This is a fascinating, wonderful article form Designboom about the positive health effects of engaging with the arts. I have suspected this for a long while now...
Scientists now link museums, concerts, and creative hobbies to slower aging
Designboom
May 15,2026
What if visiting museums, attending concerts, singing in a choir, or regularly engaging with creative hobbies did more than improve mood or reduce stress? A new scientific study led by Daisy Fancourt suggests that arts and cultural engagement may also influence the biological pace at which we age.
Published in Innovation in Aging, the new research builds on years of work connecting the arts with physical and mental health outcomes. But while previous studies largely focused on wellbeing, depression, loneliness, or longevity, this latest paper moves into far more microscopic territory: epigenetic ageing, the molecular processes that shape how quickly the body biologically ages over time.
Drawing on data from more than 3,500 adults in the UK Household Longitudinal Study, the researchers found that people who engaged more frequently and more diversely with arts and cultural activities showed signs of slower biological aging across several advanced epigenetic aging clocks. Remarkably, the associations were found to be comparable in magnitude to those linked with physical activity.
from emotional wellbeing to molecular ageing
Over the last decade, Daisy Fancourt’s research has helped establish the growing field of arts and health, demonstrating how cultural participation can affect stress regulation, immune function, mental health, cognitive resilience, and even mortality risk. Her 2026 book Art Cure: The Science of How the Arts Transform Our Health argued that the arts should be considered a foundational pillar of wellbeing alongside sleep, diet, exercise, and nature.
This new study by Fancourt together with Lehané Masebo, Saoirse Finn, Hei Wan Mak, and Feifei Bu pushes that argument further. The research investigates whether cultural engagement may be linked to measurable biological aging processes inside the body itself. The study focuses on epigenetic aging, a field of molecular biology that examines how environmental and behavioral factors influence patterns of DNA methylation over time.
Scientists increasingly use so-called epigenetic clocks to estimate biological age, which may differ from chronological age. While someone may be 50 years old chronologically, their biological aging markers could suggest a body aging faster or slower depending on lifestyle, stress exposure, and health behaviors.
The researchers analyzed seven different epigenetic clocks, ranging from earlier models based primarily on chronological age to newer generations designed to measure physiological decline and pace of aging. The strongest associations appeared in newer second- and third-generation clocks, including PhenoAge and DunedinPACE, which are considered more sensitive to health-related behavioral factors.
museums, concerts, choirs, and creative hobbies
The study defines arts and cultural engagement broadly, including visiting museums, galleries, and heritage sites; attending concerts, theater performances, and exhibitions; singing, dancing, painting, photography, and crafts; and participating in libraries, archives, and community cultural spaces.
Researchers evaluated both the frequency and diversity of engagement. Participants who engaged monthly or weekly with cultural activities generally showed slower biological ageing markers than those who participated only once or twice a year.
One of the most striking findings of the paper is that diversity mattered almost as much as frequency. People participating across many different kinds of cultural activities appeared to show stronger associations with slower aging than those engaging in only one or two forms.
The authors suggest this may be because different forms of arts engagement activate multiple systems simultaneously, including cognitive stimulation, emotional processing, sensory immersion, social interaction, creativity, identity formation, and stress reduction.
the comparison with exercise
Perhaps the most consequential aspect of the research is its direct comparison between arts engagement and physical activity. Alongside cultural participation, the study also analyzed exercise habits, including activities such as running, swimming, yoga, cycling, and walking. Both arts engagement and physical activity were associated with slower epigenetic aging, and the effect sizes were found to be broadly comparable across several measures.
The findings do not suggest that museums replace exercise or that attending a concert functions identically to physical training. But they do position arts and cultural participation as a potentially meaningful health behavior in its own right, rather than merely a form of leisure or entertainment.
For decades, exercise, diet, smoking cessation, and sleep have dominated discussions around healthy aging and longevity. The study proposes that cultural participation may deserve consideration within that same framework.
