The pandemic crisis has taken a lot of good opportunities in the lives of millions of people around the globe. It triggered our mental health and well-being, upended various jobs, crushed our goals, and most importantly, popped out our daily routine just like a bubble. Our world turned upside down which feels like we are going through a cycle having uncertainties of reaching its end.
Just a year ago, we were very much free to go outside, treat ourselves to a fine dining restaurant, watch a movie in cinemas, and discover histories in museums. Now, we are confined in the four corners of our own comfortable homes, taking food deliveries, watching Netflix, and scrolling in our social media accounts. Our lives revolved around the internet, which boils down to the question, “are you feeling helpless? want to go outside and explore the world?”
Worry no more! Because there is a way for us to have a free tour in any country while you’re still in your pajamas. Immersed yourselves with some of the most famous museums around the world as Fast Company and Google Arts & Culture teamed up with over 2500 museums and galleries to bring anyone and everyone virtual tours and online exhibits.
With the mission to preserve and bring the world’s history, art, and culture online so that it will be accessible to anyone, anytime, and anywhere, here are the top most popular museums included in Google Arts & Culture that will give 360˚ panoramic views.
The Natural History Museum London, UK
Dubbed as a world-class visitor attraction and leading science research center, the Natural History Museum located in London, United Kingdom first opened its doors on 18 April 1881. Discover the museum’s 80 million objects with unique, new features and navigate the galleries in 360 degrees care of Google’s Street View to explore a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. This museum holds thousands of stories which are very much helpful with school stuff and other related research.
See the website and discover more about this museum: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/
Guggenheim Museum, New York
Founded in 1937, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation was built to promote the understanding and appreciation of art, primarily of the modern and contemporary periods, through exhibitions, education programs, research initiatives, and publications. In Google’s Street View people could experience and see different artworks that are definitely well-preserved. Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, and modern French masterpieces from the Guggenheim’s collection, including works by Degas, Manet, Van Gogh, and more can be seen on the virtual museum.
See the website and discover more about this museum: https://www.guggenheim.org/
British Museum, London
Located in London, UK, the British Museum was founded in 1753 and opened its doors to the public in 1759. It was the first national museum to cover all fields of human knowledge, open to visitors from across the world. Since the pandemic has forbidden us to personally explore the beauty of British ancient history, the museum offers a virtual tour that allows visitors to tour and discover some iconic artifacts inside the museum.
See the website and discover more about this museum: https://www.britishmuseum.org/
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Founded as a gift to the nation, the National Gallery of Art located in Washington, D.C., served as a center of visual art, education, and culture. The museum holds a collection of over 150,000 paintings, sculpture, decorative arts, photographs, prints, and drawings that encapsulates the history of Western art. Google features two online exhibits from the art museum which are American fashion titled, ‘Fashioning a Nation’ and an exhibit collection of works from Dutch Baroque painter Johannes Vermeer, titled ‘Vermeer and the Masters of Genre Painting.’
See the website and discover more about this museum: https://www.nga.gov/
National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul
Served as a representative institution of Korean modern art, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art has been fulfilling its mission to nurture Korean culture through showcasing its history to the public. This museum is filled with various genres of visual arts such as architecture, design, and crafts. Through the expanded four branches in Gwacheon, Deoksugung, Cheongju, and Seoul, MMCA intends to function as a cultural platform that encourages communication and cross-pollination of contemporary art with other various disciplines of art, science, and humanities. Google has prepared different online exhibits and a virtual experience of the artifacts that can be found inside the museum.
See the website and discover more about this museum: https://www.mmca.go.kr/eng/
Musée d’Orsay, Paris
Indulge yourselves while walking virtually through the long rail of Musée d’Orsay installed in the former Orsay railway station. The museum was built for the Universal Exhibition of 1900 and served as the first “work of art” in the Musee d’Orsay, which displays collections of French art from the period 1848 to 1914 including paintings, sculptures, furniture, and photography. Google also featured an online exhibit for viewers to be well informed about the beautiful history that this museum holds.
See the website and discover more about this museum: https://www.musee-orsay.fr/fr
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Known as the home of Dutch masters, Rijksmuseum showcased world-famous masterworks from the Dutch Golden Age including the Milkmaid by Vermeer and Rembrandt’s Night Watch. Explore the 800 years of Dutch history through Google’s virtual museum tour and discover the 8,000 objects that tell the story of Dutch art and history from the Middle Ages to Mondrian through the online exhibit.
See the website and discover more about this museum: https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en
Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
Never miss this virtual experience and walk through the artworks of the ever-famous Van Gogh in his museum built in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Van Gogh Museum houses the largest collection of artworks by Vincent Van Gogh in the world which includes over 200 paintings, 500 drawings, and more than 750 letters, all are permanent collections of the painter himself. Google has made it possible for viewers to deeply understand Van Gogh’s story through his virtual exhibit and discover his works in the virtual museum.
See the website and discover more about this museum: https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Loaded with dramatic architecture, tranquil gardens, and breathtaking views of Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center features works of art dating from the eighth through the twenty-first century. Google’s virtual experience showcased the collections of European paintings, drawings, sculptures, illuminated manuscripts, decorative arts, and European, Asian, and American photographs. Google has also invested in introducing stories that the museum holds through their online exhibit which includes a total of 36 stories.
See the website and discover more about this museum: https://www.getty.edu/museum/
Grohmann Museum at Milwaukee School of Engineering
Home to the world’s most comprehensive art collection with more than 1,500 paintings, sculptures, and works on paper representing the evolution of human work, the Grohmann Museum is named in honor of Dr. Eckhart Grohmann, an MSOE Regent, Milwaukee businessman, and avid art collector, who donated his Man at Work art collection to MSOE in 2001. Experience the virtual view of the museum’s steel and glass-domed entrance and immerse yourselves with the three floors of gallery space where a core collection is displayed as well as special themed exhibitions culled from the collection. This is not just an ordinary museum as it has a spectacular rooftop sculpture garden, auditorium, docent library, store, and vending café.
See the website and discover more about this museum: https://www.msoe.edu/grohmann-museum/
Google Arts & Culture has a lot to impart to each one of us, be it history or arts. In these challenging times, this online platform of high-resolution images and videos of artworks and cultural artifacts has indeed served as a helping hand to all students, researchers, and professionals who have been longing to discover more histories around the globe. We don’t need to wait for these museums to open up and invest a lot of money just to see those remarkable art pieces since Google Arts & Culture has made it easier for us to access all of them.
Over 5,000 museums are now up for the virtual experience on the official website of Google Arts & Culture. To explore more collections, artifacts, and histories, visit their website and appease yourselves virtually with thousands of new discoveries without bothering of going outside.
