By: Charlene Daniel
Going into a self-quarantine can have many complex issues and complications beyond having enough food and supplies for two weeks. In terms of entertainment, it also probably means you’re in for a lot of boredom, a lot of Netflix, and a lot of browsing the internet.
Closed museums offer art lovers virtual opportunities to explore works from the world’s leading collections online. The British Museum’s online collection page jumped from roughly 2000 daily visits to 175,000 early last week, and is now averaging 75,000 a day.
There are various platforms: from interactive, 360-degree videos and full “walk-around” tours with voiceover descriptions to slideshows with zoomable photos of the world’s greatest artworks. And many allow viewers to get closer to the art than they could in real life.
Adapting to the new status quo, museums and galleries are stepping up the launch of new or inaugural online platforms. For example, Florence’s Palazzo Strozzi recently released a digital platform called IN TOUCH, showcasing Argentine artist Tomás Saraceno’s major exhibition online.
So, take a break from the news, enter full-screen mode and start your art adventure!
Google Arts & Culture’s collection features virtual tours and content from over 2000 leading museums and art galleries to bring the world’s treasures. It includes the British Museum in London, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the Guggenheim in New York City, and hundreds of more places where you can gain knowledge about art, history, and science.
While several museums on the website do not yet offer a virtual tour, they provide the next best thing through high-resolution images of their most exemplary artwork.
Museums and Art Galleries
J. Paul Getty Museum has challenged the public to recreate famous paintings in the museum with household items. For inspiration, the Getty Museum archive is available to view online and includes books, artworks and videos. You can also view the Twitter thread #GettyChallenge of masterpiece recreations.
The Museum of the World – British Museum allows you to, for the first time ever, discover objects from the British Museum’s collection from prehistory to the present using the most advanced Web Graphics Library technology available. Jump back in time to explore objects from across diverse cultures and listen to British Museum curators share their insights. Click to connect objects across time and space, and discover hidden links between then and now.
Museum of Modern Art, one of the premier art collections in the world, makes its historical and artistic artifacts — from the Rosetta Stone to the Elgin Marbles — accessible online. You can also trace a timeline of historical and cultural holdings and their place in mankind’s development through the millennia with their “Museum of the World” project.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York offers in-depth looks at its collected works, conservatorship and children’s programs. The museum also features “82nd & Fifth,” in which curators discuss a single work of art that, they say, changed the world.
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.: Now you can take in the beauty of the outdoors with its stunning online exhibition, “True to Nature: Open-Air Painting in Europe 1780-1870”, featuring works by Coignet, Constable, Giroux and others, and the NGA’s exploration of Edgar Degas’ works depicting the Paris Opéra.
Discover a number of artworks at Tate Britain, presented chronologically from 1545 to the present day, in the virtual Walk Through British Art, then peruse online exhibitions including the world’s largest collection of Turner’s artworks, two rooms dedicated to the sculptor Henry Moore and a series of regularly changing Spotlight displays.
Tate Modern, London’s most prominent museum for modern and contemporary art, offers a continual stream of blockbuster exhibitions running alongside permanent international art exhibitions and displays encompassing works from the national collection.
National Gallery of Victoria recently announced its launch of a virtual tour of its landmark “KAWS: Companionship in the age of loneliness” exhibition. The extensive presentation explores the artist’s diverse practice, spotlighting murals, large-scale sculptures, street, and public art, as well as original designs from his fashion collaborations. The centrepiece of the show is a newly commissioned bronze sculpture of the artist’s signature Companion — his largest statue to date.
The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam is extending its education about the life and work of the Dutch painter online, including study lessons for students. You can also read his biography and letters, and view hundreds of works by the artist and his contemporaries.
Wherever you are, whatever the time, Art Institute Chicago’s online resources are always here to connect you to their collection of art from around the world—whether you’re seeking inspiration, community, or a little adventure.
Forty-five seconds. That’s how long you normally have to bathe in the twinkling, reflective abyss of Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirrored Room – The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away (assuming, of course, you’re not eating up all of that time taking selfies). But now, the Broad is letting you spend as much time with its signature piece as you’d like—virtually, at least.
Art Discussions and Documentaries
Lectures
The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston has on its YouTube channel a series of lectures and panel discussions featuring curators, conservators, authors and critics, on such topics as the Dutch Golden Age, Impressionism, female artists, and Hollywood films produced during the Red Scare.
The Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia offers daily video art talks on major pieces in its collection.
TedTalks
Why Art is important by Katerina Gregos | TEDxGhent
Katerina Gregos is convinced that contemporary art has an important role to play in society, as one of the last frontiers of free expression. Today, artists and cultural practitioners, rather than politicians, are leading some of the key discussions about the state of the world. Contemporary artists challenge each and every one of us to reinterpret social and political events, and crack cemented opinions as well as dominant narratives propagated by the media and those in power.
A journey through the mind of an artist by Dustin Yellin | TEDxNYC
Dustin Yellin makes mesmerizing artwork that tells complex, myth-inspired stories. How did he develop his style? In this disarming talk, he shares the journey of an artist, starting from age 8 and his idiosyncratic way of thinking and seeing. Follow the path that leads him up to his latest major work.
Netflix Shows
Abstract: The Art of Design
A look beyond blueprints and computers into the art and science of design, showcasing great designers from every discipline whose work shapes our world.
Sky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-qiang
Trace the rise of contemporary artist Cai Guo-Qiang from childhood in Mao’s China to global art world superstar, and join his quest to realize his lifelong obsession: Sky Ladder.
Editorial note: this article was published on the LinkedIn page of the IE Arts & Business Club (link).
