occurred otherwise. This is what the educator hopes to achieve through field trips.

In a tour to the Vincent Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the visitor encounters this image of the famous Dutch painter, surrounded by a comprehensive exhibit of his self-portraits.