Art museums

Art has played a big part in my life ever since I was a child. I remember studying every painting in my parents’ art albums, since before I knew how to read. From the collections of Hermitage and Louvre to their posters of Dali, I learned from a very early age to appreciate each and every one. Then I fell in love with drawing, later with painting. Today I practice both as means of relaxation and achieving my inner balance.

Art museums are some of my favorite places to spend free time. So no holiday is complete without contemplating some art. Here is Flamingo’s list of recommendations of museums not to miss if you find yourself traveling to these places. In these hard times though, many of the museums have virtual tours online and we can admire them from afar.

Musée d’Orsay, Paris

This is for sure my favorite museum on the list because of its beautiful and enormous collection of Impressionist painters. Here you can admire some of the famous paintings in the world like: the most exquisite dance I’ve ever seen (in my opinion) by Renoir, the spring and summer of Monet with all the flowers and the range of blues of the sea, the winter of Sisley, the elegant ballerinas of Dégas, the tranquil villages of Pissarro, the women of Manet and the still life of Cézanne. Of course there is also a great display of Post Impressionism art by Van Gogh, Gauguin and Toulouse-Lautrec.

If you like indulging, it will take a while, so plan at least half of day for this grand museum and you can also spend time enjoying the view over Seine through its famous clock. (https://www.musee-orsay.fr/)

2. The Wallace Collection, London

Although a small museum (compared to others), located in an impressive townhouse in the area of Oxford Street, the collection of furniture and old masters’ paintings is breathtaking. The Seymour Family has collected works of Titian, Velásquez, Rubens and Hals, as well as 18th century French furniture, objects, armor and enchanting porcelain. Here is displayed one of my favorite paintings, “The Swing” by Jean-Honorè Fragonard. It’s a well balanced collection, where everyone can find something they like. (https://www.wallacecollection.org/)

3. Uffizi Galleries, Florence

This is one of the largest and most beautiful art museums in the world, positioned in the heart of the city. It hosts mainly Italian Renaissance paintings. Here is the place to really get acquainted with art belonging to masters like Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli, Verrocchio, Giotto, Raphael, Bronzino and Titian. Some of the most famous paintings hang on the high walls of the palace: “The Birth of Venus” and “Primavera” by Botticelli, Titian’s “Venus of Urbino”, “Madonna of Goldfinch” by Raphael, da Vinci’s and Verrocchio ’s “Annunciation”. The large hallways are adorned with the collection of Roman sculptures owned by the Medici Family. (https://www.uffizi.it/)

Florence is full of art museums, I recommend also seeing the collection in the Pitti Palace (https://www.uffizi.it/en/pitti-palace) and Galleria dell’ Accademia (http://www.accademia.org/) which hosts Michelangelo’s very famous statue of “David”.

4. Victoria and Albert Museum, London

It is said to be the largest museum of decorative arts in the world. The beautiful Victorian building hosts lots of collections from Renaissance sculptures, romantic English paintings, costumes, medieval objects to photographs and prints. It’s amazing to admire art from all the corners of the world in one building. You can also see assembly of ancient Greek temples and the Asian collection is the largest I’ve seen in Europe.

It takes time, so plan ahead to spend a whole day in the VAM. The food in the cafeteria is also very tasty for a museum. (https://www.vam.ac.uk/)

5. Musée Rodin, Paris

The sculptures of Rodin are influenced by the impressionist movement, so as a very loyal “fan” of Impressionism, it’s impossible for me not to list this museum among my favorites. The museum is located right by the Esplanade des Invalides and has a beautiful inner garden where some of Rodin sculptures are displayed. So be sure to visit when it’s not rainy so you can enjoy the full experience. For those of you who are familiar with Rodin’s work, here are some of his famous sculptures displayed, like “The Gates of Hell”, “The Thinker” and my personal favorite “The Kiss”. (http://www.musee-rodin.fr/)

