Art museums are somewhat like shrines - in that they house creative works, many of which have had lasting impact on our society and times - and are found in every major city around the globe...
Visiting an art museum could prove to be quite a daunting experience for the novice, on account of its vast spaces, its mind-boggling variety of paintings and objets d’art, but once one gets the hang of navigating and mapping out one’s itinerary, it could be an infinitely rewarding experience. Whether it’s a modern building brimming with contemporary art from forward-thinking talent or age-old buildings that house priceless pieces from long-gone Masters, art museums attract everyone--from culture vultures to school kids. Read on to discover some of the world’s top art museums.
Musée du Louvre
Paris, France
Located in Paris, France, the Louvre is arguably the most famous art gallery and museum in the world. With an increased public interest in it since it was featured in Dan Brown’s conspiracy novel The Di Vinci Code, the Louvre boasts 652.3 sq ft of exhibition space that is used to exhibit works across a broad range of themes and departments. Previously a royal palace, the age-old building is a piece of art in itself, marked at the front by the grand equestrian statue of Louis XIV. In 2006, the museum was the most visited museum in the world.
Permanent collection: Hosting more than 35,000 works taken from eight departments, the Louvre’s permanent collection includes a number of works by Leonardo da Vinci, including Madonna of the Rocks, The Virgin and Child with St Anne, besides pieces by Jacques Louis David, Delacroix and Alexandros of Antioch.
Masterpiece: Perhaps the most famous painting in the world, the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, is a 16th-century oil painting on a poplar panel, depicting a woman with what has been described as an “enigmatic” expression. The Mona Lisa was first moved to the Louvre after the French Revolution, but was later transported to a secret location during the Franco-Prussian war. In 1911, after it was returned, the Mona Lisa got stolen. It took until 1913 to be found and placed back in the Louvre. Four out of five visitors visit the Louvre just to see this painting.
Tate Modern
London, England
One of the most interactive art museums in the world, Tate Modern houses a wide variety of international modern art inside the former Bankside Power Station. Converted by architects Herzog & De Meuron into a museum that’s fit for art, the Tate Modern opened in 2000 and has become one of the most popular tourist destinations in the UK. With gallery levels divided into Material Gestures, Poetry and Dream, Idea and Object, States of Flux and The Turbine Hall, the museum is used to display specially commissioned works. The museum is also in the process of a costly extension to accommodate its growing number of visitors. What’s more, it’s free to enter.
Permanent works: With works by Roy Lichtenstein, Cy Twombly and Salvador Dali, the permanent collection at the Tate Modern is an eclectic mix of styles and genres, with no specific theme running throughout. The only criteria, it seems, is that every work needs to be wonderfully innovative.
Masterpiece: Possibly one of the weirdest pieces of art to date, Dali’s famous 1936 Lobster Telephone is exhibited at the Tate Modern. A perfect example of the Surrealist genre that Dali is famous for, the Lobster Telephone draws close parallels between food and sex.
Museo del Prado
Madrid, Spain
Featuring some of Europe’s finest collections, the Museo del Prado is reminiscent of a grand courthouse, with its angular design, stone pillars and steps at the entrance. Inside, the museum is home to more than 8,600 paintings, 5,000 drawings, 2,000 prints, 1,000 coins and medals, and more than 700 sculptures and fragments.
Permanent works: Featuring work from the 12th century to the early 19th century, the museum boasts a permanent collection that reads like a who’s who of the European Masters--Diego Velázquez, Francisco Goya, El Greco, Botticelli and Raphael are firmly entrenched.
Masterpiece: The most famous piece on permanent display at the museum is Las Meninas by Spanish portrait artist Diego Velázquez. It’s true that the artist provided the Prado with his own collection, but he also helped scout for many of the Italian pieces on exhibition today.
Galleria Borghese
Rome, Italy
Featuring a collection assembled by Cardinal Sciopone Borghese, between the late 16th and early 17th centuries, the Galleria Borghese is based at the summerhouse of the historic Villa Borghese Pinciana, located on the outskirts of Rome. Re-opened after a 14-year restoration programme, the sumptuous architecture and decor of the museum creates the perfect backdrop for the dramatic works on display. With the collections displayed in just 20 rooms across two floors, Galleria Borghese is a welcome alternative to some of Rome’s other sprawling museums.
Permanent works: Housing major works by Raphael, Titian, Caravaggio, Bernini, Savoldo, Canova and Cranach -- among others -- there’s not a contemporary piece in sight at this classic art museum.
Masterpiece: With many of his sculptures displayed in the very places for which they were designed, Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s works are scattered throughout the museum. The lifesize Apollo and Daphne is one of his more mature baroque sculptures, and is crafted entirely from marble.
Galleria Nazionale d’Art Moderna
Rome, ItalyFeaturing 75 spectacular rooms filled with Romantic paintings and sculptures, the Galleria Nazionale d’Art Moderna (GNAM) is located near the Etruscan Museum at Via Delle Belle Arti. A breath of fresh air from the works of the Renaissance period and ancient Rome, the museum even features Italian pop art as well as a number of foreign artists.
