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A yellow van carrying the first shipment of Vincent van Gogh paintings leaves the Van Gogh Museum under police escort in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Sunday, Sept. 23, 2012. While the museum closes for seven months for renovations, 75 works by the Dutch painte Cris Toala Olivares, Associated Press
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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 Dutc Cris Toala Olivares, Associated Press
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Curators remove Vincent van Gogh's famous "Sunflowers" painting from the wall of 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 display Cris Toala Olivares, Associated Press
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A curator removes Vincent van Gogh paintings on a 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 a Cris Toala Olivares, Associated Press
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A Vincent van Gogh's painting "The Bedroom" sits on 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 disp Cris Toala Olivares, Associated Press
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The last visitors before closing look at Vincent van Gogh's painting "Self-Portrait as an Artist" 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 pai Cris Toala Olivares, Associated Press
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Curators remove Vincent van Gogh’s painting “Wheatfield with Crows,” from the wall of 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 di Cris Toala Olivares, Associated Press
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An empty wall remains where Vincent van Gogh's famous "Sunflowers" painting is removed 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 b Cris Toala Olivares, Associated Press
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A curator removes Vincent van Gogh paintings on a 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 a Cris Toala Olivares, Associated Press
By Associated Press

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.

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

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