6. Kunsthaus, Zürich

This museum was a very pleasant surprise for me, because I found here, not only a little collection of Impressionists after my own heart, but I got to discover some new painters, whose works I didn’t see outside the internet before. Marc Chagall is one of these painters. He has a full room dedicated to his art in this museum. His Surrealistic paintings with his trademark colors are really overwhelming to see in reality: “The Wedding Candles”, “La fenêtre sur l’Ile de Bréhat”, “La Guerre”, these are just a few of them. Same as Chagall, I also made acquaintance with some of Munch’s works, the most famous here being “Music on Karl Johan Street”. Here you can go through all the artistic periods, admire paintings from Turner to Picasso, Matisse, Kandinsky and Dali. They also have a rich display of their famous Swiss sculptor Giacometti. (https://www.kunsthaus.ch)

7. National Azulejo Museum, Lisbon

“Azulejos” are ornamental ceramic tiles, which decorate the Spanish and Portuguese palaces, churches, houses, interiors and gardens. Many of the azulejos have Moorish influences. This museum is set in a convent and offers a historical display from the earliest azulejos till the present day. It’s a really unique form of art and worth admiring in a museum. (http://www.museudoazulejo.gov.pt/)

8. Musée des Artes Asiatique, Nice

Located in the beautiful Phoenix Park in Nice, the building is like a “jewel of snow glittering in the azure of the Mediterranean”, the way a Japanese expressed it. The white building gives the impression that it’s floating on water. The building’s plan symbolizes the two mother civilizations of Asia, China and India, and their transmission of culture to the other countries like Japan and Southeast Asia.

If you like Asian art, don’t miss this museum when in Nice. They also have a pavilion for tea ceremony! (https://maa.departement06.fr/musee-des-arts-asiatiques-13422.html)

9. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

This enormous palace on the most famous street of Wien, Ringstrasse, is one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen, inside and out. The fact that all of it is decorated in the works of Bruegel, Vermeer, Dürer, Rubens, Rembrandt, Velazquez, Titian and Raphael is the cherry on top of the cake. The most famous paintings you will be able to see here is Raphael’s “Madonna del Prato”, “The Feast of Venus” by Rubens, “The Tower of Babel” of Pieter Bruegel the Elder and the children’s portraits of Velazquez. The museum’s highlight is the staircase, named also “Stairway to Klimt”. The name says it all…You can spend a whole day here and not see everything. (https://www.khm.at/)

10. National Museum of Art of Romania, Bucharest

I’m not listing this museum just because I’m Romanian, but also because it deserves a place between my favorites. The collection of Romanian and European art is displayed in the beautiful Royal Palace. Here you can admire Romanian painters influenced by Impressionism like Nicolae Grigorescu, Theodor Pallady, Ștefan Luchian and Nicolae Tonitza and of course sculptures of our very famous Brancusi. The European collection also hosts paintings by El Greco, Tintoretto, Rubens, Rembrandt, Monet and Sisley.

Romanian art is truly beautiful and is worth at least a visit to this lovely museum. (https://www.mnar.arts.ro/)

There are lots of art museums I liked and that I want to recommend like: Belvedere in Wien with its gorgeous Klimt collection (https://www.belvedere.at) and the modern Albertina (https://www.albertina.at) , or the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam with all the Dutch masters (https://www.rijksmuseum.nl), or The National Gallery in London (https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/) and not to mention the famous Louvre in Paris (https://www.louvre.fr). The last one I discovered was Alte Pinakothek in Munich with the biggest Rubens collection I have ever seen (https://www.pinakothek.de/besuch/alte-pinakothek). There are too many to mention! I have an even longer list of art museums I haven’t visited yet, which are waiting patiently for this lockdown to be over.

According to Picasso “art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life”, so that’s why I want my soul to be squeaky clean as often as possible.

Photos from Flamingo‘s archive and Facebook official pages. Featured photo taken at Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris.