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Sunflowers, Irises, other Van Gogh masterpieces moved as Dutch museum closes for renovations

September 23 2012 11:02 PM

CP20221450 — Curators are putting Vincent van Gogh\'s famous "Sunflowers" painting onto a felt-lined carrier trolley at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Sunday, Sept. 23, 2012. While the museum closes for seven months for renovations, 75 works by the Dutch painter will be displayed instead across town at The Hermitage, an Amsterdam satellite of the Russian state museum. The tricky process of transporting the artworks under police escort began immediately after the last visitors left the museum Sunday evening and carried on through the night into Monday morning. The Van Gogh Museum reopens April 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Cris Toala Olivares)

Original Publication Date: September 23, 2012 11:02PM

Publication Updated: January 9, 2025 4:45AM

AMSTERDAM – Many of Vincent van Gogh’s greatest masterpieces, including “Sunflowers,” ”Irises,” and “Wheatfield with Crows” are being removed from the walls of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

While the museum closes for seven months for renovations, 75 works by the Dutch painter will be displayed instead across town at The Hermitage, an Amsterdam satellite of the Russian state museum.

The tricky process of transporting the artworks under police escort began immediately after the last visitors left the museum Sunday evening and carried on through the night into Monday morning. They are being packed into hard-shell cases that are resistant to temperature changes and bumps, Curator Leo Jansen said.

The Hermitage will have the popular paintings back on display by Saturday. The Van Gogh Museum reopens April 25, 2013.

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