During the first nine months of the Holland Art Cities art and culture event, well over 860,000 visitors from abroad, and 100,000 visitors from the United States saw one or more exhibitions. Holland Art Cities will run until mid 2011 and the theme until July 1, 2010 is ‘Young: Modern and Contemporary Art and Design.’

The theme ‘Young: Modern and Contemporary Art and Design’ presents a cross section of the very best in today’s world of art and design. Both Dutch and foreign artists, such as Matisse, Malevich, Picasso, Van Dongen, De Vlaminck, Derain, Kandinsky, Gauguin and fashion designers, including Aziz, Alexander van Slobbe and Chanel are included in the modern art collections of various museums and are truly exciting.

Highlights
The second theme of Holland Art Cities boasts a great program. One of the highlights is the Kandinsky and Der Blaue Reiter exposition in the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, from February 6 through May 24, 2010. This exhibit gives an overview of one of the artists’ collectives from the early 20th century that very much spoke to people’s imagination. Another highlight will be shown in the Van Gogh Museum from February 19 through June 6, 2010. In Paul Gauguin: The Breakthrough into Modernity, the artist’s ‘Volpini Suite’ plays a pivotal role. Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis in The Hague presents four works by Vermeer in The Young Vermeer exhibition from May 12 through August 22, 2010. From March 6 through September 17, 2010, the Hermitage Amsterdam hosts the exhibition Matisse to Malevich. Pioneers of Modern Art from the Hermitage. This is an outstanding selection of early-modern art by Matisse, Braque, Picasso and others. The Centraal Museum in Utrecht is well worth visiting from February 13 through May 16, 2010 for its major exhibition Fashion for Thought, which focuses on Dutch fashion designer Alexander van Slobbe.

A cultural extravaganza
In 2009 and 2010 Holland’s four main cities showcase their art and culture during the ‘Holland Art Cities’ event. The ten top museums in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht join forces during this event to present an unprecedented art extravaganza.

For more information, please visit www.hollandartcities.com