Importantly, the strongest findings appeared among adults over the age of 40, a period increasingly understood as a key threshold in the acceleration of biological aging processes.
a new role for cultural spaces
Beyond the biological findings themselves, the research also carries broader implications for how cities and societies value cultural infrastructure. If museums, libraries, performance venues, choirs, and community arts programs contribute to healthier aging trajectories, cultural access begins to look like part of a preventative health ecosystem. This perspective aligns with a growing movement around social prescribing, where healthcare systems refer patients to community and cultural activities alongside medical treatment. Architecture, urban planning, exhibition design, acoustics, accessibility, and public cultural funding all become intertwined with questions of health and longevity.
The paper remains cautious in its conclusions. The researchers highlight that epigenetic aging science is still evolving and that associations do not prove direct causation. Biological aging clocks themselves remain an emerging and sometimes debated area of research.
Still, the study marks one of the clearest attempts yet to connect arts engagement with measurable molecular aging processes, suggesting that cultural participation may become increasingly important to how societies think about ageing itself. Daisy Fancourt’s research points toward a larger cultural shift, proposing that the arts also help shape the biological conditions through which people age, recover, and remain resilient over time.
project info:
name: Does leisure activity matter for epigenetic ageing? Analyses of arts engagement and physical activity in the UK Household Longitudinal Study
authors: Daisy Fancourt, Lehané Masebo, Saoirse Finn, Hei Wan Mak, and Feifei Bu
journal: Innovation in Aging
publisher: Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America
institution: University College London
Original article on Designboom:
https://www.designboom.com/art/scientists-museums-concerts-creative-hobbies-slower-aging-daisy-fancourt/
Showing posts with label museum. Show all posts
Showing posts with label museum. Show all posts
Monday, May 18, 2026
Tuesday, March 31, 2026
"The Antwerp Six" at MoMu - Fashion Museum of Antwerp
To celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the group, there is an exhibition about the work of the groundbreaking Antwerp Six, now through January 17th, 2027 at MoMu (ModeMuseum), the Fashion Museum of Antwerp. It explores the oeuvres of Dirk Bikkembergs, Ann Demeulemeester (previously here), Walter Van Beirendonck (previously here), Dries Van Noten (previously here), Dirk Van Saene, and Marina Yee, a group of highly influential avant-garde Belgian fashion designers who graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp in the early 1980s. In 1986, they rented a camper van and drove to London to show their individual collections at London Fashion Week. The British press, in true British fashion, cold not pronounce the designers names so they referred to them collectively as The Antwerp Six. It stuck and they took London and the fashion world by storm.
One can't exaggerate the importance and impact of these designers whose work in so many ways goes beyond fashion. So it is exciting to see a show dedicated to and celebrating their revolutionary contributions.
Fashion journalist Anna Roos van Wijngaarden beautifully describes for fashionunited.com the six designers tableaux in the exhibit:
From that perspective - the Six as the foundation of the fashion city - they also had to have a say in their parts of the exhibition. We start with Dirk Bikkembergs, who deliberately waited a year to graduate solo to focus all attention on himself. The fashion image of the hyper-erotic, powerfully built sportsman originates from him. Raf Simons was inspired by it. MoMu's selection is shown on a large screen. Bikkembergs was also the one in the group who best understood the power of publicity, according to Bruloot [Geert Bruloot was an early advocate of the group and helped launch them onto an international stage]. In the opening room, there was already a copy of his famous catalogues in which model Michel De Windt intimately embraces a pair of hiking boots.
We meet Walter Van Beirendonck in the flesh - or rather, his virtual clone, a talking face on a small screen hidden at the right height in an outfit of his own design. He is contemplating his career in dialogue with a robot from his own fantasy world, Puk Puk, surrounded by his 35 outfits that are just as 'poppy'. “They even call me the last punk,” says that Van Beirendonck.
