DISCUSS: Best Museum

[Bsrt]

One of the things that many people forgots is that in Madrid there are several art museums, one that has pieces of all times from XIV century (Thyssen-Bornemisza museum), and two where the national funds are exhibited, focusing each one in a time, the Prado museum, focused in old and clasical painting and sculpture, and the MNCARS (Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía), focused on modern art, and that's why the Prado has not modern pieces. This is what is known as "The triangle of art" or "The art walk" (El paseo del arte) because all of them are situated in the Paseo del Prado axis.

[Good]

It's true, I have been maybe unfair with the Prado. I love this museum, as it displays the best paintings of my fovourite painters: El Greco, Goya, Tiziano, Bosch, Rubens, etc. But I have to admit that this museum is not as encyclopedic and comprehensive as the Louvre, the National Gallery or the Met: French, British and Dutch paintings are very badly represented or even completely absent!
Regarding Italian paintings, some painters (Veronese, Tiziano, Tintoretto, the Venetian school of painting in general) reflecting Spanish kings' personal tastes, are particularly well displayed, while others are almost not there. The same goes for Flemisch painting.
Only Spanish painting is, obvioulsy, completely and entirely represented.
The Prado is a museum based on Spanish kings' personal fascination for the greatest painters of their times, not on a scientific and complete exhibition of European painting, hence some inexcusable lacks and gaps: where are Rembrandt, Poussin, Delacroix, Gainsborough, Vermeer, Fragonard?
Nevertheless Prado's weaknesses are beautifully compensated by its wonderful collections of Spanish, Venetian and Flemish schools.

Regarding modern art, Reina Sofia museum is archictecturally a beautiful museum, but its collections can't match those of the New York, Paris, or Berlin museums, simply because Madrid has never been a center of modern art like those cities, and most of the great Spanish painters have flown to Paris, taking with them their most beautiful paintings, or selling them to rich American collectors or institutions (especially Picasso, which is more easily seen in the Pompidou Center or the Picasso museum in Paris, or the MoMA in New York). It's a shame because Spain greatly contributed to modern art history thanks to Gris, Picasso, Miro, Dali, but unfortunately all these artists decided to live in Paris and/or NYC, endowing French or American museums more than their Spanish counterparts.

As for Amsterdam museums, I am deeply ignorant about their collections, so feel free to make your point and correct my ranking...

[MasonicStage™]

When you already mantioned Madrid, I was in Prado and Reina Sofía. Prado is in my opinion to much noised about, actually quite boring museum, while Reina is very interesting, ingenious, definitely worth of visiting! But also Dali Museum in Figueres is something what made an impression on me! It's transcendent...

[Nemo]

@GOOD

For Dutch museums/collections, see post 52
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showth...=172121&page=3

[Crizzy]

Überseemuseum,Bremen

[miltown]

MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM
Milwaukee, WI, USA









aside from the amazing architecture it also has a huge collection of fine art

[tigidig14]

^wow that's in milwokee

anyway, chicago has some of the best usually

[Cobain]

1) British Museum, London
2) Musée du Louvre, Paris
3) Museo del Prado, Madrid

[Metsfan1520]

best museums in no specific order:

the metropolitain museum of art-NewYork
the MoMA-New York
The British museum-London
the Uffizi gallery-Florence
The Vatican Museums-The Vatican
The tate modern-London
the smithsonian-WashingtonDC
the musee de orsay-Paris
the louvre-Paris
the egyptian museum-Cairo

these museums house the greatest treasures of our world.

[TouristMan]

Doria Pamphili Gallery

Doria Pamphili Gallery (near Via del Corso, Rome) is a private museum like Borghese Gallery in wich paintings, furniture and statuary has been assembled since the 16th century by the Doria, Pamphilj, Landi and Aldobrandini families.
It seems that time stopped at this time, everything is still in the original position.

The Gallery includes works of Jacopo Tintoretto, Tiziano, Raffaello Sanzio, Correggio, Caravaggio, Guercino, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Parmigianino, Gaspard Dughet, Jan Brueghel il Vecchio, Velasquez, etc.

Virtual tour:
http://www.doriapamphilj.it/ipix.asp

[ManokAnak]

I absolutely love museums, first things i go to when visiting a new place.

The Vatican Museums are pretty sweet. Yeah, check it out if you find your self in Roma. The whole city of Rome is a pretty sweet museum, actually, the whole Italian Penisula is a great museum....I loved the Galleria Deglia Uffizzi.

Chicago has nice museums, but they cannot compare to some of the museums i have been to in Italy. Bristism museum, i think is overrated. I do love Art Institute, one of my Tuesday art History classes took us there a lot, it was right down the street. Oooo its being expanded too, most of the South East Asian art had to be moved because of it.

Most of the museums I really love are those tiny little museums in a little town showing some historical items or things dug up.

Unfortunately I have not been arround the world yet and I can only nominate ones i have been too. Soo many great musems to see!

[yin_yang]

^ some of the best art is in churches and cathedrals. when i was in spain, i was taken aback by finding many more old master paintings than i had anticipated in the collections of many religious buildings.

[Skyman]

1. Musée du Louvre, Paris
2. Museum of Ermitage, St. Petersburg
3. British Museum, London

[Gaeus]

Originally Posted by brisavoine

Unfortunately, the largest and most extraordinary museum of all times, the Imperial Gardens of Beijing, also known as the Old Summer Palace, was burnt to the ground by British and French expeditionary troops in 1860. Totally shameful!

So what happened to those priceless arts? Did Taiwan or China got them back?

[Velkan]

Originally Posted by Gaeus

So what happened to those priceless arts? Did Taiwan or China got them back?

I would assume they burned down along with the museum?

[hkskyline]

Originally Posted by Gaeus

So what happened to those priceless arts? Did Taiwan or China got them back?

Many were looted by the European invaders and left China for good.

[Thorin]

Originally Posted by lbjeffries

Egyptian (Cairo is one, British is two, Met is right behind)

Cairo is one, but the second is the Egyptian Museum of Turin, for importance.

[Pincio]

Cairo is the most important one, Turin is the second one.

TURIN (TORINO), ITALY - EGYPTIAN MUSEUM

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[Pincio]

I don't like big museums, I prefer the small ones.
My personal list (taken from the list of museums that I've visited)


1) Egyptian Museum (Turin)

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2) Galleria degli Uffizi (Florence)

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3) Museè Orsay (Paris)

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4) Alte Pinakothek (Munich)

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5) Museè Rodin (Paris)

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6) Galleria Borghese (Rome)

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7) Museo del Bargello (Florence)

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8) Centre Pompidou (Paris)

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9) Museo di Palazzo Altemps (Rome)

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10) Museu Thyssen-Bornemiza (Madrid)

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[urbanófilo]

No precedence:

Vatican Museum, Rome
Uffizzi, Florence
Louvre, Paris
National Museum, Athens
Cairo Museum (egyptian art)
British Museum, London
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Prado, Madrid
British Museum
National Gallery, London
Academia, Venice
Hermitage, St Petersburg
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
National Museum, Taipei (chinese art)
Altespinakothek, Munich
Pompidou, Paris
D'Orsay, Paris
Metropolitan Museum, New York
Modern Art, New York
Tate Gallery, London
National Gallery, Washington
Palazzo Pitti, Florence
Guggenheim, New York

&

National Anthropology Museum, Mexico City... (mesoamerican precolumbian art: mayan, olmec, aztec...) ; )