A Temporary Trick to Ease the Craving of Cultural Immersion

While most of us likely haven’t gotten our fair share of wanderlust satisfied in the past few months, you may also be feeling a lack of cultural exposure. Aside from the gorgeous views and foreign cuisine that you may look forward to, there’s so much more to take in when traveling一especially the history of a culture. Culture is such a huge part of travel, and being able to understand the history behind a place makes it that much better when you finally experience it. What better place to soak up some culture than an art museum? 

Ah, the Louvre. Pretty, isn’t it? Photo by Claudia Hedrick.

Many museums have taken a hit since the pandemic began earlier this year. While we may not be able to wander aimlessly throughout these exhibitions and peruse art pieces, we can look forward to the days when we can. But for more immediate relief, we can virtually take a look from the comfort of our own homes. Many art museums have adapted to an an increasingly virtual world and have taken the opportunity to amp up their online exhibitions. For the time being, we highly recommend visiting these museums (online, of course) and satiating your craving for cultural immersion. Here are a few to visit now. 

The Louvre: Paris, France. 

Musee du Louvre is the world’s largest art museum, as well as the most visited in the world with 9.6 million visitors last year. Located in the 1st arrondissement—the heart of Paris—the Louvre is one of the most fascinating museums architecturally. The entrance is located in the glass pyramid, which opens up into various sections of the museum. This design was intended to be unobtrusive to the premise because prior to it being an art museum, it was home to the royals before Louis XIII moved his court to Versailles in 1682, which is where some of its opulence comes from. The Louvre is home to about 380,000 art pieces, including Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. Currently, the museum has 15 virtual tours ranging between Power Plays, The Body in Movement, Egyptian Antiques and more. 

Museum of Modern Art: New York City, New York. 

MoMA was the first museum dedicated to modern and contemporary art. John D. Rockefeller’s wife and two of her friends first had the idea for MoMA in 1929. It’s located in Midtown Manhattan and has a collection of almost 200,000 works of modern and contemporary pieces—some of the most notorious being van Gogh’s Starry Night, Dalí’s The Persistence of Memory, Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon and Warhol’s Gold Marilyn Monroe.

MoMA is very fond of film screenings and, in a normal year, would run over one thousand of them. MoMA has made a lot of effort to ensure visitors are still able to check on the museum (weekly on Thursdays). Through a combination of video and images, along with audio guides for each exhibition, visitors have the opportunity to indulge in the art displayed. They’ve even been kind enough to include interviews with curators and artists to tell their stories. 

Musee d’Orsay: Paris, France. 

Musee d’Orsay received its name because it’s housed in the former Gare d’Orsay, a railway station and hotel located on the left bank of the Seine River. It opened in 1986 and, at the time, heavily featured many avant-garde artists. The majority of the work featured originated in France between 1848 and 1914. It has an extremely impressive collection of impressionism, post-impressionism and art nouveau. While nothing can quite compare to sitting on the top floor cafe, overlooking the Seine, the museum allows you to virtually explore a few current exhibitions.

Museo Nacional del Prado: Madrid, Spain. 

It makes sense that the largest and most comprehensive collection of Spanish masterpieces is located in the country’s capital. Many additions have been made to the museum over the years, the most recent being in 2007. Museo Nacional del Prado contains many works completed by El Greco, Velazquez and Goya, all natives of Spain. Their collections of Italian and Flemish work are also extensive. On their website you can find a complete collection of their works. Additionally, Prado is very active on their Twitter account, where gallery photos are updated routinely and information regarding online courses is made available. 

Tate Modern, London, England. 

Tate Modern is one of the four Tate Galleries一Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool, Tate St. Ives in Cornwall and Tate Modern in London. Tate Modern is fascinating because it was formerly an oil-fired power station. The interior has a very industrial energy with elevated cielings. An extension of the museum was added recently in 2017, increasing the gallery’s space by 60 percent. It’s filled with paintings and sculptures by acclaimed artists, such as Picasso, Dali, Warhol and Rothko. Interestingly enough, it’s divided not by era but rather by abstract theme. Along with virtual tours, Tate Modern offers online speaker events. 

Let’s not kid ourselves, taking part in a virtual tour may not be the most ideal, but given the circumstances, this is a reality for many. Cities are full of vibrant art and, fortunately for art enthusiasts, many museums have made a portion of their collections accessible to those around the globe. On the next gloomy afternoon, immerse yourself in online exhibitions and catch up on the rich culture offered.