Dirk Van Saene and Marina Yee were the most politically engaged, according to Bruloot, and logically worked on the border between fashion and art. “With Van Saene, there was always humour involved,” he says. In his designated space, five models circle on an automatic conveyor belt; he has given the audience funny faces, painted on boxes and bags. In the background, we see carefully chosen excerpts from five 'défilés', with free-spirited models in fur coats and checked blouses.
For Marina Yee, who passed away in 2025, a special tribute had to be created. The MoMu team photographically cleared out her studio, numbered everything, and rebuilt it. “She loved rubbish,” Bruloot knows. This is also evident from the copy of her workshop, full of trinkets and material tests.
Dries Van Noten is positioned among his virtuoso colleagues as the king of strong finales. For days, Bruloot worked with him to select the best images for the big screen - kill your darlings, his mentor adds. The scenography also shows how consistent his collections have been, with recurring rococo and chinoiserie prints, expensive fabrics, and strong craftsmanship.
The choice of Ann Demeulemeester to end the exhibition is deliberate; Bruloot knew it would result in something calm and strong. Her entire oeuvre, displayed on a glossy black floor, comes across as a single collection. With this, she immediately shows how much you can do with the colour black. Demeulemeester's pieces are so well-constructed that they could be worn season after season; retailers liked that. On the opposite wall hangs her favourite supermodel, 'Louise', framed in portrait form. Alongside her, the brand's style is explained: romantic, dark and androgynous.
If you are in or are going to be in Belgium, you might want to see this landmark exhibit!
More information and tickets at the link below:
https://www.momu.be/en/exhibitions/the-antwerp-six
One can't exaggerate the importance and impact of these designers whose work in so many ways goes beyond fashion. So it is exciting to see a show dedicated to and celebrating their revolutionary contributions.
Fashion journalist Anna Roos van Wijngaarden beautifully describes for fashionunited.com the six designers tableaux in the exhibit:
From that perspective - the Six as the foundation of the fashion city - they also had to have a say in their parts of the exhibition. We start with Dirk Bikkembergs, who deliberately waited a year to graduate solo to focus all attention on himself. The fashion image of the hyper-erotic, powerfully built sportsman originates from him. Raf Simons was inspired by it. MoMu's selection is shown on a large screen. Bikkembergs was also the one in the group who best understood the power of publicity, according to Bruloot [Geert Bruloot was an early advocate of the group and helped launch them onto an international stage]. In the opening room, there was already a copy of his famous catalogues in which model Michel De Windt intimately embraces a pair of hiking boots.
We meet Walter Van Beirendonck in the flesh - or rather, his virtual clone, a talking face on a small screen hidden at the right height in an outfit of his own design. He is contemplating his career in dialogue with a robot from his own fantasy world, Puk Puk, surrounded by his 35 outfits that are just as 'poppy'. “They even call me the last punk,” says that Van Beirendonck.
Dirk Van Saene and Marina Yee were the most politically engaged, according to Bruloot, and logically worked on the border between fashion and art. “With Van Saene, there was always humour involved,” he says. In his designated space, five models circle on an automatic conveyor belt; he has given the audience funny faces, painted on boxes and bags. In the background, we see carefully chosen excerpts from five 'défilés', with free-spirited models in fur coats and checked blouses.
For Marina Yee, who passed away in 2025, a special tribute had to be created. The MoMu team photographically cleared out her studio, numbered everything, and rebuilt it. “She loved rubbish,” Bruloot knows. This is also evident from the copy of her workshop, full of trinkets and material tests.
Dries Van Noten is positioned among his virtuoso colleagues as the king of strong finales. For days, Bruloot worked with him to select the best images for the big screen - kill your darlings, his mentor adds. The scenography also shows how consistent his collections have been, with recurring rococo and chinoiserie prints, expensive fabrics, and strong craftsmanship.
