Best Art Museums in Europe
 

what are the best art museums you have visited while in Europe? Not just the typical ones--The Louvre, etc., but some out of the way ones? I posted a similar message on the USA message board (about American art museums of course). I plan to visit Europe in early fall of this upcoming year, and I wanted to spend some time traveling to different art museums in Spain, Italy, France, England, and other places. The most interesting art museums I have visited in Europe were all in Florence--The Uffizi and the Bargello. Anyway, any advice about great art museums (i am interested in 20th century art primarily, but also love Italian renaissance art), would be wonderful. thanks! <BR> <BR>geocities.com/j_goyette/t.html

A little known gem is the Kroller Muller Museum in National Park De Hoge Veluwe near Apeldoorn, the Netherlands. Lots of Van Gogh's and an interesting sculpture garden. About 2 hours by public transport from Amsterdam. Website at: www.kmm.nl <BR>

Two of my favorite museums are in Venice. One is the Galleria dell Accademia, which was not crowded when we were there. I fell in love with Bellini's Madonnas there. There are a number of large paintings by Venetian masters and wonderful descriptions in English on cards that you can pick up in each room. If you're particularly fond of Twentieth Century art, don't miss the Peggy Guggenheim Collection housed in her old villa on the Grand Canal near the Accademia. <BR>In France I love the Marc Chagall Museum in Nice. Most of the paintings there are from his religious works and some were designed especially for this building. <BR>

Also in Venice for Renaissance art <BR>(not counting the churches which have true masterpieces)is <BR>The Correr Museum, at the western end of the Piazza San Marco <BR>In Paris, for modern art <BR>Picasso museum <BR>Center Georges Pompiduo <BR>Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris <BR> <BR>If you go back to Florence, I loved <BR>the Museum of the Duomo. It is small, has some stunning works including a late Pieta by Michelangelo

The Orangerie in Paris, for the Renoirs, and Monet's water lilies in the basement

The Fondation Maeght in St. Paul de Vence near Nice is a wonderful 20th c. art museum in a beautiful setting. And for an off-beat little museum, the Dali Museum in Montmartre in Paris is fun. And a big second for Peggy Guggenheim in Venice.

Jackie: The Doria Pamphili in Rome is a wonderful museum: Caravaggio’s sublimely touching Mary Magdalen and Rest During the Flight into Egypt ... Velazquez’s incomparable portrait of Pope Innocent X ... Bernini’s exquisite sculpture of that same pope ... these are just some of the highlights. The audio tour (part of the admission fee) is detailed without being oppressive, just as the gallery itself is rich in beauty without being overwhelming, as museums like the Louvre and Uffizi can be. The family history of the museum is also fascinating. I strongly recommend you take it in if you happen to go to Rome.

This may or may not apply to your inquiry, but The Royal Pantheon in Leon, Spain blew me away with the best preserved medieval frescoes I have ever seen. Their collection of iluminated medieval manuscripts, saintly relics, and royal crypts was a great museum experience. <BR> <BR>Also, this may not apply to this particular forum, but the Clark Institute in Williamsburg, MA (an hour from my house) is an absolute gem.

Elaine already mentioned the Musee Picasso in Paris, but I wanted to point out that to me what made it special is the outstanding organization and commentary throughout. Whether you are truly a Picasso fan or not,you will understand his work after visiting.

I would have to second the Peggy Guggenheim Museum in Venice. It is one of my favorite museum. It has many significant sculptures as will as painting by Picasso, Dali, Klee, etc. There is also a fabulous Picasso museum in Paris that is very nice. You can find many of his known works of art, as well as ceramics, sculpture. a must while in Paris.

May I recommend the the Château Grimaldi, which houses a small Picasso museum. Not only is the setting in Cap d'Antibes knock-dead gorgeous but also the household objects and its art work visually display how Picasso lived and worked.

Jackie, if you are going to Spain I'm sure you will check out the Prado which is amazing. No crowds at all! Also check out the Thyssen-Bornemisia (sp)?this is a private collection that's one of our favs in Madrid. If you are in Alicante go to the Museum of 20th Century Art, a little gem full of Picasso. <BR>Once again off topic, also loved the Cloisters in New York (an extension of the Metropolitan) One really feels like you are in Europe in that special place.

I would second the Thyssen collection in Madrid (a wonderful collection of paintings from every period); The Courtauld Gallery in London; the Kroller Muller in Holland; Birmingham Art Gallery in England (Pre-Raphaelites); the Ducal Palace in Urbino Italy for Piero Della Francesca and the art galleries in the centre of Cologne

Meg-- <BR>I also loved the Ducale Palace in Urbino--forgot to mention it. Yes the Piero della Francesca there is quite magnificent. It's also a WONDERFUL city.

Jackie, we are not big into art but did the "must sees" in Florence, the Vatican and Rome. Our favorite by a wide margin was Villa Borghese in Rome. The marble by Bernini was a highlight of the trip. You are only allowed two hours so if you do some research and think you would really like it, buy tickets for two entry times and you should be okay.

We're heading to Paris on Feb. 15, staying in the 6th. We've been told the D"Orsay (sp?) is great. Yea? Nay?

I'm not sure if you consider St. Petersburg part of Europe, but the Hermitage is, for my money, the best musuem in the world--not only is the collection amazing, but the buildings themselves are fantastic!

to jdmiller <BR>Yes the Orsay is one of the great museums of the world, I think it hasn't been mentioned here so far only because the original poster asked for "not typical" ones and the Orsay is almost always recommended right after the Louvre as a "must see". <BR>It has art from approx 1848-1914, which means Impressionists, Van Gogh and of course many others. The building itself, formerly a train station, is an unforgettable sight.

For a lot of people, the Louvre goes AFTER Musee d'Orsay, not the other way around. Especially for first time Paris visitors, I recommend thinking of the two this way: The Louvre contains many of the WORLD's greatest works of art; the M d'O contains many of FRANCE's greatest works of art. <BR> <BR>But back to Jackie's original question: in Bassano del Grappa, there is an extraordinary small "civic" museum - - Museo Civico di Bassano del Grappa - - featuring mostly the works of just a few artists, ("native sons" generally, at least in one sense of the word or another) at that. Recommended without hesitation. <BR> <BR>

If you're in London and want modern art, then you must go to the new Tate Modern - possibly the best modern art gallery in the world. Also, the Saatchi Gallery in St John's Wood (for modern Brit Art - Damien Hirst and the rest).