A museum is an institution that is created to store collections of artifacts and other objects of historical, cultural, artistic or scientific significance. These institutions are cultural centers that attract, educate and entertain people from all walks of life. The most visited art museums in the world are huge centers of attraction for millions of tourists; they provide huge flows of people who want to touch culture and history.
Some of them are open and accessible to the public through permanent or temporary exhibitions. Some of the largest museums are located in developed cities around the world. There are various types of museums: art, science, natural history, children's, military and many others.
The most visited art museums in the world:
15
Somerset House, London
Somerset House is a large neoclassical building located on the south side of the Strand in London, overlooking the Thames, east of the Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian building, erected on the site of a Tudor palace owned by the Duke of Somerset, was designed by Sir William Chambers in 1776. It was extended by Victorian wings to the east and west in 1831 and 1856, respectively. The East Wing is now part of Royal College London's Strand Campus.
Somerset House stood right on the Thames until the Victoria Embankment was built in the late 1860s. The exhibition has a collection of works of art from the sixteenth to the twentieth century. He is especially known for his paintings of impressionists and post-impressionists.
By the way, on thebiggest.ru you can find out about the most popular and beautiful parks in London.
14
National Museum of Modern Art (Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris)
Musée National d’Art Moderne (MNAM) is dedicated to contemporary painting of the 20th and 21st centuries. It is located in the Georges Pompidou Center, where it occupies two floors. The collection is the second largest in the world after the Museum of Modern Art in New York and unites more than 100,000 works, some of which are for rent.
Works exhibited at (MNAM) often change to demonstrate to the public the diversity and depth of the collection. Over the years, many large temporary exhibitions of contemporary art, including personal ones, have been held on a separate 6th floor.
13
Orsay Museum (Musée d’Orsay, Paris)
Various art movements presented at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris include realism, impressionism, symbolism, modernism. It is located on the site of the railway station, which was built by Victor Lalu for the World Exhibition in 1900. Orsay is a national museum that displays paintings and sculptures from 1848–1914. In 2011, the building reopened all its fully renovated rooms for visitors. His collections represent all expressive forms, from painting to architecture, as well as sculpture, arts and crafts and photography.
Among recognized artists: Bonnard, Carpo, Cezanne, Courbet, Daumier, Degas, Halle, Gauguin, Guimard, Lalique, Mayol, Manet, Monet, Pissarro, Redon, Renoir, Roden, Sisley, Van Gogh, Vuillard and others.
12
Victoria and Albert Museum (London)
The Victoria Albert Museum (V&A), which houses what is usually considered the greatest collection of decorative art in the world. It is located in South Kensington, not far from the Museum of Science and Natural History.
The Foundation (V&A) dates from 1852, when the British government founded the Factory Museum in Marlborough House, in the central district of St. James. This building mainly housed objects of decorative art, which were exhibited in the Crystal Palace, where a large exhibition of 1851 was held. They were transferred to the South Kensington Museum and reprinted in 1857. The collection soon outgrew its premises, and plans for a new building were developed. The room was renamed (V&A) in 1899, when Queen Victoria laid the foundation for the current building, designed by Sir Aston Webb. This building was opened in 1909. Since then, the premises of the building have been changed and expanded, partially capturing neighboring buildings.
The Victoria and Albert Museum houses paintings, European sculpture, ceramics (including porcelain), furniture, metalwork, jewelry and textiles from the early Middle Ages to the present day.
It includes:
- French furniture, porcelain and other Jones art objects;
- a group of English ceramics, enamel and Schreiber glass;
- Curry masterpieces containing fine Italian and French weapons and armor;
- and 18th century German porcelain, which is part of the Murray collection.
There are also collections of Indian art that have become famous for acquiring materials from the gallery of the East India Company after it closed in 1858. East Asian works include wonderful Chinese ceramics, jade and sculpture from Eumorfopoulos. It also features the National Collection of British Watercolors, Miniatures, Prints and Drawings, among which is the outstanding group of works by John Constable. The sculptures of the Italian Renaissance and Baroque are some of the best, if you do not take into account the masterpieces of Italy. In 2014, V&A initiated the so-called quick response collection program, within the framework of which it quickly acquired valuable items of recent history. V&A also houses the National Art Library.
11
Reina Sofía Center for the Arts (Madrid)
Its full name is Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. The center welcomes its visitors in the building of the former hospital, which was reconstructed and converted into Reina Sofía in 1992, with two panoramic glass elevators standing on the facade.
Many of his works of art have been moved from nearby Prado, and now it is a treasury of contemporary paintings. Two floors are dedicated to temporary exhibits, and the other two to a permanent collection that covers abstract, popular and minimalistic art movements.
In the photo: “Guernica” by Picasso.
The highlight is the most famous painting of the XX century, “Guernica” by Picasso. It was ordered by the Spanish government for the Paris exhibition to protest the civil war and hung in the New York Gallery until 1981, at the request of Picasso, not to show it in Spain until democracy was established.
Thebiggest.ru notes, in addition to Guernica, another highlight - Woman in Blue, also owned by Picasso.
10
State Hermitage Museum (Saint Petersburg)
The State Hermitage is a museum complex of paintings and culture in St. Petersburg. The Hermitage is the 2nd largest museum in the world. The date of its foundation is 1764, then Catherine II bought the paintings by Johann E. Gotzkowski. Every year on December 7, the Hermitage celebrates its foundation. It has been open to visitors since 1852.
