By- Angela Padrón
Looking at art on a computer screen or in a book is one thing, but seeing it in person is another thing altogether. That’s why visiting art museums is a great way for students to learn more about art and develop a deeper understanding of history as seen through artists’ eyes. By viewing works of art in person, students can witness the true size, read about materials used to create the works, and come to appreciate the hard work, imagination, and talent the artists put forth to create the masterpieces.
Here is a list of ten not-to-be-missed art museums in the United States:
#1- Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) – New York City, NY
The Museum of Modern Art (or MoMA) houses works of art from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. Its permanent collections include Architecture and Design, Drawings, Film, Media, Painting and Sculpture, Photography, and Prints and Illustrated Books. Several famous works are displayed at MoMA, including Vincent Van Gogh’s The Starry Night and Salvador Dalí’s The Persistence of Memory, along with pieces by modern artists, including Matisse, Monet, O’Keeffe, Pollock, and Warhol.
#2- Metropolitan Museum of Art – New York City, NY
This massively huge museum has seventeen curatorial collections and more than two million objects, including an Egyptian temple from 10 B.C, Greek and Roman art, an American wing, the European Paintings Galleries, and the Anna Wintour Costume Center. In addition, there is a wing filled with contemporary art. The museum displays many masterpieces of Persian art, as well as works by the likes of Vermeer, Sargent, Rembrandt, Degas, and others.
#3- The Art Institute of Chicago; Chicago, IL
This institution holds more than 300,000 artworks and artifacts from all over the world, from ancient times to the present. These include Japanese prints, pieces of Frank Lloyd Wright’s buildings, and a Modern Wing filled with architecture and design collections. There are several famous paintings housed here, including Van Gogh’s The Bedroom, Grant Wood’s American Gothic, George Seurat’s A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, and Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks.
#4- National Gallery of Art; Washington, D.C.
In this museum, visitors will find European and American art from the 13th to the early 20th centuries, including Leonardo da Vinci’s portrait of Ginevra de’ Benci, Botticelli’s Adoration of the Magi, and Jan van Eyck’s Annunciation. There are also galleries filled with sculptures, including the largest collection of Edgar Degas’s wax and mixed-media sculptures. In addition, there is an exhibit of abstract expressionist masterpieces, including work by Barnett Newman and Mark Rothko.
#5- Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA); Los Angeles, CA
LACMA is a large museum with creative installations and works covering hundreds of years. In this museum, visitors will see works such as Diego Rivera’s portrait of Frida Kahlo, George De La Tour’s The Magdalen With The Smoking Flame, and Henri Matisse’s La Gerbe.
#6- Philadelphia Museum of Art; Philadelphia, PA
The Philadelphia Museum of Art has more than two hundred galleries with about 227,000 objects dating from the first century A.D. to present day. It houses American paintings, sculpture, and decorative arts from artists like Thomas Eakins. There is also 18th and 19th century furniture and silver on display, as well as collections of German art and modern works of art.
#7- The Cleveland Museum of Art; Cleveland, OH
The Cleveland Museum of Art has been around for over one hundred years and sits at 592,000 square feet. It is best known for its Asian and Egyptian works of art, its medieval art collection from Europe and America, and its postwar masterpieces.
#8- Museum of Fine Arts; Boston, MA
The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston holds about 500,000 objects. It contains an American Art Wing with objects like Paul Revere’s silver Liberty Bowl and paintings by John Singleton Copley. There is also a Contemporary Art wing, including works from artists like Ellsworth Kelly, Kara Walker, and Rachel Whiteread. In addition, the museum holds an Egyptian collection, the first Japanese collection in America, and Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings, including the second largest collection of Claude Monet’s paintings in the U.S.
#9- M.H. de Young Museum; San Francisco, CA
This museum’s structure is a work of art in itself, with 27,000 paintings, sculptures, objects, crafts, and textiles created between the 17th and 20th centuries. These works come from all over the world, including Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. The museum’s exhibitions rotate and span various time periods and genres, including findings from King Tut’s tomb to paintings by Impressionists to works by artists like Edward Hopper and Keith Haring.
#10- High Museum of Art; Atlanta, GA
The High Museum of Art is made up approximately 300,000 square feet of space. It holds a permanent collection of more than 15,000 works of art, including American and decorative art from the 19th and 20th century. The museum also has a large collection of contemporary art and photographs from various time periods in American history.
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