The choice of Ann Demeulemeester to end the exhibition is deliberate; Bruloot knew it would result in something calm and strong. Her entire oeuvre, displayed on a glossy black floor, comes across as a single collection. With this, she immediately shows how much you can do with the colour black. Demeulemeester's pieces are so well-constructed that they could be worn season after season; retailers liked that. On the opposite wall hangs her favourite supermodel, 'Louise', framed in portrait form. Alongside her, the brand's style is explained: romantic, dark and androgynous.
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| Walter Van Bierendonck at The Antwerp Six Exhibition | Photo: Stany Dederen |
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| Dirk Van Saene at The Antwerp Six Exhibit | Photo: Stany Dederen |
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| Ann Demeulemeester at The Antwerp Six Exhibit | Photo: Dominique Maitre for WWD |
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| Dries Van Noten at The Antwerp Six Exhibit Photo: Dominique Maitre for WWD |
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| Marina Yee at The Antwerp Six Exhibit | Photo: Stany Dederen |
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| Dirk Bikkembergs at The Antwerp Six Exhibit | Photo: Dominique Maitre for WWD |
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| Dirk Van Saene show invitations at The Antwerp Six Exhibit | Photo: Stany Dederen |
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| Exhibit entrance at The Antwerp Six Exhibit | Photo: Stany Dederen |
If you are in or are going to be in Belgium, you might want to see this landmark exhibit!
More information and tickets at the link below:
https://www.momu.be/en/exhibitions/the-antwerp-six
Tuesday, October 7, 2025
teamLab Biovortex Kyoto Museum
TeamLab (previously here), the international “ultra-technologist" artist collective, has created a permanent museum in Kyoto which opens today! Called the Biovortex Kyoto Museum, the nearly 110,000 square foot space holds 50 different art works which are total multi-sensory, immersive spaces. The magical works can be seen in the video below.
https://www.teamlab.art/e/kyoto/
https://www.teamlab.art/e/kyoto/
Tuesday, October 22, 2024
"Fortuna and the Immortality Garden (Machine)" by Kara Walker at SFMOMA
A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of seeing multi-media artist Kara Walker's newest installation, a commission for the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, entitled "Fortuna and the Immortality Garden (Machine)" where a group of mystical, archetypal, mechanized characters perform magical rituals.
SFMOMA's summary explains:
"Kara Walker has long been recognized for her incisive examinations of the dynamics of power and the exploitation of race and sexuality. Her work leverages expressions of fantasy and humor to confront troubling histories and dominant narratives, repossessing control in the process. Inspired by a wide range of sources, from antique dolls to Octavia Butler’s novel Parable of the Sower, Walker’s new commission, Fortuna and the Immortality Garden (Machine), considers the memorialization of trauma, the objectives of technology, and the possibilities of transforming the negative energies that plague contemporary society. Here, automatons trapped in a never-ending cycle of ritual and struggle are repositories of the human soul. They recall mechanized medieval icons that evidenced divinity, vitality, and the promise of faith. Situated within an energetically charged field of black obsidian from Mt. Konocti in Lake County — a volcanic glass with deep spiritual properties — Walker’s Gardeners evoke wonder, reflection, respite, and hope. Just past this prophetic vignette, the installation’s namesake, Fortuna, responds to each visitor with a choreographed gesture and a printed fortune fresh from her mouth — an offering of absolution and contemplation."
A figure with a hole in her torso plays a musical instrument through it. A wise and powerful figure levitates a young boy...or perhaps facilitates and eases his fall to the ground. A young girl displays a hand puppet to tell her story. A lone figure with arms torn off, and still wriggling on the ground, stands helpless. And the tall figure of Fortuna stands independent of the Garden, dispensing ticker-tape fortunes from her mouth. I got one that says "Woman and children, women and children. And men and dogs too. Cats. Mice. No one of us is safe and free."
