Rien Poortvliet Museum Korendijk, Zuid-Beijerland

It was great to see the work of a man with such character. His wildlife paintings really speak to me and I couldn't get enough! Everyone there is so friendly and willing to help - made my trip a real pleasure.

I traveled all the way from Texas to see this museum! A friend and I were on a backpacking tour of Europe and this was the only thing I really wanted to see! As a child, my parents bought me Rien's "Noah's Ark" book for my 12th birthday and I fell in love. I was constantly flipping through the pages throughout my youth and often did "master copies" of the work in this book in my own sketchbook. Rien Poortvliet was hugely inspirational to me and it was a dream to get to see so many originals of his, many of which I grew up studying! The journey to get there via the ferry onto an island nature preserve just adds to the experience and I could not think of a more appropriate place for this collection of work to call home. I'm so glad that this museum exists, visiting it is one of my most cherished memories. I left a horse drawing along with my note in the guest book sometime in the summer of 2013. If the current book that is there still goes back that far, see if you can find me. :)