Tickets to see Pokemon in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam in 2023 are only sold online – buy well in advance on weekends and holiday periods.
Pikachu, Eevee, Snorlax, and many other Pokémon characters are on show in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam in a special exhibition and related events from 28 September 2023 until 7 January 2024. A regular Van Gogh Museum ticket is required to visit. Tickets are only sold online and book free time-slot reservations for children under 18 years old. Keep in mind that much of the exhibition period is high season for the Van Gogh Museum and several days in school holiday periods have already sold out — buy tickets as early as possible. (Sometimes tours and combination tickets are still available when standard tickets are sold out.)
Pokemon in the Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam
Pokémon and the Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam have launched an official collaboration to introduce new young audiences to the work of Vincent van Gogh. From 28 September 2023 to 7 January 2024, Pokémon exhibitions and events in the Van Gogh Museum include:
- Six paintings of Pokemon characters in the style of Van Gogh;
- Pokemon activity sheet that may be exchanged for a special Pikachu x Van Gogh Museum promo card
- “How to Draw Pikachu” video in the museum restaurant.
- Special Pokemon and Van Gogh merchandise only available from the museum shop in Amsterdam.
Both Vincent van Gogh’s work and Pokémon have a special connection with Japanese art and culture. Japanese prints had a profound impact on Vincent’s art and on his worldview. Speaking to his brother Theo in a letter in September 1888, Vincent said “And we wouldn’t be able to study Japanese art, it seems to me, without becoming much happier and more cheerful, and it makes us return to nature, despite our education and our work in a world of convention.”
Pokémon Paintings in the Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam
The six Pokémon paintings are displayed in a special section on the first floor of the permanent collection exhibition in the Van Gogh Museum. Several of Vincent van Gogh’s most famous works from the permanent collection of the Van Gogh Museum served as inspiration for the six paintings made by artists from The Pokémon Company. Examples include Pikachu shown in a work that is inspired by Self-portrait with Grey Felt Hat (1887), the Pokémon Sunflora is hidden in a variant of Van Gogh’s famous Sunflowers (1889), and you can find Snorlax and Munchlax relaxing in a work inspired by The Bedroom (1888).
The six Van Gogh-inspired Pokémon paintings at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam in 2023 are:
Naoyo Kimura (1960):
- Pikachu inspired by Self-Portrait with Grey Felt Hat
- Corviknight inspired by Wheatfield with Crows
sowsow (1988):
- Munchlax & Snorlax inspired by The Bedroom
- Eevee inspired by Self-Portrait with Straw Hat
Tomokazu Komiya (1973):
- Sunflora inspired by Sunflowers
- Smeargle inspired by Self-Portrait as a Painter
During the same period, from mid-October 2023 to mid-January 2024, the main temporary exhibition in the Van Gogh Museum, included in all tickets, is “Van Gogh Along the Seine”. It compares Vincent van Gogh’s paintings painted at Asnières along the Seine near Paris with the work of four contemporaries who worked at the same locations: Paul Signac, Georges Seurat, Emile Bernard, and Charles Angrand.
Pokémon Adventure Activity and Pikachu x Van Gogh Museum Promo Card
A Pokémon Adventure leaflet lead young visitors along the works by Vincent van Gogh that served as inspiration for the paintings in the six-piece special presentation, Pokémon in the Van Gogh Museum. During the activity, visitors will discover the museum and the stories behind the paintings.
Once participants complete the Pokémon Adventure activity, they can exchange the completed leaflet for a special Pikachu x Van Gogh Museum promo card (subject to availability and strictly only one per person). Enquire at the Information Desk in the Atrium.
This activity is suitable for everyone from 6 years+ and the leaflet is available in both English and Dutch. However, the only way to get a Pikachu x Van Gogh Museum Promo card is to complete the activity sheet — forget your age and do it, children (not all that young) and grandchildren will be more than impressed with that exclusive souvenir. (Pokemon is bigger business than many regular Van Gogh Museum visitors may expect.)
‘How to Draw Pikachu’ Video Guide
Another activity aimed at children but of course open to everyone is drawing Pikachu. A guided video activity will be available in the museum that teaches visitors how to draw fan favorite Pokémon Pikachu and encourages them to try this for themselves.
The video is shown at the museum restaurant on level 0. Free pencils and paper are available.
The Van Gogh Museum website also has many online activities — although aimed at primary and secondary school classes, many of these activities are also easy to adapt or do at home.
Pokémon Merchandise at the Van Gogh Museum Store
Pokémon merchandise is huge business and apparently, scalpers bought out nearly all Pokémon x Van Gogh Museum items before the exhibition even opened. (More stock may become available later in the year.) As a result, strict limitations are placed on items bought from the museum shop — only one piece per product per customer.
The museum shop of the Van Gogh Museum is after the ticket barrier so only visitors with museum tickets have access to the shop.
Van Gogh Museum Opening Hours
The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam is open every day but opening hours change frequently (but not by much).
Until 5 November 2023:
- Open daily from 9:00 to 18:00.
From 6 November to 15 December 2023:
- Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 17:00
- Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 to 18:00
16 to 31 December 2023:
- Daily from 9:00 to 18:00 but
- 24, 25, 26 and 31 December from 9:00 to 17:00
The best times to visit the Van Gogh Museum is right at opening time (first or second morning time slots) or in the afternoon after 15:00. The museum is usually very busy over weekends and the Christmas holidays — expect tickets to sell out on many days.
The museum entrance is at the glass atrium between the old Rietveld building that houses the permanent exhibition and the modern oval-shaped building used for temporary exhibitions. There is no need to line up any time earlier than the entry time stated on the ticket. Once inside the museum, visitors may see the exhibitions in any order and repeat visits until closing time.
Tickets for the Pokemon Exhibition in the Van Gogh Museum
Van Gogh Museum tickets always include admission to the permanent exhibition and all special temporary exhibitions open on the day of the visit. Tickets are only sold online and are not availabe in person at the museum itself. The museumshop and restaurant are after the ticket checkpoint and open for ticketholders only.
Admission tickets to the Van Gogh Museum is €20 (€22 from 2024) for adults. Children under 18 enter for free with adults (if not in a school group) but need their own free timeslot reservations, which should be make at time of buying the adult ticket. Students pay €10 but only on weekdays excluding public and school holidays, i.e. most of the Christmas holidays. No other age-related discounts are offered. The Dutch Museum Card (Museumkaart) and iAmsterdam Card are accepted (but getting a free e-ticket with a time-slot reservation online is essential).
Tickets are the cheapest directly from the museum website but authorised resellers including Tiqets and Get Your Guide may still have tickets available when the official site is sold out. Resellers often have better cancelation conditions and offer savings when buying combination tickets, e.g. with the Rijksmuseum, MOCO, or canal cruises. Sometimes guided tours are still available on days when tickets-only admissions are sold out.
See also Visiting the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam for tips on tickets and opening hours.