Astoundingly, this piece is free to see, located in a public atrium, and not in the paid admission areas of the museum. It will be displayed until Spring of 2026! If you are in or near--or will be in or near--San Francisco, I highly recommend a visit to see this stunning, overwhelming installation in person.
https://www.karawalkerstudio.com/
https://www.sfmoma.org/exhibition/fortuna-and-the-immortality-garden-machine/
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| Photo: SFMOMA |
SFMOMA's summary explains:
"Kara Walker has long been recognized for her incisive examinations of the dynamics of power and the exploitation of race and sexuality. Her work leverages expressions of fantasy and humor to confront troubling histories and dominant narratives, repossessing control in the process. Inspired by a wide range of sources, from antique dolls to Octavia Butler’s novel Parable of the Sower, Walker’s new commission, Fortuna and the Immortality Garden (Machine), considers the memorialization of trauma, the objectives of technology, and the possibilities of transforming the negative energies that plague contemporary society. Here, automatons trapped in a never-ending cycle of ritual and struggle are repositories of the human soul. They recall mechanized medieval icons that evidenced divinity, vitality, and the promise of faith. Situated within an energetically charged field of black obsidian from Mt. Konocti in Lake County — a volcanic glass with deep spiritual properties — Walker’s Gardeners evoke wonder, reflection, respite, and hope. Just past this prophetic vignette, the installation’s namesake, Fortuna, responds to each visitor with a choreographed gesture and a printed fortune fresh from her mouth — an offering of absolution and contemplation."
A figure with a hole in her torso plays a musical instrument through it. A wise and powerful figure levitates a young boy...or perhaps facilitates and eases his fall to the ground. A young girl displays a hand puppet to tell her story. A lone figure with arms torn off, and still wriggling on the ground, stands helpless. And the tall figure of Fortuna stands independent of the Garden, dispensing ticker-tape fortunes from her mouth. I got one that says "Woman and children, women and children. And men and dogs too. Cats. Mice. No one of us is safe and free."
Astoundingly, this piece is free to see, located in a public atrium, and not in the paid admission areas of the museum. It will be displayed until Spring of 2026! If you are in or near--or will be in or near--San Francisco, I highly recommend a visit to see this stunning, overwhelming installation in person.
https://www.karawalkerstudio.com/
https://www.sfmoma.org/exhibition/fortuna-and-the-immortality-garden-machine/
Sunday, January 28, 2024
"Philip Guston: the restless artist painting everyday evil" | Tate
I've seen lots of Philip Guston's paintings over the years at various museums around the world, and only now do I realize I have been seeing his later works. Here is a wonderful, short documentary about Guston and his career, made by the Tate Museum as part of the Terra Foundation for American Art Series: New Perspectives.
https://www.philipguston.org/home
https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/philip-guston
https://www.philipguston.org/home
https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/philip-guston
Thursday, September 30, 2021
"Laurie Anderson: The Weather" at The Hirshhorn Musuem
On view at The Hirshhorn Museum in Washington D.C. until July 31, 2022 is "Laurie Anderson: The Weather." Regular readers may recall I am a huge Laurie Anderson fan. I have adored this extraordinary multi-media artist, performer/storyteller, and musician for many years (previously here). I was lucky enough to see her groundbreaking, mind-boggling musical and theatrical performance art piece "United States I - IV" when she toured it in 1983, and have seen pretty much every tour and major piece since then.
The press release from The Hirshhorn reads:
The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden will present the largest-ever U.S. exhibition of artwork by groundbreaking multimedia artist, performer, musician and writer Laurie Anderson from Sept. 24–July 31, 2022. “Laurie Anderson: The Weather” will debut more than 10 new artworks, interspersed with select key works from throughout her career. Guiding visitors through an immersive audiovisual experience in the museum’s second-floor galleries, this dynamic exhibition will showcase the artist’s boundless creative process, featuring her work in video, performance, installation, painting and other media.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a series of live performances by Anderson from January 2022 to July 2022. “The Weather” is organized by the museum’s Robert and Arlene Kogod Secretarial Scholar, associate curator of media and performance art, Marina Isgro.
