Exploring American Art Museums Through the Web
Staying at home doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice your artsy side. In fact, now more than ever you can travel across the world to any art museum in a matter of seconds. The pandemic has only increased the accessibility of online exhibitions. Here are a few of the best art museums in the US and instructions on how to access the beauty that they have to offer.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art - New York, New York
Photo: The New York Times
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, also known as “the Met”, is located in Manhattan in New York City. Behind the Instagram-famous entrance steps lies one of the most famous collections of art in the world. It is both one of the world’s most visited museums and largest museums.
The museum opened way back in 1870, with the intention to provide art and art education to the American public. The Met has art from all over the world, but their most famous collections are from the European masters, the ancient world, and American artists. Think of any artist, time period, or geographical location, and the Met most likely has what you’re looking for.
While the Met is currently open, you can check out some of their online resources if you’re not in New York City. Their online presence is not even a drop in the bucket of the collections they own, but they can provide a taste of what it’s like to wander through the museum. Your best bet is through their series called “Primers”, which act like a trailer to their current in-house exhibitions. I’m linking one called “In Praise of Painting” here, but they have many more you can choose from.
If you ever have a specific work in mind you’d like to look up, the Met’s website is the place to look. I’ve been able to search the Met’s collection for art pieces for my art history classes, some that date back thousands and thousands of years. Use the search bar in this link. They come complete with detailed descriptions and information. Keep in mind that this will only work for art that was owned by the Met at least at some point recently.
Miss the feeling of being in a museum maybe just a little more than the art itself? The Met created a series of immersive videos to give you the experience of being inside the Met’s walls. It’s called The Met 360° project and you can check it out here.
Museum of Modern Art - New York, New York
Photo: Dezeen
Just a few blocks away from the Met you’ll find MoMA, which, as you may have assumed from the title, focuses on modern art. Their collection spans many, many mediums, from painting, to digital art to architecture. MoMA focuses mostly Western art and houses some of the world’s most recognizable names, like Henri Matisse and Vincent van Gogh.
MoMA’s collections are particularly impressive because they are all available online, all of them. Yes, that means those dating all the way back to the museum’s opening in 1929. You can check out installations like “Painting in Paris” from 1930 or “Paul Klee” from 1950.
Photo: The New York Times
Through that same site, you can find several collections called “Virtual Views”, which are online-only installations available to everyone. One I particularly like is “Surrealist Women”. And, if you haven’t yet, check out this America House blog about surrealist artists!
The Smithsonian - Washington, D.C.
Photo: GPA Photo Archive Flickr
The family of Smithsonian museums in Washington D.C. is like nothing else. It’s a set of some of the world’s biggest, most influential museums, yet all free and open to the public. They line the national mall (a sort of large park in the center of the city) in a beautiful row. The Smithsonian Institution also consists of research centers, some located a little further from the city center. Their mission, guided by their location in the nation’s capital, is to provide access to art and history and education to all Americans and visitors. It is certainly one of America’s most impressive accomplishments!
Photos: GPA Photo Archive
As I mentioned before, the Smithsonian is made up of multiple museums. Some of the biggest are the National Museum of American History, National Museum of African American History and Culture, the American Art Museum, and the National Museum of Natural History. While the Smithsonian doesn’t have exhibitions online like some other museums, they have an extensive collection of virtual archives and collections. Those can be found here. I would recommend clicking on the “collections sampler” tab (especially if you don’t quite know what you’re looking for), where the curators have chosen some of the most impressive pieces to put on display.
Because the Smithsonian is a collection of a wide range of museums, not just art, they have materials on every topic imaginable. That has transferred to their online collections as well. If you click this link here, you can explore and research basically anything that interests you.
American museums, especially art museums, are some of the best in the world and are definitely worth the visit. Even if you don’t like art, simply being inside of the grand architecture is an experience in itself. Although traveling is quite difficult at the moment, there are plenty of online options to explore. Take advantage of what these museum have to offer; it’s inspiring, educational, and free!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Maya Sobchuk is a third-year at Macalester College in Minnesota studying international law and international relations theory. She is from Kyiv, but grew up in Los Angeles, California. She has previously worked for the Kyiv Post, is the Web Editor for her college newspaper, and is involved with Ukrainian-American causes in Minnesota. Maya is particularly interested in the post-colonial space, multilateral diplomacy, and disinformation.