Dutch Van’s the man

Surround yourself with art, it lifts the spirits and Dutch Van’s the man.

I know I do, and I have Van Goghs hanging on the wall around me in my home office as I write.

Not originals… give me time, the site is only just launched after all.

So, it was with great excitement that I read that two Vincent Van Gogh paintings that were lost for 14 years, View of the Sea at Scheveningen and Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Neunen have now been returned.

All shiny and new… to the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam.

And find out how they did it… 

Vincent’s a picture

Art should never be seen as the preserve of the hoity-toity.

Vincent saw that everyday folk are as glorious as any saint or king.

While Rembrandt rewrote the rules on portrait art, and Breughel the Younger pricked society’s pomposity.

Amsterdam is a rich canvas, great art, culture, food, cycling, canals…

And of course the humbling memorial to a young girl who dreamt of becoming a journalist and whose life was cut short by the Nazis.

But whose legacy has gone onto inspire the generations of dreamers and writers who have followed.

In this week when the shining light that was Lyra McKee was dimmed.

I refuse to credit the coward who killed her by saying it was put out it is worth highlighting what an inclusive and fun city Derry really is.

And nobody does fun quite like Tom Sweeney. Read his unmissable blog and thoughts on Derry.

By George

And, of course, my review of Amsterdam, where I’ll introduce readers to my one and only Scary One!

I’ll tell you too about George and Amal’s favourite hotel in Amsterdam.

But for now Dutch Van’s the man.