For more than four decades, Anderson has investigated issues such as American identity and the effects of technology on human relationships, often inventing new ways of interacting with technology. The Hirshhorn’s exhibition uses the museum’s prominent location on the National Mall to encourage viewers to reconsider the sociopolitical landscape. “The Weather” will include landmark artworks such as “Habeas Corpus” (2015), a video sculpture that examines via multimedia storytelling the experience of Mohammed el Gharani, who was detained at Guantánamo Bay throughout his adolescence.
“Anderson pushes the limits of contemporary art, from instrument-making to pioneering new and creative applications for emerging technologies,” said Hirshhorn Director Melissa Chiu. “We are honored to present this monumental exhibition, which provides a platform for the artist’s newest innovations, situated within decades of artistic output that have defied categorization.”
Drawing on the Hirshhorn’s distinctive cylindrical architecture, the exhibition will be laid out as an ongoing narrative. Guiding visitors on an intimate and personal journey through her work, Anderson will interject at points throughout the exhibition space; portions of the gallery walls will be covered with writing and images that the artist has directly hand-painted.
“The Weather” will debut more than 10 new works by Anderson that highlight her unique blend of the personal, the poetic and the political. These include “Salute” (2021), a new installation featuring robotic flagpoles referencing Anderson’s song “O Superman” (1981), which broadened her following from the downtown New York art world to the MTV generation. Other new installations include the dystopic “The Knife Sharpeners” (2021) and the immersive “Four Talks” (2021), composed of sculptures and texts that investigate the relationship of language to objects. Another gallery will showcase a group of new, monumental paintings on the scale of her large performance works, some of which will appear in her new opera, Ark.
Demonstrating the range of Anderson’s multimedia practice, “The Weather” will feature video excerpts from the virtual-reality pieces “Chalkroom (2017) and “To the Moon” (2018). Earlier work will include excerpts from “Songs for Lines/Songs for Waves” (1977), the interactive “Handphone Table” (1978) and the narrative video installation “Sidewalk” (2012), a film projected onto the gallery floor with a story from the artist’s childhood.
Other featured photographic works include documented performances of “The Institutional Dream Series” (1972–73) and “Object/Objection/Objectivity (Fully Automated Nikon)” (1973). Several violins and other musical instruments that Anderson designed and altered will be shown alongside photographs from her key performances from 1971 to present.
https://hirshhorn.si.edu/exhibitions/laurie-anderson-the-weather/
https://laurieanderson.com/
The press release from The Hirshhorn reads:
The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden will present the largest-ever U.S. exhibition of artwork by groundbreaking multimedia artist, performer, musician and writer Laurie Anderson from Sept. 24–July 31, 2022. “Laurie Anderson: The Weather” will debut more than 10 new artworks, interspersed with select key works from throughout her career. Guiding visitors through an immersive audiovisual experience in the museum’s second-floor galleries, this dynamic exhibition will showcase the artist’s boundless creative process, featuring her work in video, performance, installation, painting and other media.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a series of live performances by Anderson from January 2022 to July 2022. “The Weather” is organized by the museum’s Robert and Arlene Kogod Secretarial Scholar, associate curator of media and performance art, Marina Isgro.
For more than four decades, Anderson has investigated issues such as American identity and the effects of technology on human relationships, often inventing new ways of interacting with technology. The Hirshhorn’s exhibition uses the museum’s prominent location on the National Mall to encourage viewers to reconsider the sociopolitical landscape. “The Weather” will include landmark artworks such as “Habeas Corpus” (2015), a video sculpture that examines via multimedia storytelling the experience of Mohammed el Gharani, who was detained at Guantánamo Bay throughout his adolescence.
“Anderson pushes the limits of contemporary art, from instrument-making to pioneering new and creative applications for emerging technologies,” said Hirshhorn Director Melissa Chiu. “We are honored to present this monumental exhibition, which provides a platform for the artist’s newest innovations, situated within decades of artistic output that have defied categorization.”
