11 museums from around the world, you can visit from your living room

COVID-19 virus has brought the world to a halt, shuttering all art and cultural institutions in affected countries, and putting millions worldwide in quarantine, self-imposed or mandatory.  

However, being a homebody doesn’t come naturally to everyone and there may be those craving cultural stimulations while stranded at home. For those feeling hungry for art, they may be pleased to know that 2,500 world-class museums and galleries are now offering virtual tours and online collections on Google’s Arts & Culture pages. 

Google Arts & Culture’s collection includes many of the world’s biggest museums: Tate Modern and the British Museum in London, the Van Gogh Museum and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, and the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum in NYC, among hundreds of others. For most people can browse through entire exhibitions online, and in many, people can also walk through the museum using Google’s street view.

Here are 11 museums that you can visit virtually right now. 

Guggenheim Museum, New York

Guggenheim Museum, New York

Guggenheim Museum can be toured in its entirety, as well as world-renowned exhibitions such as ‘But a Storm Is Blowing from Paradise: Contemporary Art of the Middle East and North Africa’ as well as ‘The Little-Known Glass Works of Josef Albers.’

British Museum, London

British Museum, London

The British Museum offers highlights such as Rosette Stone, Parthenon Marbles, Egyptian mummies and the Enlightenment Gallery. All of which can be toured virtually.

Musée d’Orsay, Paris

Musée d’Orsay, Paris

Musée d’Orsay is housed in a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. It holds French art dating from 1848 to 1914, including paintings, sculptures, furniture and photography. While not all of the museum is accessible online, a majority is such as works of Monet, Cézanne, Gauguin, and hundreds of other French painters.

Pergamon Museum, Berlin

Pergamon Museum, Berlin

The Pergamon is one of Germany’s largest museums and it’s home to the Ishtar Gate of Babylon and the Greek Pergamon Altar. A complete virtual tour is offered.

Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

Van Gogh Museum houses the largest collection of artworks by Vincent van Gough in the world. The permanent collection ha more than 200 paintings by Vincent van Gough, 500 drawings and more than 750 letters.

National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul

National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul

The Rijksmuseum houses work by Frans Hals, Jan Steen, Vermeer and Rembrandt. It also houses the Cuypers Library, the biggest and oldest art history library in the Netherlands.

Uffizi Gallery, Florence

Uffizi Gallery, Florence

The Uffizi was designed by Giorgio Vasari in 1560. One can explore four online exhibits, 156 items and take in the gallery view by using the link above.

Louvre, Paris

Louvre, Paris

The Louvre, or the Louvre Museum, is the world’s largest art museum and a historic monument in Paris. The museum boasts an online tour on its website https://www.louvre.fr/

The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

The J. Paul Getty Museum is known for housing European paintings, drawings, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, decorative arts, and photography from its beginnings to the present, gathered internationally, according to its website. Online, one can expect two special virtual exhibits: “Heaven, Hell, and Dying Well” and “Eat, Drink, and Be Merry.”

The Art Institute of Chicago

The Art Institute of Chicago

The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879 and located in Chicago's Grant Park, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 million people annually

MASP, Sao Paulo

MASP, Sao Paulo

The Museu de Arte de São Paulo is Brazil’s first modern art museum. The virtual tour allows users to visit six online exhibits and two interactive museums.