When travelling in Europe, one of the most interesting things I look out for are the art museums. I was wondering what people considered to be the best museums in Europe, and why.

Musee D'Orsay in Paris is my favorite. It's impressionists' collection is world class. Just the wonderful Sisley and Monet paintings alone are worth going to Paris. The architecture of the building designed form an old railroad station is fascinating. Nice place for lunch.

My second favorite is the Pitti Palace in Florence. The Italian impressionist collection is exceptional. One of the impressionists is named Spinelli!

Anthony Spinelli

Along with the d'Orsay,

The Tate in London

The Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam

Every campo in Venice

One of the most under-rated museums, certainly in the UK is the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff. OK, so it's not the Louvre, Prado or the Uffizzi but it has an amazing collection of, amongst others, French Impressionsist paintings and scultures acquired by two sisters and then bequeathed upon their deaths. There are Monet, Van Gough, Renoir, Tissot, Manet, Degas, Cezanne and Rodin as well as other eras such as Rubens, Canaletto, Gainsborough, Turner, Whistler, Constable , Epstein, Moore, Ernst, Hepworth, Nash and Richard Wilson. There are also Welsh greats like Augustus and Gwen John, Sir Cedric Morris and Ceri Richards.
Seeing that the city of Cardiff is well worth the visit anyway, the museum is one of the best outside the great cities of Europe.

The Prado in Madrid. Musee D'Orsay might be a close second.

Well, I'm an artlover (LOL) but would have to say a lot of this depends on the kind of art you like best. So many great museums in Europe, hard to mention just a few. But as a modern art lover, the Pompidou and D'Orsay in Paris, Chagall in Nice, Sofia in Madrid, Picasso and Miro in Barcelona, Picasso in Antibes, Van Gogh in Amsterdam, Academia in Florence, Peggy Guggenheim in Venice, Tate Modern in London, come to mind. I love classical art as well (hence the Academia), but starting at the Impressionists on up are my personal favorites.

1) Hermitage - St. Petersburg
2) Anatolian Civilization - Ankara
3) Greek National - Athens
4) Louvre - Paris
5) Pergamon - Berlin
6) Rijksmuseum - Amsterdam
7) Albertineum - Dresden
8) Ufizzi - Florence
9) Upper Belvidere - Vienna (Klimt)
10) Tretyakov - Moscow

If in Paris and you like Monet you have to go to the Musee Marmottan as it is almost entirely devoted to his life and works. Many paintings of his gardens, the Japanese bridge, the original "Impression Sunrise", "Train In the Snow (The Locomotive&quot etc.

Larry J

Uffizi--where else can you trace the history of art through the renaissance in one place. I feel as though I'm seeing humanity born when I walk through there. Of the smaller museums, I loved the Rodin in Paris and, for something different, the Crime and Punishment museum in Rothenburg.

Here Here AR !!
I agree with you.
But don't tell everyone or our fabulous museum will become too overcrowded with tourists...lol



Muck

;-)

All the Above...Also dont forget the Churches of Rome.. They are true works of Art!

D'Orsay and Uffizi for the art lovers. artifacts are an entirely different breed....for that i say the louve and british museum and the wone in vienna tha t starts with a "k"

I think Musee d'Orsay and the Louvre are givens. My comments on others

Uffizi-as stated above, it's a chronological tour of how the technical aspects of art, so much lost from the ancient times, regained its footing. It's an art education in itself--not too vast, not totally overwhemling-- and is certainly a key preview to all the art in Florence. To this day, I wish I had visited it first, then flown the family to the Louvre to add on.

Maeght Foundation in St. Paul de Vence--for modern "scuptural art" and some huge canvasses. Unbelievable. Small but exquisite. No junk. A simpatico collection of artists.

Nice's Musee of Modern Art--Some unbelievable Kleins...some fabulous exhibitions but...

Pompidou Centre's Modern Art collection is astounding. When one combines the view with the art, oh my goodness.