Drawing on the Hirshhorn’s distinctive cylindrical architecture, the exhibition will be laid out as an ongoing narrative. Guiding visitors on an intimate and personal journey through her work, Anderson will interject at points throughout the exhibition space; portions of the gallery walls will be covered with writing and images that the artist has directly hand-painted.
“The Weather” will debut more than 10 new works by Anderson that highlight her unique blend of the personal, the poetic and the political. These include “Salute” (2021), a new installation featuring robotic flagpoles referencing Anderson’s song “O Superman” (1981), which broadened her following from the downtown New York art world to the MTV generation. Other new installations include the dystopic “The Knife Sharpeners” (2021) and the immersive “Four Talks” (2021), composed of sculptures and texts that investigate the relationship of language to objects. Another gallery will showcase a group of new, monumental paintings on the scale of her large performance works, some of which will appear in her new opera, Ark.
Demonstrating the range of Anderson’s multimedia practice, “The Weather” will feature video excerpts from the virtual-reality pieces “Chalkroom (2017) and “To the Moon” (2018). Earlier work will include excerpts from “Songs for Lines/Songs for Waves” (1977), the interactive “Handphone Table” (1978) and the narrative video installation “Sidewalk” (2012), a film projected onto the gallery floor with a story from the artist’s childhood.
Other featured photographic works include documented performances of “The Institutional Dream Series” (1972–73) and “Object/Objection/Objectivity (Fully Automated Nikon)” (1973). Several violins and other musical instruments that Anderson designed and altered will be shown alongside photographs from her key performances from 1971 to present.
https://laurieanderson.com/
Monday, March 23, 2020
Lockdown List of Museums To Visit
Before much of the world was on lockdown, Google created an amazing platform for virtual visits to iconic museums around the world. Now, if you're under a stay-indoors order (and even if you aren't, you should be staying inside as much as possible and avoiding contact with others) there is an entire world of art at your fingetips. Just move your mouse to explore global treasures! Click on a photo to go to that museum's virtual page through Google Arts and Culture.
Musée d'Orsay
I remember when much of this museum's pieces were located in The Orangerie at the end of the Tuileries Gardens. But in 1986, the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900, was remodeled as a museum and opened to take in the collection. The museum holds mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1914 which, thankfully, includes all of the Impressionist period!
The British Museum
This is one of my personal favorites. When I stay in London, I like to make home base in the Bloomsbury neighborhood and The British Museum is this area's centerpiece. I have spent many happy hours here gazing at the dazzling sites...they have the Elgin Marbles, as well as The Rosetta Stone for crying out loud.
Gallerie degli Uffizi
The Uffizi Gallery located in a glorious building by the River Arno in Florence has a splendid collection. I remember very well the first time I was there and saw Caravaggio's The Adolescent Bacchus.
Tate Britain
London is a tale of two Tates. Tate Modern is an imposing building on the Thames that used to be a power plant but now houses a dizzying collection of modern art. But Tate Britain, one of the largest museums in England, is a fabulous collection in a classical structure that opened on 21 July, 1897 as the National Gallery of British Art. It houses a substantial collection of the art of the United Kingdom since Tudor times, and in particular has large holdings of the works of J. M. W. Turner (I have stood in silent awe in the Turner wing in the presence of his grand, hazy masterpieces), who bequeathed all his own collection to the nation. Unfortunately, I don't see The Turner Wing as part of this virtual tour but there are many, many famous pieces of art here including Sir John Everett Millais' Ophelia and John Singer Sargent's breathtaking Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
There is a LOT to see at The Met in New York City. The image you see below is an entire wing dedicated solely to housing The Temple of Dendur, an Ancient Egyptian temple built by the Roman governor of Egypt, Petronius, around 15 BC and relocated to The Met from Egypt to save it from being submerged by Lake Nasser, following construction of the Aswan High Dam. It's one of the many treasures that live in this crucial, modern temple to art and culture.
In addition to museums, Google Arts and Culture also features spectacular monuments, like The Eiffel Tower. Take a look at Paris from the second floor...you can even spot the entrance to The Jules Verne restaurant!
