Museums - A Virtual Fieldtrip

Today was a cold and dreary day where I live (in Northern Utah).  My son and I headed out to the library, only because we had books that were due and I had a few books on hold to pick up.  As we darted from the parking lot to the library, I couldn't help but think that on miserable days like this ... it's much better to stay home.

As a coincidence, I came across a website today that allows visitors to tour the world's greatest museums from the comfort of their own home.  The Google Art Project, allows to you wander the halls of some really great art museums and the detail is amazing.

This afternoon, I got to finally visit the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and get a good look at Vincent Van Gough's "The Starry Night" - while seated at my kitchen table in Utah.  How awesome is that?

As part of the website, you navigate through the museums using Google's "street view", as if you are looking at a Google Map, or quickly view high resolution photos of their most famous works.  You can even listen to audio tours as you look at the artwork.

Here are some of the museums you can visit:

• Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin - Germany
• Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian, Washington DC - USA
• The Frick Collection, NYC - USA
• Gemäldegalerie, Berlin - Germany
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC - USA
• MoMA, The Museum of Modern Art, NYC - USA
• Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid - Spain
• Museo Thyssen - Bornemisza, Madrid - Spain
• Museum Kampa, Prague - Czech Republic
• National Gallery, London - UK
• Palace of Versailles - France
• Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam - The Netherlands
• The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg - Russia
• State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow - Russia
• Tate Britain, London - UK
• Uffizi Gallery, Florence - Italy
• Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam - The Netherlands

The Google Art Project

So if you would like to get out of the house... without having to get out of the house, I suggest you check out the Google Art Project, where you can explore museums from around the world and view hundreds of art masterpieces.