MUESEUMS GLORY

The worlds most famous museum which was once a royal palace, houses some of the worlds most amazing art. Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is easily the most famous piece of art. 

How did this happen? With so many different therioes and ideas you really just need to take a look for yourself, if you can elbow to the front of the crowd that stands in front of the glass and bulletproof enclosure.

Located on New York’s Museum Mile road, The Met shares the same pavement as other big names. The size of this museum is enormous, so don’t plan to see it all in one day- unless you get trapped inside overnight! You can go through ancient times to modern 20th-century works. 

Also visit The Cloisters, which is the museums other site located in Fort Tryon Park and completed in 1938, it is a separate building dedicated solely to medieval art. The Cloisters has some of the most tranquil and scenic views of the Hudson River and nature in the city.

This is where the Sistine Chapel and Michelangelo’s famous ceiling frescos are found. It also has work by some of the other greatest Renaissance artists within the Chapels walls. Displaying works from the extensive collection of the Roman Catholic Church and spanning from antiquity to modern religious art. The museum occupies a distance of 9 miles and is one of the largest in the world. This museum brings people from all over, it is estimated at four million visitors annually.

The walk to this museum is a gallery in and of itself. When you stroll through the Piazza della Signoria toward the Uffizi, you see such marvelous sculptures! Inside the museum you are treated to such masterpieces like Botticelli’s "Birth of Venus" and "Primavera" as well as paintings by Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci. The Botticelli’s are, in my humble opinion, the prize of museum. With the most delicious gelato in the world, beautiful plazas and streets with so much history, it is easy to fall in love with the city of Florence!

Located in Madrid, the capital of Spain, and famous for its amazing works from Spanish artists.  The museum houses one of the best collections of European art from Goya to El Greco. Velazquez’s painting ‘Las Meninas’ is certainly the best know piece of work in the collection and has been recognized as one of the most important paintings in Western art history. Velazquez also contributed to most of the collection that is in the Prado to this day by assembling work from such artists like Titian, Rubens and Raphael.

With over three million works of art and six buildings this museum is gigantic and another one of the worlds largest. The State Hermitage also holds the Guinness World Record for world’s largest painting collection! The Hermitage has a great collection of Western and Russian art.

With such paintings as ‘Irises’ by Vincent Van Gogh the Getty collection is remarkable. The museum collection is within a beautiful piece of architecture that has an outstanding view of the surrounding Los Angeles. It also remains free to the public and has a massive underground parking lot so that you can always find a spot. Be sure to visit the tranquil Central Garden area and take it some of the landscape and natural beauty.

Located on the left bank of the Seine River this museum used to be a railroad station and has a huge clock window. The collection is mostly filled with French art and an impressive collection of Impressionist masterpiece paintings by Monet, Renoir and Degas. The museum is much smaller than its Louvre neighbor so it allows for more intimate viewings without the crowds.

The National Gallery is located on the National Mall and is made up of two buildings, the east and the West building. The West Building has a huge collection of sculpture and paintings from Europe from medieval times up to the 19th century, but includes some American artists. 

The usual names like Monet, Rembrandt, da Vinci and Van Gogh grace the walls with amazing masterpieces. The East Building is more concerned with contemporary and modern art like Pollock, Picasso, Warhol and Lichtenstein. Be sure to check out the sculpture garden with works by Alxendar Calder and Joan Miro.

The museum with the inside on the outside! I loved the funky, creative design of this place, made me really feel like I was in the future. Known as the "Beauborg" to local Parisians this museum is home to all Modern art with a capital ‘M’. 

On a nice day you can spend some time in the front of the museum with the street performers and all the other activities. It is easy to spend an hour plus just checking out the different performers and mimes.

Know for its collection of international modern art and specific pivotal movements of the 20th century. Located on the River Thames and near the Millennium Bridge the museum is a former power station. Be sure to explore the Tate’s vast collection of Surrealism paintings and specifically Salvador Dali’s work.

Located in the middle of Manhattan, MOMA is often called the most important and influential museum dedicated to modern art in the world today. The collection has works in almost all the major areas of fine and contemporary art, from painting and sculpture to film and new media. 

You can see Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’ and in a few more steps you can see Warhol’s ‘Campbell Soup Cans’ and Picasso’s famous ‘Les Demoiselles d’Avignon’.

With more than 13 million objects originating from all over the world, this museum of human history and culture is enormous to say the least! View the vast collection of Egyptian antiques, the largest of its kind outside of Cairo. Also the prints and drawings ranks among one of the best behind the Louvre and the Hermitage. Another plus is that admission is free.

One of the best known museums in New York City, the Guggenheim is the only building in the city designed by architect Frank Llyod Wright. The museum was founded with the intent to showcase avant-garde art and modernists like Kandinsky and Mondrian. 

The experience is as inspiring as is the art work. You can take the elevator to the top and walk the circular spiral down to the rotunda as you view the gallery along the way. Another plus is that it is hard to get lost in this building!

Considered to be one of America’s top five art museums and is home to the largest collection of Philadelphia artist Thomas Eakins and a great room concentrating on the work of Marcel Duchamp and another for sculptor Constantin Brancusi. 

This museum puts on up to 20 special exhibitions each year and really knows how to put on a show. The special exhibit of Paul Cezanne in 96′ attracted 546,000 visitors and the Dali show in 05′ pulled in more than 370,000. While you’re here walk down the parkway and check out the Rodin Museum and say hello to ‘The Thinker’.

Impressionist and American art is what is highlighted here. If you ever saw the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off then you may remember this was one of the stops. They took in that beautiful impressionistic work of Seurat ‘Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte’. More highlights of the collection would be ‘American Gothic’ by Grant Wood and Monet’s ‘Water Lilies’.