If you'd like to scroll through the complete listing of what museums Google Arts and Culture has to offer, go here:
https://artsandculture.google.com/partner
or visit the main page to search other sections such as Mediums, Art Movements, or Places.
https://artsandculture.google.com/explore
Musée d'Orsay
I remember when much of this museum's pieces were located in The Orangerie at the end of the Tuileries Gardens. But in 1986, the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900, was remodeled as a museum and opened to take in the collection. The museum holds mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1914 which, thankfully, includes all of the Impressionist period!
The British Museum
This is one of my personal favorites. When I stay in London, I like to make home base in the Bloomsbury neighborhood and The British Museum is this area's centerpiece. I have spent many happy hours here gazing at the dazzling sites...they have the Elgin Marbles, as well as The Rosetta Stone for crying out loud.
Gallerie degli Uffizi
The Uffizi Gallery located in a glorious building by the River Arno in Florence has a splendid collection. I remember very well the first time I was there and saw Caravaggio's The Adolescent Bacchus.
Tate Britain
London is a tale of two Tates. Tate Modern is an imposing building on the Thames that used to be a power plant but now houses a dizzying collection of modern art. But Tate Britain, one of the largest museums in England, is a fabulous collection in a classical structure that opened on 21 July, 1897 as the National Gallery of British Art. It houses a substantial collection of the art of the United Kingdom since Tudor times, and in particular has large holdings of the works of J. M. W. Turner (I have stood in silent awe in the Turner wing in the presence of his grand, hazy masterpieces), who bequeathed all his own collection to the nation. Unfortunately, I don't see The Turner Wing as part of this virtual tour but there are many, many famous pieces of art here including Sir John Everett Millais' Ophelia and John Singer Sargent's breathtaking Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
There is a LOT to see at The Met in New York City. The image you see below is an entire wing dedicated solely to housing The Temple of Dendur, an Ancient Egyptian temple built by the Roman governor of Egypt, Petronius, around 15 BC and relocated to The Met from Egypt to save it from being submerged by Lake Nasser, following construction of the Aswan High Dam. It's one of the many treasures that live in this crucial, modern temple to art and culture.
In addition to museums, Google Arts and Culture also features spectacular monuments, like The Eiffel Tower. Take a look at Paris from the second floor...you can even spot the entrance to The Jules Verne restaurant!
If you'd like to scroll through the complete listing of what museums Google Arts and Culture has to offer, go here:
https://artsandculture.google.com/partner
or visit the main page to search other sections such as Mediums, Art Movements, or Places.
https://artsandculture.google.com/explore
Saturday, February 15, 2020
Sleep In An Edward Hopper Painting
For their exhibition "Edward Hopper and the American Hotel," the Virginia Museum of Fine Art has recreated one of Hopper's most famous images in three dimensions. The iconic "Western Motel," seen below, shows a woman perched on a bed beside luggage in a motel room with spectacular views of a desolate mountain range worthy of Georgia O'Keeffe. I love how they got the shaft of dazzling sunlight correct.
As you can see, they are showing the painting next to the recreation of the room. And through February 23, 2020, they are offering packages for a night at the museum and a stay in the Western Motel room. You can sleep in the recreation of an actual Hopper.
See the different packages that include dinner and miniature golf here:
https://www.vmfa.museum/calendar/events/hopper-hotel-experience/
And you can find more information about the exhibit here:
https://www.vmfa.museum/exhibitions/exhibitions/edward-hopper-american-hotel/
As you can see, they are showing the painting next to the recreation of the room. And through February 23, 2020, they are offering packages for a night at the museum and a stay in the Western Motel room. You can sleep in the recreation of an actual Hopper.
See the different packages that include dinner and miniature golf here:
https://www.vmfa.museum/calendar/events/hopper-hotel-experience/
And you can find more information about the exhibit here:
https://www.vmfa.museum/exhibitions/exhibitions/edward-hopper-american-hotel/
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