Permanent works: GNAM houses the largest collection in Italy of 19th and 20th century works by Italian Masters Giacomo Balla, Umberto Boccioni, Giorgio de Chirico, Marcel Duchamp, Giorgio Morandi, Giacomo Manzù, Alberto Burri, Giuseppe Capogrossi and Lucio Fontana. There are also other Masters such as Pollock, Monet and Van Gogh.
Masterpiece: Amedeo Modigliani’s La Signora Dal Collaretto and the large Nudo are this museum’s must-see pieces; they are, undoubtedly, two of the greatest achievements of the eccentric, narcotic-guzzling artist.
Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona
Barcelona, Spain
Situated in the cultural hub of Barcelona, Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA) is a large white building with striking architectural references to modernism. Opened in 1995, the museum is jam-packed with art from the last half of the century and was designed by famous architect Richard Meier. Characterised by numerous skylights and windows, and an entirely white interior, MACBA could only be dedicated to the modern.
Permanent works: With a permanent collection that focusses on post-1945 Catalan and Spanish art, in addition to a foreign segment, MACBA features nationally renowned talents such as Paul Klee and Miguel Barceló. Antoni Tàpies’ iconic Pintura Ocre and Rinzen sculptures can also be found among the permanent collection.
Masterpiece: Miguel Barceló’s famous Season of Rain No.2 hangs on the second floor among the artist’s contemporaries.
Guggenheim Museum
Bilbao, Spain
Designed by Canadian/American architect Frank Gehry, the spectacular Guggenheim Museum is what great art museums should look like---sleek, stylish and functional. Built around a steel frame and covered with titanium sheathing, the museum itself is like a life-sized, open-air sculpture that serves as a testament to Gehry’s talents. The building is so awe-inspiring that some critics have suggested that it overshadows the art collections inside.
Permanent works: Featuring work from both Spanish and international artists, the museum’s permanent collection is focussed on art from the 20th century that has a preference for installations and electronic forms over paintings and sculptures. The artists on exhibition include Jenny Holzer, Jeff Koons, Yves Klein, Fujiko Nakaya and Louise Bourgeois.
Masterpiece: A series of weathering steel sculptures, Richard Serra’s The Matter of Time is, undoubtedly, the museum’s star attraction. It’s housed in the 430-foot Arcelor Gallery and the series is truly breathtaking.
Saatchi Gallery
London, England
Art collector Charles Saatchi opened the Saatchi Gallery, now located in Chelsea, in 1985 to show off his enviable collection. Currently in the process of renovating the Duke of York’s headquarters on Kings Road to free up 50,000 sq ft as exhibition space, the gallery has always had a direct influence on the British art scene and also been no stranger to a scandal or two: In 2001, the police were called to investigate Tierney Gearon’s photos of her children, which included a naked pose, and in 2004, Stella Vine caused an uproar with her portrait of Princess Diana, which showed blood dripping from her lips. A springboard for up-and-coming talent, Saatchi Gallery embraces the world’s most cutting-edge and contemporary art.
Permanent works: In addition to Chris Ofili and his dung-splattered picture of The Virgin Mary, the gallery’s permanent exhibition includes works from Asia, the Americas and Europe, featuring the likes of Franz Ackermann, Michael Bauer and Katherine Bernhardt.
Masterpiece: Now an infamous image, Marcus Harvey’s portrait of child-killer Myra Hindley still graces a wall at the Saatchi Gallery. Darkly disturbing, the image is made up of a mosaic of child handprints, which caused outrage when it first went on show in 1995.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Los Angeles, US
Across the Atlantic, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), situated along Wilshire Boulevard, houses more than 250,000 works that span the encyclopaedic history of art. While the exterior of the building may be more of a parking lot than an artistic wonder, the art museum itself boasts one of the world’s largest collections of Latin American art, thanks in large part to the 2,000-piece donation by Bernard Lewin.
Permanent works: Divided by region, media and time period, LACMA’s permanent collection ranges from African and Chinese art to modern art and photography, and features all manner of artists who used different mediums and styles.
Masterpiece: A large-scale masterpiece-in-the-making, American artist Jeff Koons is set to build an enormous 161-foot-tall sculpture that features a working locomotive suspended from a crane in the redesigned main entrance. This will be the apple of LACMA’s eye.
Museum of Modern Art
New York, US
Located in the Big Apple, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) is widely regarded as the single most important modern art museum in the world. With works that span painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, film, prints, electronic media, architecture and design, the museum comprises more than 150,000 single works, 22,000 films and four million film stills. With the building itself redesigned by Japanese architect Yoshio Taniguchi in 2004, MoMa now features 630,000 sq ft of new exhibition space.
Permanent works: Artists on permanent display at MoMa include the likes of Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock, as well as Henri Matisse, Paul Cézanne and Frida Kahlo.
Masterpiece: The father of French impressionism, Claude Monet’s Water Lilies is famous throughout the world -- not just in the art scene -- and replicas adorn walls from Shanghai to Chicago. Based on the water lilies floating on his pond at Giverny, the Water Lilies on show at MoMa -- and Monet’s subsequent 30-year obsession with them -- were painted circa 1920 and are all oil-on-canvas works.
Art museums come in all different shapes and sizes, from the super-modern to the neo-classical, and all house varying works of art inside, from the Renaissance period to the contemporary. However, they all have one thing in common: a passion for great, awe-inspiring masterpieces.