Picasso Museums: Antibes was enchanting, but Picasso in Paris is truly a tribute to his lifetime production in all media. Unbelievably prolific. However, there is a little tiny photography musee in Mougins showing his personal life that enchants us.

Chagall Biblical Musee in Nice...
Jean Cocteau in Menton...
Both have a feel, a touch, that are so personal that they remain vibrant to this day.
(And although I have always loved Matisse, did not get that feeling at the Matisse in Nice) I also feel touched by the houses of Renior in Cagnes sur Mer and Monet in Giverny. It's not the paintings (and in Giverny, there are none)--it's the comforting realization that artists can be stable and happy too!

I would like to see the new Tate; I like the old one...family did not. They did, however, love the cafe!

The Bargello in Florence and the Borchese in Rome: Stunning sculpture, the history of which quickens the pulse.

As you might be able to tell, have not been to Spain. I guess this means I must go so I can make recommendations!

As someone said it does depend on the kind of art a person wants to see. I too love the Orsay. As a Van Gough fan I truly enjoyed the Kroeller-Mueller Museum in the Netherlands. I'm surprised no one's mentioned the Vatican Museum, especially the Raphael Rooms.
There is one other museum in Europe that had an incredible impact on me, The Caen Peace Museum in Normandy, France.

I love all art museums no matter where but my favourite museum overall is definitely the Benaki Museum in Athens.

The archaelogical museum in Heraklion has some pieces of the frescoes from the excavation at the temple of Knossos. They are close to 3800 years old. Magnificent! Also the Phaistos disc. Truly some important pieces and in a relatively small museum.

MBetsy: you are so right about the Caen Peace Museum. It would have been my first choice had this been about museums in general. It is simply the best museum I've ever seen.

For those who have not gone there, the Caen museum covering primarily WWII (but with stuff on WWI) takes its visitors through chronologically. The visitor could walk through in less than 1 hr and been impressed and informed. The visitor could also slow his walk at multiple intervals to explore issues of interest--Resistance, Holocaust, airplanes, etc.--and spend probably up to 8 hrs without even noticing it. The films shown are no-language-needed with powerful emotional impact. Superb.

McBetsy or others: Has anyone here seen the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas, CA? On a smaller scale, accomplishes the "varied immersion level" visitation in much the same manner as the Caen.

But back to art museums--it is extremely helpful when the museum is designed to give the visitor an immediate method of appreciation. The Paris Picasso and the Uffizi both have a chronological pattern that allows easy access to the artist/art.

While I enjoy the Louvre, even after a zillion visits I still end up taking a lot of time finding the right room. The Musee d'Orsay's collection is great, but it needs to have a visitation "funnel" I think. Have seen in recent years some rearrangement of exhibits that makes me think they are trying to achieve that.

I'm interested in arrangements/flows of other museums that were effective. Have not been to the Netherlands or Spain or Germany to see collections there. How is the Bilbao arranged, for example?

The sex museum in Amsterdam is not bad. And only EUR 2.50.
http://www.sexmuseumamsterdam.nl/index2.html

Sjoerd, a "friend" said he started to go into that one, but the pretty young lady that was welcoming people inside wanted 50E just for the orientation & overview tour. And the whole musuem, while it had fancy lace curtains on the large window, looked rather small to boot.

I'm with CharlieB. Think the Belvidere in Vienna is probably one of the most underrated art galleries/museums. As someone else said - not art but artifacts - you cannot beat the British Museum (and it too has an excellent lunch room!).. The Picasso (early years) in Barcelona.. the Baron Thyssen Boromitsza in Madrid.. I think all these places have an excellent overall collection - every time I go to the Prado I take it in "small" chunks - otherwise I am not only overwhelmed I am glutted and surfeited by too much of the same! I realize I will probably be categorized by some as an artistic Philistine but that's why there are so many artists!!