Art museums

[connoisseur series500]

I LOVE art museums. Here in Toledo, Ohio we are lucky to have a damned good one. In fact, it is perennially ranked in the top 10 nationally in terms of quality of collection, size of endowment, buidling size, etc.

I don't happen to know the others in the top 10 but I know that Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, St. Louis, New York (Met and Guggenheim), Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Washington D.C. all have good ones as well.

Then of course there are the museums in Europe. (Couw: make sure you don't post any more pictures of Courbet's "The Origin of Life!" )

Who's been to which ones, and tell us all about it here...

I haven't been to many myself. I've seen the one in Chicago and a couple in Paris, France. That's about it. Of course, I did spend three ENTIRE days in the Louvre. The Musee D'Orsay was almost as good. And I also visited the Modern Art museum in Paris (forgot the name) and the Musee Guimet to look at Malraux's stolen stuff!

Edited December 2, 2003 by connoisseur series500

[brownie]

I also love museums. Try to go to the Louvre as often as I can. Stick to one floor at a time. So I can watch the Italian Renaissance wing, then the Italian primitives, then the Flemish primitives. That museum is overwhelming.

I love the Orsay museum too. I enjoy the Courbet's 'Origin of Life' when it is on display. Orsay is a stupendousl place. And the Pompidou Center (that's the Modern Art museum you were reffering I guess!)! Those Matisse there!

Among the other museums I have visited, I loved the ones in Bruges, Belgium, the Uffizi in Florence, Italy, (so many incredible museums in Italy) and best of all - probably my personal favorite - Madrid's Prado.

The Prado has paintings from many of my favorite artists: Velasquez, Bosch, Goya, Zurbaran, Brueghel.

I also remember when I first visited New York's MOMA (Picasso's Guernica was on display there at the time), I found the museum to have the best display of paintings. And so many I had only seen reproductions of!

Also traveled to Philadelphia for a look at the Barnes museum. Worth the trip!

[king ubu]

brownie, the Orsay is the one I loved most when I was in Paris (which is several years, now), and I did like the Matisse room (or are there two of them - I guess it's changed since I was there anyway) best in the Pompidou.

In Zurich, there's the Kunsthaus, which has intersting exhibtions from time to time, and quite a good collection. But as they're constantly renovating (they're in the middle of some 6 or 7 years now), the largest parts of the collection are closed. They've got an important collection of Dada art, yet they usually display only some 5 or 6 items... creeps!

Then they've got brand new Giacometti rooms, and I love his work! Beautiful stuff from his younger years, when he was associated with the surrealists, and frightening, morbid examples of his late work.

Then there's lots of Valloton - one of my favorites!

In Winterthur (closeby), there are the museums of Oskar Reinhardt, a private collector who got quite a lot of interesting paintings - one of the most famous Friedrich paintings, if memory serves right (I go there only every couple of years or even less often).

In Basel, there's the Beyeler Collection, housed in a beautiful building by Renzo Piano. They have good exhibitions usually, and the building itself is reason enough to go there.

In Berne, our small capital town, there will be a Paul Klee museum in a few years, and I guess that will be a great place, too!

ubu

[brownie]

Ubu, I visited the Basel museum some years ago. A great place. And the Paul Klees and Oscar Kokoshkas there are amazing. Good to hear that Bern will have a Klee museum. About time!

Giacometti! He was a familiar figure in the Montparnasse area where I spent a lot of time in my teens years. Ran into him a number of times. He was into a world of his own and obviously did not want to be interrupted in his thoughts by inquiring strangers.

[king ubu]

In a extremely sensitive response to the collection, its creators and the location, Renzo Piano has created an ideal building for presenting modern art. From outside, the approximately 127 metre-long building, which is shielded from traffic noise by a porphyry-clad external wall, resembles a ship lying anchored alongside the busy road.

On passing through the entrance gate, one finds oneself in the calm of an English-style landscape park. To the right, nestled among groups of trees, one sees the pavilion-like museum built out of a harmonious combination of stone, white-painted steel and glass. Its projecting glass roof, with a surface area of approximately 4,500 square metres, seems to float above its four monumental parallel walls.

There exists a harmonious balance between the materials used throughout the museum. The vertical walls clad with porphyry from Argentina convey an impression of heaviness and durability. A projecting steel structure has been suspended over them horizontally like a flying carpet. It supports the glass of the transparent roof and the 900 brise-soleil that protect the interior against direct overhead sunlight.

The internal requirements associated with the Beyeler Collection's characteristics and size have been sensitively reconciled with the site's external constraints. Piano has described his task in the following words: "A museum should attempt to interpret the quality of the collection and define its relationship with the outside world. This means taking an active, but not an aggressive role."

The transparent roof, with its highly sophisticated technology, provides the whole of the interior with the natural light so desirable for viewing works of art. The use of glass for the museum's northern and southern façades creates interaction between the building and the park. Through the interconnections he has established between the interior and the exterior, Piano has created a unique synthesis of art, architecture and nature.

Inside the museum, Piano has designed absolutely tranquil rooms unmarred by the slightest technical or design detail. Their carefully conceived sequence alternately encourages standing still and motion, intensive viewing of the works and reflection on them as one walks about. Piano has created a discreetly elegant architecture that serves art totally without concealing itself.

The picture shows a view into the northern section of the museum, which was extended by 12 metres between September 1999 and September 2000. The room, which measures 30 metres by 15 metres, satisfies to the museum's need for the more flexible use of exhibition structures. The additional reserves of space created on the lower level, which can be kept dark, are particularly well suited for the installation of new media.

In the course of the museum's extension, the northern part of the park was also significantly modified, being extended to the main road. Bernard Plattner of Renzo Piano's Building Workshop has stressed that the redesign "re-establishes an optical equilibrium between the northern and southern ends of the park, with the museum standing in the optical centre."

This comes from the Fondation Beyeler Homepage. I guess you'd have to see it yourself.

ubu

[Ed S]

I love art museums as well.

Here in Buffalo, attempts at civic pride often lead to exaggerated claims often lead to wild claims about having the best sunsets, the best sports fans, the best chicken wings, bla bla bla. When it comes to the major gallery in Buffalo, the claims are well founded. The Albright Knox is one of the great musems anywhere. Their collection of Abstract Expressionists is simply oustanding. Well represented in Impressionism, Post Impressionism, as well as many of the artists whose work led to the Impressionist movement. They've got quite a bit of pop art as well, but to be honest that stuff does not float my boat. They've hosted a number of major exhibits over the past few years that have really stimulated the community.

We also ave a smaller gallery - The Burchfield-Penney Center that hosts probably the largest collection of work by Charles Burchfield, an artist whose popluarity is growing among art fans. He worked mostly in water colors with a lot of symbolism in his work, neither of which I'm particularly fond of. His oils that I've seen are outstanding, however.

When I travel, art museums are right up there with jazz spots as my number 1 thing to see. I visit Toronto frequently. The Art Gallery of Ontario is a very nice museum with a world class collection and is the host of many special exhibits. The Barnes Foundation collection was up there while renovations took place at the Foundation. The McMichael Canadian Collection is another great museum - well known for its collection of Candian artists including Tom Thompson and of course the Group of Seven. There's a nice representation of the Group of Seven at the AGO as well.

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is amongst my favorites as well. I visit it yearly when I'm up there for the Jazz Festival. A very nice well rounded collection heavy on Canadian artists. Nice abstract expressionist rooms as well. Hosts great exhibits every year. This past summer it was Edouard Vuillard and an exhibit by an artist named Francoise Sullivan. The Sullivan exhibit - and I had never heard of her - turned out to be one of the most impressive exhibits of modern art I've exer experienced. Glad I went. The Museum of Contemporary art is worth a visit as well. Some nice Abstract Expressionist stuff.