The paintings of the State Hermitage Museum, of which only a part is on permanent display, is more than 3 million units. The collections occupy a large complex of six centuries-old buildings along the Palace Embankment, including the Winter Palace - the former residence of Russian emperors. In addition to them, the structure includes the Menshikov Palace, the Porcelain Gallery, a vault on the Old Village, the east wing of the General Staff building. The gallery has several exhibition centers abroad. The Hermitage is a federal state property. Since July 1992, the director of the Hermitage has been Mikhail Piotrovsky. On the third Thursday of every month, admission is free for all visitors; closed on Mondays.
More than 5.5 million visitors visit the Hermitage annually.
9
National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.)
Explore the history of European art at the National Gallery, masterpiece after masterpiece, with its collection that includes inspirational works by Botticelli, Rembrandt, Gainsborough, Leonardo da Vinci, Turner, Renoir and Van Gogh. The Gallery organizes free guided tours with audio guides that speak different languages, and free family events for children of all ages.
8
Tate Modern (London)
Tate Modern is a relatively young art gallery. When visiting London, you must enjoy the masterpieces of Tate Modern. The British National Museum of Modern Art is housed in the former Bankside Power Station on the Thames. An impressive turbine hall runs along the entire length of the building.
Here you can see for free amazing works by artists such as Cezanne, Bonnard, Matisse, Picasso, Rothko, Dali, Pollock, Warhol and the bourgeois. Tate Modern has its own restaurant, located on the 9th level. Modern European cuisine is complemented by British dishes, and they also offer a pretty attractive wine list. Guests and residents of London have a rare chance to get acquainted with the work of Russian artist Natalia Goncharova, who will appear with her first exhibition in the UK, as well as with paintings by the pioneer Greek artist Takis, which opens in July.
7
National Gallery (London)
It is an art treasury on Trafalgar Square in Westminster, in central London. It was founded in 1824, and has a collection of 2,300 paintings dating from the middle of the 12th century to 1900.
The gallery is a charity and non-departmental state body of the Department of Culture, Media and Sports. His collection is owned by the government on behalf of the British public. The National Gallery is one of the most visited art museums in the world, after the Louvre Museum, the British Museum and the Metropolitan.
The National Gallery building was erected by William Wilkins from 1832 to 1838. The Wilkins building was often criticized for the apparent weakness of its design and lack of space; the latter problem led to the creation of the Tate Gallery for British art in 1897.
More than 6 million people visit the national gallery annually.
6
Vatican Museums (Vatican Museums, Vatican)
The Vatican Museums host masterpieces of painting, sculpture and other works of art, collected over the centuries. Masterpieces include several monumental works of art, such as the Sistine Chapel, Beato Angelico Chapel, Raphael's rooms and Borgia's apartments.
The Christian, Secular and Missionary Ethnological Museum contains a collection of art and archaeological objects, some of which are ethnological in nature, which were once housed in the Lateran Palace.
A collection of modern religious masterpieces was added to museums in 1973. The History Museum, located in the Lateran Palace, offers, among other things, items belonging to the papal military corps.
Vatican Museums are usually open every weekday morning and early afternoon. Admission is free on the last Sunday of each month. Entrance to the picture treasures is located on Viale Vaticano, not far from Piazza Risorgimento. Museums include a workshop for the restoration of paintings, bronze, marble, tapestries and other items, as well as a research laboratory.
5
National Palace Museum, Taipei
The building is located in Shilin, Taipei, Taiwan. It was originally founded in mainland China in 1925, shortly after the overthrow of the last Chinese emperor Puyi by military commander Feng Yuxiang. It has a wonderful exhibition of 700,000 works of art, history and culture of China, dating back nearly 8,000 years. National Palace Museum moved to Taiwan in 1948. The Sino-Japanese and Chinese civil wars made a great contribution to the modern look of the museum, which is one of the most visited in the world, receiving more than 6 million visitors annually.
4
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
The Metropolitan, colloquially known as MET, is the largest in the United States and one of the most visited art museums in the world. It has seventeen departments with over 2 million meetings. The Metropolitan was founded in 1870 by leading artists, entrepreneurs and financiers. It opened its doors in February 1872. Every year, about 6.7 million people visit it. Among the famous exhibits, Thebiggest celebrates the Egyptian Arts Center, which houses the Dendoor Temple.
3
British Museum (British Museum, London)
It was founded in 1753 with the collections of the doctor and scientist Sir Hans Sloan and is open to guests on January 15, 1759. Over the centuries, it expanded and opened branches, and the first of these was the British Museum of Natural History in 1881. It receives about 6.8 million visitors annually to view nearly 8 million works of history, painting and culture.
2
The Louvre (Louvre, Paris)
The Louvre is the largest in the world, as well as a famous monument of Paris, on the banks of the River Seine. It is the second most visited in the world, receiving about 7.3 million tourists annually. The Louvre Museum contains about 35,000 objects, which range from the prehistoric era to the 21st century and covering an area of 72,735 m². It was originally built at the end of the 12th century and was the residence of the kings of France. In 1793, he opened for visitors an exhibition of almost 537 paintings. Then the building was closed in 1796 and reopened in 1801.
1
The Forbidden City, Beijing
The Forbidden City was built in 1406-1420. This complex consists of 980 buildings and gardens covering an area of over 72 hectares. It originally served as the imperial palace for the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty. Subsequently, for almost 500 years, it remained the home of emperors and the political center of the Chinese government. Since 1925, the Forbidden City has been hosting 16 million visitors annually, making it the most visited in the world.
Author: Evgenia Elkova