Museums I like 🏛🖼🗿

National Gallery, London

The National Gallery in London easily holds one of the best collections in the world of paintings of all times, accessible to everybody free of charge seven days a week. The collection was started at the beginning of the 19th century thanks to some large bequests of paintings donated to the country on the condition a suitable accommodation was provided for the exhibition and the conservation of the artworks. By now the collection is composed of more than 2,300 works representing all the major traditions of Western European paintings from the 13th to the 20th century. The Impressionist section of the Gallery features some major artworks by Renoir, Monet, Van Gogh, Gauguin and more, giving a sense of the different periods of the artistic movement and its major artists.

Tate Britain, London

Founded and opened in 1897 by Sir Henry Tate, Tate Britain is now the oldest and largest art gallery of the Tate network of galleries in England and is devoted to British works of art from Tudor times to the beginning of the 19th century. The modern and contemporary collections of the gallery have now been moved to Tate Modern, in a new location further along the Thames.

Tate Modern, London

8188e-image1-784118 — Ambiguous Structure n.92, by Yvaral

Tate Modern is one of the four Tate museums and the one specialising in modern and contemporary art. It is also Britain’s national gallery for international modern art and one of the most popular art galleries in London, open to all with free access seven days a week for the permanent displays, while charging for temporary exhibitions. Hosted in the building that was once the Bankside Power Station, the art gallery features one for the largest collections in the world of modern and contemporary art.

White Cube, London

The White Cube is an art gallery in Bermondsey, London, devoted to temporary exhibitions of contemporary art. Hosted in a former warehouse of 58,000 sq feet on Bermondsey Street it is one of the largest commercial galleries in Europe. Its versatile and ample exhibition spaces, opened in October 2011, allow for large exhibitions, normally dedicated to individual artists showcasing various instalations of their artistic production.

Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin

The Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin exhibits an extensive collection of paintings and sculptures dating from the 18th century and 19th century from acroos Europe. A valuable part of the collection is represented by French Impressionist paintings, acquired in the early 20th century, when the museum was established as the German National Gallery but also started expanding to works of art from other countries.

Philadelphia Museum of Art

The Museum‘s collection started in the aftermath of the celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence with the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia 1876. European and Japanese fine and decorative art objects and books for the museum’s library were among the first donations. In 1892 Anna H. Wilstach bequeathed a large painting collection, including many American paintings, and an endowment of half a million dollars for additional purchases. Now showcasing a vast collection of European and American artworks.

The Marmottan Monet Museum was established in 1934 as a result of a donation by Paul Marmottan of his collection of paintings, bronzes and furniture to the Académie des Beaux-Arts (Academy of Fine Arts). A further donation in 1966 by the only surviving son of the impressionists painter Claude Monet, Michel Monet, made of this museum the largest collection of Monet’s paintings in the world and one of the most beautiful art galleries in Paris.

Until recently I was not aware there was quite a collection of paintings by Apulia painters hosted in what used to be the Palace of the Province in Bari and is now the Metropolitan Gallery of Bari. Quite a pleasant discovery with artworks by medieval artists, Giaquinto, Netti, De Nittis and many more. Really worth the visit.

Featuring one of the most remarkable collection of portraits in the world, the National Portrait Gallery in London was the first portrait gallery in the world when it opened in 1856. The gallery houses portraits of historically important and famous British people, selected on the basis of the significance of the sitter, not that of the artist.