I've been lucky enought to hit a number of galleries in the US and Europe. Ottawa's National Gallery is fabulous. The Cleveland Museum of Art and Carnegie in Pittsburgh are very nice and well worth a visit. I saw a Picasso exhibit in Cleveland a number of years ago that was great. There's a nice museum in Quebec City that's heavy on contemporary and Canadian artists that's nice to visit if you're ever up there.

The New York Museums are of course excellent. I've been to the MOMA for a Matisse exhibit, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Guggenheim. All are simply outstanding.

Over in Europe I've been able to see the Orsay, the Louvre and the Modern Art Museum at the Pompidou Centre while I was in Paris. The same Matisse exhibit that I saw the previous year in NY had traveled to Paris and I was lucky to see it a second time. His Harmony in Red is one of the most stunningly beautiful works I have ever experienced. I also saw the Picasso Museum in Paris and that was outstanding as you might expect. On the European trip my wife and I took 10 years ago now, I also visited the major museums in Lyon and Geneva, both of which were very good. In Geneva I got my first exposure to the artist Kees von Dongen, whose work I now seek out when I visit museums. We also spent some time on the Riviera and stopped at the big museum in Nice. It had a very nice, well rounded collection. We were disappointed that both the Matisse and Dufy Museums were closed. We did get to visit the Fondation Maeght and enjoyed the great collection of modern art and sculpture as well as one of the most beautiful settings for a museum I've ever been in.

Between stops in Chamonix and Cannes, we had planned 3 days in Florence. The first night we were there a car bomb set off by the mafia exploded outside the Ufizzi killing six people and damaging several works of art. When we woke up on our first morning there, all the museums in the city were shut down, so we were quite disappointed from that standpoint. We did get to see the great architecture - Il Doumo, the Baptistry etc. We also got to witness a huge news event unfold in front of our eyes. We were having lunch at an outdoor restaurant on the Piazza Della Signora and in from of us huge anti mafia demonstrators, riot police, CNN and local news camera covered the activities.

A few years later, I was lucky enough to be able to travel to London for 4 days. I got to see the old Tate (the Tate Modern was still under construction), the Courtald Collection and of course the National Gallery

I'm starting to bore myself so I'll shut up now.

[Peter Johnson]

One of the most interesting and enjoyable museum experiences I've had was at the Fundacio Miro in Barcelona. It helps to love Miro (which I do), and in addition there was a smashing Leger exhibit when I was there. But the layout is superb, with (as many European museums have) a number of anterooms and courtyards to step away or outside and reflect.

Here in Philadelphia I love the aforementioned Barnes Foundation (which might move downtown, keeping my fingers crossed!) and the Philadelphia Museum's lesser-known little brother, the Rodin museum is a contemplative place.

We're supposed to get a Calder museum in the near future...

[king ubu]

Yes, the Tate Modern! Hey, imagine, they've got a Schwitters room there, and a Duchamp room! These are some of my Gods...

And the building is incredible, of course. I'm a big fan of Herzog/De Meuron. Swiss quality still works, from time to time...

ubu

[Noj]

The Getty Museum in L.A. is incredible. Not only is it loaded with fantastic art, but the buildings themselves are beautifully designed and perched high on a hill with great views of the city in all directions. Constructed with ancient marble carved from a special location in Greece, there are actually visible fossils in the outer walls. Well worth paying a visit if you're out here in the land of fruits, nuts, and earthquakes.

[EKE BBB]

...and best of all - probably my personal favorite - Madrid's Prado.

The Prado has paintings from many of my favorite artists: Velasquez, Bosch, Goya, Zurbaran, Brueghel...

Official Website Of The Museo Nacional del Prado

CVC Cervantes: Museo Nacional del Prado

[connoisseur series500]

This might be a silly thing to bring up, but I've heard that the MOMA in New York is probably the world's greatest art museum. Any truth to that?

