Van Gogh and Anne Frank

October 11

Sam

We had booked tickets for the Van Gogh museum online for this morning, and when we got there, we could finally get in. The museum was a pretty cool art museum. Van Gogh did sketches and paintings using different styles. Artists that inspired him also got spaces on the walls.

There was a scavenger hunt/activity book for kids at this museum, too. We got to read about some paintings, draw our own versions of it, and answer lots of questions about various art pieces. When we finished it, we got stickers and got to choose a postcard of one of Van Gogh’s famous paintings.

Here are some things I learned about Van Gogh:

– He practiced his techniques by doing self-portraits
– He cut off his own ear because he was mentally ill.
– He checked himself into an asylum.
– He went to live in Paris and then the South of France.
– He doesn’t start painting until he was 25.
– He died when he was only 37.
– He died by suicide.
– He wrote over 600 letters to his brother who was his best friend.
– He painted “The Potato Eaters” early in his career. It was very dark. He saw it as his first masterpiece.
– He painted “Sunflowers” after moving to Paris. It was a lot brighter and more colourful. His style changed in Paris because he met a lot of other artists.
– He lived with his friend, Paul Gauguin.

My favourite painting of his was Sunflowers because of how bright it was and different from his other work.

Charlotte:

After that, we went home to rest because we were really tired and our tickets for the Anne Frank museum were for 7pm. We had naps and dinner and then went back downtown.

When we went to the Anne Frank House, we got audio guides. We scanned them in each room and it would tell us about the room and what it was used for. There were some quotes that I recognize from Anne’s diary. It made me sad.

It’s weird to me because I don’t understand why someone would have a problem with one specific group of people. What did the Jewish people do to deserve that?

I learned that if Anne’s family hadn’t been caught when they did, they would have probably made it through the war. They were on the very last train to the concentration camps the left out of the place they were held after they were arrested.

Anne had to share a room with a grown man who wasn’t in her family. I think that would have been really awkward.

Anne’s biggest dream was to become a famous author. She doesn’t know it, but that dream came true. Her diary had been published in over 70 languages!

I’m glad I went to the museum. It is good to learn about the past. We need to learn about the Holocaust so that we try not to let it happen again.

We’re still reading Anne’s diary. I’m looking forward to finishing it.