Amsterdam Greater Amsterdam

Cobra Museum. The CoBrA Museum pays tribute to the Netherlands’s second great 20th-century art movement (after De Stijl): the name is an abbreviation of the capital cities of the group’s founding members (Copenhagen, Brussels, and Amsterdam). CoBrA was founded after WWII by artists who wanted to rebel against prewar conventions and conservatism, drawing on models of folk art, non-Western art, and abstract Expressionism. The collective included artists like Anton Rooskens, Eugene Brands, Corneille, Constant Nieuwenhuys, and famed Dutchman Karel Appel, all of whom were committed to progressive political activism and the “search for a vital image of reality.” After CoBrA disbanded in 1951, the Stedelijk maintained many of their works, but the CoBrA Museum remains the more comprehensive display. The beautiful, modern museum, overlooking a pond and centering on a small “Zen garden,” effectively presents a range of the movement’s work from Appel’s experimentation with sculpture to Corneille’s developing interest in color and non-Western worlds. The highlight of the collection is Appel’s large Femmes, Enfants, Animaux (1951), recently sold to the museum by Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich. The first floor exhibits works from the museum’s permanent collection, and the second floor is used for temporary exhibits on everything from advertising to contemporary Chinese art. (Sandbergplein 1-3, south of Amsterdam in Amstelveen. Tram #5 or bus #170, 171, or 172. The tram stop is a 10min. walk from the museum; after a 15min. ride, the bus will drop you off across the street. ☎547 5050, tour reservations 547 5045; www.cobra-museum.nl. Open Tu-Su 11am-5pm. €7, students and seniors €4, ages 6-18 €3. AmEx/MC/V.)