The competition would be fierce: Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the Louvre, Madrid's Prado and Uffizi in Florence; Rjiksmuseum (spelling!) in Netherlands (Amsterdam?)

[WD45]

There are some superb museums in the Minneapolis St. Paul area.

The Minneapolis Institute of Art has a more classical approach. Some of the non-permanent collections they have had on display have been amazing. Last year they had a exhibition of several generations of an Asian family from traditional from the 19th century to some avant-garde installations created specifically for this show.

The Walker Art Center is more progressive, featuring up-to-the-minute trends in the art world. Some end up being pretty left field, and several things in the premanent collection leave me cold, but they are out there taking some chances. They do a good bit of music co-productions as well. [Andrew Hill, ICP Orchestra, AACM's 35th Anniversary celebration, Simon Shaheen, Bill Frisell, etc.]

The Weisman Museum over in St. Paul has some excellent exhibitions as well. A couple of years ago, they had an excellent show of early 20th century Russian avant garde painters, i.e. Kandinksy, Malevich, Popova.

Several smaller galleries are scattered thoughout the area as well.

[brownie]

This might be a silly thing to bring up, but I've heard that the MOMA in New York is probably the world's greatest art museum. Any truth to that?

The competition would be fierce: Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the Louvre, Madrid's Prado and Uffizi in Florence; Rjiksmuseum (spelling!) in Netherlands (Amsterdam?)

MOMA's greatest art museum in the world? The greatest modern art museum, maybe. I would think it misses on pre-19th Century art to qualify as the world's greatest. Know if was not meant to be.

I have not been to the Hermitage yet but from the ones I have visited, I would vote for the Prado for a full overview of what art is about. The Louvre is also very good but is a bit too big a place nowadays. From the various visits I have made, the Prado is more visitor-friendly.

But the art place I would most love to return to is the Assisi Franciscan basilica for another view of the Giottos there.

[jacman]

who needs an Art Museum when you have this:

[Jim Alfredson]

Paul, when you come to Ann Arbor you should check out the University of Michigan Museum of Art. It's small, but they always have great exhibits. Also, don't forget about the Detroit Institute of Art.

[connoisseur series500]

Paul, when you come to Ann Arbor you should check out the University of Michigan Museum of Art. It's small, but they always have great exhibits. Also, don't forget about the Detroit Institute of Art.

Yes, Jim, I've got to check out both places. Cleveland also, which is only 2 hours away.

It's on my to-do list for sure.

[Dmitry]

One of the biggest secrets in Paris - Musee Marmottan.

First rate Monet collection.

Don't miss it.

[Adam]

I'm off to London for the holidays, and can't wait to see the Tate Modern.

[Son-of-a-Weizen]

Don't miss the Hogarth collection.

[GregK]

The U of Michigan Museum is fantastic. A little small, but they do seem to attract some interesting exhibits. Worth a look next time you visit Ann Arbor or Detroit

[tonym]

Adam, you will be impressed I am sure by the Tate Modern.

London has some fantastic collections, as does Edinburgh, which is as far from my home as London.

IN the latter city, two of the most oimpressive galleries sit more or less opposite each other.

They have had some great exhibitions over the last few years that I've been visiting, including characters such as Joseph Bueys and unique British artists like Gary Hume.

About 1 1/2 hrs from here we have an old flour mill (the Baltic) that has been converted (overlooking the river Tyne), much in the vein of the Tate Modern.

The architects have opened up the whole structure by using transparent materials and perforated steels to give the place a light airy quality. The stairs are not for the vertiginous!

Each floor is given over to one artist and as yet these are among the lesser known.

You also have Anthony Gormley's 'Angel of the North' to marvel/wince at on the drive up there.

cheers, tonym

[alankin]

Philadelphia Museum of Art

[alankin]

The Barnes Foundation

[alankin]

The Rodin Museum

[alankin]

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts