How to 'visit' museums.
1) Skim! There is no reason to see everything. There is just too much art in the world to see it all.
2) When looking at art, pick three works that move you. Meaning art that you love or hate. Reading the label is optional. It really depends on how you like art. Some people think the labels are everything. Others don’t either approach is fine.
3) Ask yourself what is it about that artwork that moves you. If you hate it, why? Love it? Why? Do this for all three works. Write it down.
4) Pick the work you liked the most and copy it. Or remake the work you disliked and draw it in a way that you think would be better. You can draw almost anything, so do not worry if you have the right materials
These museums are in no order and will be added to. Please send us your recommendations.
These museums are in no order and will be added to. Please send us your recommendations.
A part of Oxford University, the Pitt River Museum shows off the treasure trove of weird loot hoarded at the height of British Imperialism. Shrunken heads, are mixed with contemporary art exhibits. They are trying but parts of the collection"...depict people as research subjects in ways which may today be considered offensive".
A museum that tries to normalise the brutal cold war antics of the United States and the Soviet Union. Pistols disguised as lipstick tubes etc...
A collection of Los Vegas signs and lore about neon signs.
Great museum (see the Sloan museum as well below) of creepy stuff. Check them out for their current exhibition on the Influenza pandemic of 1918-19 and their history of infectious diseases exhibit running. Or just come for the brains in jars.
Really this place should be visited in person. If you are ever in London, if we can ever go outside again, you can book a tour at night by candlelight. Anyway, this museum is an extensive collection of random stuff. Egyptian sarcophagi, models of Pompeii, ancient sculpture, drawings, and paintings crammed cheek to jowl. Eccentric rich guy stuff from 200 years ago.
A classic old school US museum. Lots of boring European paintings (and I love boring European paintings, but still....) but also great stuff and oddities such as a car section. Their site has a lot of art resources and activities for students.
A Museum for Gerbils.
Same as the above, but for one gecko.
One of Korea’s popular museums can be accessed from anywhere around the world. Google’s virtual tour takes you through six floors of Contemporary art from Korea and all over the globe.
As one of Germany’s largest museums, Pergamon has plenty of ancient artifacts including the Ishtar Gate of Babylon and, of course, the Pergamon Altar. A great place with works stolen from Greece and the Middle East.
A VR tour of the Baghdad museum that was founded in 1922.
Do you like Vincent van Gogh? I think this is all I need to write. It includes over 200 paintings, 500 drawings, and over 750 personal letters. You can see his works up close (or, almost up close).
A fantastic collection of the African American experience, Located in Washington DC.
For a limited time, the Cultural Ministry is opening all museums in Bangkok up, virtually. These are mostly historical museums.
European artworks from as far back as the 8th Century can be found in this California art museum. Take a Street View tour to discover a huge collection of paintings, drawings, sculptures, manuscripts, and photographs.
Built in 1964, this museum is dedicated to the archaeology and history of Mexico’s pre-Hispanic heritage. There are 23 exhibit rooms filled with ancient artifacts, including some from the Mayan civilization.
With a collection that totals more than 8 million objects, London’s British Museum makes some of its pieces viewable online. The museum also teamed up with the Google Cultural Institute to offer virtual tours using Google Street View. This museum has serious goods looted from all over the world that the British refuse to give back to the countries they stole them from.
A great museum and a great virtual site of Chinese cultural artifacts.
If the United States had an attic full of junk that was too cool to throw out, it would be the Smithsonian. Space Capsules? Check. Dinosaurs? Check. Mummies? Ditto. And so much more.
It has an online virtual tour of the entire grounds
My favorite in Paris: check out Google Arts & Culture website.
https://zeitzmocaa.museum/art-artists/
A 360 degree tour of the Vatican’s collection of classical sculptures in its Pio Clementino and Chiaramonti museums. There is too much here!
A 3-d scan of of the building where you can capture their own 360 scans and build VR tours for yourself.
The Smithsonian’s gallery of 23,000 artworks, which includes Wiley's Barack Obama and Sherrod's Michelle Obama.
In five hours a one-take video journey through the second-largest museum in the world.
An entire exhibition dedicated to Rembrandt’s works and his contemporaries.
Also “Balenciaga and Spanish paintings” collection, which presented pieces of art alongside designs by the famous fashion designer referencing these works.
The largest collection of Russian art online.
The U.S.' tribute to Modernism. Worth a look.
Virtual tour of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Another huge museum with too much. But they have some great pieces. Especially if you love seascapes.
Virtual tour of the Rijksmuseum
300,000 works in the digital archives of the Uffizi. THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND. All Renaissance art. My favorite is Titian, but everyone is here. Click on the HyperVisions tab for curated tours around themes such as angels, epiphany and ‘intercultural vision’.
Virtual tour of the Uffizi Gallery
Each item on display represents the donor’s ex, and the stories behind them range from uplifting to heartbreaking. This is a weird one.
Virtual tour of the Museum of Broken Relationships
The Museu de Arte de São Paulo has a very particular way of displaying artwork in their galleries: paintings are hung on crystal easels that make them look like they’re floating mid-air.
Virtual tour of MASP
As well as a vast online catalogue of PIcasso (not my favorite), this museum offers a 360-degree tour of Medieval architecture in Barcelona.
Virtual tour of Picasso Museum
Take a virtual wander through ancient Greece's objects. 8500 years of history are on display here. Virtual tour of Benaki Museum
When the Nationalists left mainland China in 1949, they took the best stuff. See An their incredible collection Virtual tour of National Palace Museum
Only 129 objects from this massive museum are on the virtual tour (The Uffizi must think that this is a joke) but all of them represent the most well known works of art from the Modern era. Virtual tour of Museum of Modern Art
Founded in 1937, the National Gallery of Art is free and open to the general public. For those who aren’t in Washington, D.C., it also provides virtual tours of its gallery and exhibits.
The institution’s website features an online collection and virtual tours of some of its 2 million pieces, works from Vincent van Gogh, Jackson Pollock, and all the names. Also, they works with the Google Cultural Institute to make even more artwork available.
The Dalí Theatre-Museum is dedicated to the artwork of Salvador Dalí. It features many rooms and exhibits surrounding every era of Dalí’s life and career, and the artist himself is buried here. The museum offers virtual tours. Weird stuff.
A free app with VR tour of the sprawling monster of a museum.
Has tours of Langley Research Center in Virginia, as well as of Ohio’s Glenn Research Center
The mission statement of the National Women’s History Museum in Alexandria, Virginia, is to educate, inspire, empower, and shape the future “by integrating women’s distinctive history and culture in the United States.” Part of that mission is delivered through well-curated online exhibits and oral histories.
The National Museum of the United States Air Force is the official museum of the United States Air The museum also offers free virtual tours of its entire grounds.
Lots of stuff from all over here. But no Pushkin works and no Russian art. GO figure.
This virtual tour also lets you roam freely around the museum’s gardens, which are awesome. The State Russian Museum is located in St Petersburg, but it has recently opened a Spanish branch in Málaga. Pick either one.
Has three virtual tours you can go on.
Never been. Don't know about this one. The Nelson-Atkins
A science museum in Belgium.
Fashion Museum, NYC.
A tour of the UK’s Museum of Computing includes two main rooms full of exhibits. A great VR experience. I am not in to this subject but liked this site a lot.
Not really a museum, but an online collection of great art. You need to install Steam to make this work. Viewing the art is a game you play with this site.
The Google Art Project features fine art from all over the world. Here’s a complete list of museums you can visit virtually.
VISIT A MUSEUM A DAY.