If you are missing your connection to the world or are just looking for something to inspire you, online museums and virtual galleries can be your saviors these next few months. Art has a way of rekindling that inner flame and supporting us all, even if we are in an innovative rut. They're beneficial for learning, sharing, and discovering. While the world finds itself more and more indoors, these galleries will become even more important for us all since they will be our go to online and VR adventures when we are needing more than just our Netflix experience.
Now that many galleries have closed their doors during this time, it’s difficult to beat seeing a piece of quality artwork or essential historic artifact in person, fortunately, the digital age has made it possible—easy, even—to go to some of the world’s most well-known museums from the relief of your personal home. I've scoured the internet to share a collective of artwork, galleries and museums, so you can get re-inspired and just experience pure enjoyment from the comfort of your couch in your living room. Here are a few you will love.
Google Arts and Culture Project
Google Arts and Culture provides an intimate virtual look at a plethora of great museums. These include the Van Gogh Museum and the Rijksmuseum, among many others. The Google Art Project features fine art from the White House, the Museum of Islamic Art in Qatar, and surprisingly even street art from São Paulo and Brazil.
The National Gallery
The National Gallery in London has a huge collection of 2,400 pieces online, and you can search, browse and view the art on its website. With iconic pieces by Europe's most famous artists, there's a lot of artistic treasure to be found. You can go behind the scenes at the gallery, with articles explaining restoration and conservation projects
The Met
The Met is the biggest art museum in the United States, and that has one of the most celebrity visited gala event's of the year thanks to Anna Wintour, Vogue's Editor in Chief. You can see all of its vast collections of art on their new digital digest.
The Vatican
The Vatican is now closed to the public, but that does not mean you cannot get up and close with the pope himself thanks to their online virtual tours, which provide a glimpse into the stunning art collection and architecture housed at the Vatican. You can walk around Raphael's Rooms, or its Chiaramonti Museum, which is just a fraction of the museums featured online.
Art Basel
Art Basel began as a small and private fair in Switzerland in the 1970. I went to boarding school there in Switzerland and it is truly a beautiful place. Through the years it has gone on to become one of the hardest to get into and trendiest art fairs in the world. Taking place in Basel, Miami and Hong Kong, Art Basel attracts just about every celebrity and large brand, the glamorous, and the art lovers themselves. Art Basel is known for the nonstop parties and while many come to see the art, most attend the red carpe parties that are harder to get into than the Oscars with pop superstars performing and the best of the best catering everywhere.
The Guggenheim Museum
The Guggenheim museum has made some of its collections and exhibits available online for us all to be able to enjoy. Works including Franz Marc, Piet Mondrian, Pablo Picasso, and Jeff Koons are just some of the notable talents you will be able to experience.
The Dalí Theatre-Museum
Located in the town of Figueres in Catalonia, Spain, the Dalí Theatre-Museum is completely dedicated to the artwork of Salvador Dalí. It features many exhibits surrounding every era of Dalí’s life, artwork and career, and an interesting fact is that the artist himself is buried there. The museum offers virtual tours of the grounds and some of the exhibits.
The Smithsonian
The Smithsonian, has a fabulous virtual tool you can use to experience their museum. You can walk around online discovering three floors of the museum, checking out rooms such as the Hall of Fossils, Geology and discover other new found interests.
The Louvre
The Louvre has a large collection of its works available on its website with online virtual tours of three of its major exhibitions. You can learn about Egyptian Antiquities, Remains of the Louvre's moat and the Galerie d'Apollon through their website.
NASA
NASA gives you tours of the Langley Research Center in Virginia, as well as of Ohio’s Glenn Research Center. The Space Center in Houston also has an app that provides virtual tours, augmented reality experiences, and videos and audio stories about space exploration which the whole family will find fascinating.
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