Tour of Museum
- J Paul Getty Museum, LA (USA)
The J Paul Getty Museum that is located at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, is a museum that features artworks that date from the 8th century through to the 21st century. Through the design of the museum, the works of art are showcased against a backdrop of tranquil gardens, dramatic architecture, and breathtaking views of the city of Los Angeles. It is located in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles occupies a vast space in that part of the city. The main building is mostly painted white on the exterior and the interior spaces entail huge spaces that host various pieces of art that include pre-20th century European paintings, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, drawings, as well as decorative art.
The museum is an enormous visual arts complex that has six major buildings that are made of various geometric shapes. From the outside, the white-themed building looks beautiful as it ushers visitors to museum complex. A large entrance that is circular in shape welcomes the visitors to the museum. When inside the buildings of the museum, it is evident how they rely on the natural light that usually comes from the flat windows in the very high and flat ceiling. One interesting aspect of the Getty Museum is its sequence of pavilions, and rooms that are pulled apart, as well as set outdoors. As one enters the building, marble covered walls can be seen hanging in midair. There are some of the older museum in the Getty Museum complex that inner courtyards that are surrounded by galleries. Moreover, between the ground-floor galleries of the museum is an outdoor fountain, which an interesting and beautiful center piece of the museum. Also, while inside the building, it is also easy to notice the photographs that form one of the most important galleries in the museum. The photographs feature images from as early as 1830s through to the presents. More importantly, these photographs are from all over the world. The artworks present in the building are evidently from the late medieval Europe through to the modern world. There are more than 450 master pieces of European painting, which range from Renaissance artists, such as Fabriano, and further incorporates works of 19th century artists like Monet, Cezanne, and Van Gogh.
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY (USA)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art that is located in Fifth Avenue in New York City and it is among world’s largest museum. It was opened to 1875 and house at least 2 million artworks from different parts of the world. The Metropolitan Museum of Art hosts an extensive collection that includes Greek, Egyptian, Asian, African, Oceanian, Byzantine, and Islamic art. Furthermore, the museum also has encyclopedic collections of musical instruments, accessories, costumes, as well as antique armor and weapons from different parts of the world. Also, in its vast galleries, the museum has several historical interiors that range from the first-century Rome and spans through to the modern American designs. The main building on the Museum is located at the 5th Avenue, which is on Manhattan’s Upper East Side and also, has the Cloisters at the Fort Tryon Park that provides extensive collection of art, primarily from medieval Europe.
The main building is located on the eastern edge of the Central, and in terms of the area, it occupies vast area, in which it is among largest galleries of the world. There is also an extension along the Madison Avenue and this section of the Museum focuses on exhibiting modern and contemporary art. Therefore, the artworks that are less than a century are mainly showcased at the Met Breuer Museum along the Madison Avenue. The museum comprises of the Thomas J Watson Library that was built in the year 1964 and was primarily meant for use by the staff of the museum and visiting scholars. Therefore, the library has among the most complete archeology and art reference collection in the world. It is part of the museum that hosts the largest network of libraries, however, only Nolen Library remains open to the public. The MET has is artworks displayed in different sections of the museum. In this regard, the Central Park complex has European art, in which it consists of most artworks of the Middle Ages. There is another region of the MET referred to as Fort Tryon Park, which entails the medieval art, which also art of that period, and thus, the majority is found to be from medieval Europe.
- The National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City (Mexico)
The National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City has the largest collection of ancient Mexican art in the world. Also, it is a museum that features the ethnographic exhibits the present-day indigenous groups of Mexico. Visiting the Museum, it will be easier to notice three main buildings of the museum. In this regard, the three main buildings of the museum include the Sun Stone, also known as the Aztec Calendar, the Recreation of Pakal’s tomb of Mata exhibit room, and Jade mask of the Zapotec Bat God in Oaxaca exhibit room. It is within these three main complexes that artworks can be found. Nonetheless, the whole museum complex has 23 permanent exhibit halls. Moving to the ground floor of the main complex, where archaeology exhibits can be found. On the upper level of the main museum complex entails exhibits of present-day indigenous people of Mexico.
When one entering the museum, it is easier to note that the rooms on the right hand showcases the various cultures developed in Central Mexico. Also, more importantly, these cultures exhibited are nicely organized in chronological order. Therefore, it is important start on the right and proceed to make way around in the counter-clockwise direction to ensure that the cultures are felt or experienced in a chronological order of how they changed over time. Therefore, some of the important elements observed include the Mexica or Aztec exhibit and various stone sculptures, which are the most famous within the Aztec Calendar, also termed as “Sun Stone.”
Moreover, the left of the entrance consists of halls that are slotted for showcasing other cultural areas of Mexico. For instance, one of the most notable halls include the Maya and Oaxaca rooms that are generally impressive. More interestingly, the museum also has numerous halls with recreation of archeological scenes unique to Mexico. For example, it is easier to notice the tombs on both Maya and Oaxaca rooms, as well as murals in the exhibit of Teotihuacan. Considering that the museum is built such that it has a huge courtyard, it is a serene place where people can relax. Also, it is a large complex that entails a very extensive collection, and thus, it will need enough time to visit the most of it.
- Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
The Van Gogh Museum is located in Amsterdam and houses Vincent Van Gogh’s largest collection of artworks. It is a museum that is dedicated in memory of Vincent Van Gogh (1853 -1890) and thus, it hosts permanent collections that include more than 200 paintings, 500 drawings, as well as at least 750 letter of Vincent Gogh. Entering the museum, one would be ushered in by the new entrance building that was developed by Hans van Haeeswijk architects. The building mainly entails high raised structure mainly made of huge glass planes instead of solid walls. The transparent walled building ushers the visitors to large halls that contain the artworks. The entrance wing of the museum is also a beautiful piece of architecture that standouts in the entire museum complex. The old building of the museum that was designed by Gerrit Rietveld in the 1970s is also a major feature as an outstanding grey building block that host a great number of the halls. The most of the halls are manly dark themed to allow natural lighting to shine of the artworks to showcase a beautiful view.
In the museum has three levels that has a permanent collection of the paintings, drawings, and letters of Van Gogh. In this regard, the Van Gogh painting in this museum are divided into various sections within the three levels. For instance, it is easier to note some of his darker early work, which consisted of artworks such as The Potato Eaters, 1885, and the Skull of a Skeleton with a Burning Cigarette of 1886, as well as many self-portraits that he produce between 1886 and 1888 when he had moved to Paris, France. Also, in the exhibition halls of museum is one of his most popular artworks that were produced in what was known as a colorful South of France, such as The Yellow House (1888), as well as Sunflowers (1889) before his death in 1890. Another interesting feature of the museum is the accessibility of entire building. In this regard, it is noticeable that the halls are all accessible to people with physical impairment and wheelchairs are also available for borrowing free of charge.