The world’s best art galleries are waiting for you. The only problem is that they’re scattered around the globe.
The purpose of this site is to make it easier for you to find and see the world’s most impressive collections of art.
It’s always hard to pick favorites in art, but the galleries listed here are among the very best in the world. They’ve been carefully selected from thousands of galleries on dozens of continents and islands. Their collections are likely to contain some treasures that will be genuinely new to you, some works that will make your heart race with excitement and wonder, and a few pieces that will prompt you to strike up a conversation with a stranger. Finding these gems is our passion and we hope it will become yours too.
I hope you enjoy visiting this site as much as I enjoy creating it!
Art has been having a moment. Museums and galleries are flourishing, and the world’s biggest collectors are acquiring more art than ever before. In 2014, 22 of the top 25 most expensive works at auction were sold by contemporary artists. The top five spots were taken by women: Yayoi Kusama, whose pumpkin-infused sculptures sold for $10.1 million; Lee Ufan, a Korean minimalist whose retrospective at Rome’s Palazzo Grassi made $8.2 million in sales; Gerhard Richter, who sold his abstract painting “Abstract Painting” for $8.1 million; Cindy Sherman, who sold her Ikat series for $5.7 million; and Helen Marten, whose oil paintings of common household items sold for $4.2 million.
The art world is growing so fast that even seasoned insiders can feel overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of art that’s out there—and wondering how they can make sense of it all. There are endless blogs and message boards and Instagram feeds to try to keep up with, not to mention the fact that many museums rotate their collections every six months or less (and many galleries change their exhibitions every month).
Where do you start?
With this guide to the 100 best galleries in the
Wherever you are, there is a gallery nearby. Find out what to see and what to avoid, guided by the most knowledgeable art critic in the world and now available as a free app for your iPhone or Android phone.
You’ll find all of the best galleries, museums and public art collections on this site, with more added every day. You’ll get descriptive information about each venue and the type of art it specializes in, as well as reviews from my own visits, which I post regularly.
For everyone interested in art – from students to seasoned collectors – this site is an essential guide.
Oakland Museum of California
Address:1000 Oak Street, Oakland, California 94612, USA
Telephone:+1 510 594-3500
Fax:+1 510 594-3164
Web site:http://www.museumca.org/
Opened in 1995, the museum offers a wide range of artistic and cultural activities. Its permanent collection of over 90,000 objects include Asian art, native American baskets and textiles, photography, modern and contemporary art. Its special exhibitions are also noteworthy: “Passion and Power: The Role of Emotions in History” was held in 2004; “Artistic License” in 2006; “The Body Beautiful and the Idea of Race”, 2007. The museum is located on the eastern shore of Lake Merritt.
The word “art” is a shorthand way of referring to a variety of visual creations. This word has several meanings, some narrow and some quite broad. As a result, this word can be confusing in conversation, especially when people disagree about how to apply it.
In the context of art galleries, it is likely that most visitors would agree with this definition: Art is a visual creation that has been created for the purpose of being aesthetically pleasing or emotionally expressive.
Although many art galleries feature different types of art from around the world, most visitors tend to focus on contemporary artwork when they visit an art gallery. In particular, they are interested in viewing new and unique pieces created by local and international artists.
An interesting aspect of the art world is that many people have strong opinions about what constitutes good art and what does not. Although there are some universal standards for what makes art good in general – such as creativity, originality and technical skill – it is often hard for people to agree about what makes one piece better than another. Some people feel that form follows function, while others believe that form follows imagination and emotions.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is an art museum located on the eastern edge of Central Park, in New York City. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, with its iconic façade, opened on May 10, 1870. The Met maintains extensive holdings of African, Asian, Oceanian, Byzantine, and Islamic art. The museum is also home to encyclopedic collections of musical instruments, armor from around the world, and antique weapons and horse-drawn vehicles.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded in 1870 by a group of American citizens including its first president, Mr. John Taylor Johnston. Their interest was “to bring to the notice of all art lovers works of art belonging to this country which have hitherto been overlooked or insufficiently appreciated.” Memorial Hall (now known as Robert Lehman Wing) opened in 1895 to display a portion of the Met’s growing collections; soon thereafter the need for a separate building to house the expanding collection became apparent. In 1897 Andrew Carnegie agreed to donate $1.5 million toward construction costs; however this amount proved insufficient so additional funds were raised through an endowment drive that concluded in 1900.
The building was designed by architects Calvert Vaux and Jacob Wrey