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Executive Traveler | April 2006
Must-See Museums
Pencil in a visit to these museums on your next business trip.
It seems a natural assumption that, the more one globetrots for business, the more one truly gets to see the world. Not so if you don't make time for it. Fortunately, museums offer a great swathe of art and history all under one roof. There are thousands of excellent museums throughout the world, but here are 10 that are worth working into your travel agenda. Though most of these should be afforded more than a one-day tour to feel their full effect, make it a point to stop in for at least a half-day visit to experience the past, present and future of art.
The British Museum
The British Museum houses a large portion of the world's history, spanning two million years. The museum's haven of Asian antiquities such as Japanese swords, armor, decorative arts, paintings and prints, and printed books is required culture. The museum's Ghandaran sculpture collection is one of the best in the world, as is the collection of Islamic pottery. Until June 25, museum visitors have the rare opportunity to trace the 60 years of Italian Renaissance genius Michelangelo's life in the exhibition, "Michelangelo Drawings: Closer to the Master," which reunites works not seen together since the dissipation of the artist's studio more than 400 years ago. For more information, visit thebritishmuseum.ac.uk.
Detroit Institute of Arts
The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) is home to more than 60,000 works, making its collection one of the largest and most important in the United States. Included in this is Diego Rivera's fresco cycle "Detroit Industry," a floor-to-ceiling stellar brushstroke of genius relating the automobile industry's effect on the city and its residents. Currently, DIA is undergoing a major renovation by architect Michael Graves, including a complete reinstallation of its galleries, scheduled for completion in 2007. "African-American Art From the Walter O. Evans Collection," widely regarded as one of the most important collections of its kind, features works by such artists as Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence, Aaron Douglas and Elizabeth Catlett, and is on view through July 2. For more information, visit dia.org.
Kunsthistorisches Museum
The Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Art History) in Vienna, Austria, is known both for its ornate décor as it is for its distinguished fine art and antiques repertory. The interior of the building is sumptuously decorated with marble, stucco ornamentations, gold leaf and paintings, making it an exemplary work of art in its own right. The museum's primary collections include the portrait and armor collections of Ferdinand of Tirol, the collections of Emperor Rudolf II and the collection of paintings of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm. The Kunsthistorisches Museum has a supreme collection of works by Netherlandish painter, draftsman and printmaker Pieter Brueghel the Elder, who's considered to be the greatest artist of his time (circa 1525–69) in Northern Europe. For more information, visit khm.at.
Museum of Modern Art
Enlightening current culture with vibrant contemporary art is the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). The New York–based institution marries the established with the experimental, while always seeking the newest, the most modern of art to add to its esteemed collection. In addition to its ultra-cool shop full of the quirkiest gadgets and trend-setting gifts designed by stellar talents, MoMA possesses a superb permanent collection, including Picasso's "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon," easily one of the most important works in the genesis of modern art, and a more recent acquisition: "Ringaround Arosie" by Eva Hesse, one of the 1960s' most innovative and influential artists. MoMA's unparalleled and thought-provoking exhibitions include "Without Boundary: Seventeen Ways of Looking," an examination of various media by artists that have moved from the Islamic world to live in Europe and the United States (on view through May 22). For more information, visit moma.org.
Musée du Louvre
Once the majestic palace of the Sun King, Louis XIV, the Musée du Louvre has undergone multiple architectural makeovers, and has made its mark as a dominant edifice in Paris since the late 12th century. The museum houses 35,000 works of art, and it offers a delightful sensory experience outdoors in the Tuileries and Carrousel gardens. Inside, the museum, thorough as an encyclopedia, traces civilization from ancient times, within the Near Eastern Antiquities department up to the 19th century. The collection of paintings encompasses every European school from the 13th century to 1848. The Musée du Louvre houses Leonardo da Vinci's universally famed portrait of Mona Lisa. For more information, visit louvre.fr.
Museo Nacional del Prado
Located in Madrid, the capitol city of Spain, Museo Nacional del Prado covers a veritable panorama of history with its impressive collection of more than 8,600 paintings, including more than 3,000 from the Spanish royal collections; sculpture; drawings; prints; coins and medals (around 1,000); and almost 2,000 decorative objects and works of art. The museum's extensive offerings of Spanish Rococo painter and printmaker Francisco de Goya, a collection of 500 drawings and prints, is the largest in the world. Goya's teacher, neoclassical painter Anton Raphael Mengs, is represented, along with other esteemed German painters from the 16th and 18th centuries such as Albrecht Dürer and Lucas Cranach. El Greco and Diego Velázquez also are not to be missed, as is the collection of medieval and Renaissance representations. For more information, visit museoprado.es.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
With more than 51,000 works of art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), is an exemplary choice when in Texas. It is the largest art museum in America south of Chicago, west of Washington, D.C., and east of Los Angeles. It's geographically favored to lead the way in Latin American art, and boasts more than 760 modern and contemporary Latin American works and more than 2,500 Pre-Columbian objects. A generous slice of Americana also is offered up at the MFAH with more than 5,000 objects including furniture, paintings, works on paper, silver, ceramics, glass and textiles, all tracing the evolution of American style from 1620 to 1870. "Encouraging American Genius: Master Paintings from the Corcoran Gallery of Art," an exhibition of more than 70 iconic paintings that mark great historic moments in American art and culture from the last 200 years is on view through May 7. For more information, visit mfah.org.
The Walters Museum
Experience 55 centuries of art in Baltimore, Maryland, just a half-hour drive from the United States
capitol at the Walters Museum. The Walters, as its called by the locals, offers a comprehensive
history of art from the third millennium BC to the early-20th century, including stunning works such as Pietro Francavilla's "Apollo Victorious over the Python," a 1591 marble sculpture, and the 1901 Gatchina Palace Egg, made of gold, enamel and seed pearls by Carl Fabergé. The Walters' permanent collection also includes ancient art, medieval art and manuscripts, decorative objects, Asian art and Old Master and 19th-century paintings. Currently on view is "Louise Bourgeois: Femme," an enriching exploration of world-renowned contemporary sculptor Louise Bourgeois, through through May 21. For more information, visit thewalters.org.
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art ranks high above most museums for its more than two million works of art from ancient times to the present day. Adding to its appeal is the devotion of 19 curatorial departments that, through unsurpassed knowledge, elevate the stature of each work owned or borrowed. Highlights of the museum include the Cloisters, the branch of the Metropolitan Museum devoted to the art and architecture of medieval Europe, and the preeminent Costume Institute, home to more than 80,000 costumes and accessories from five continents and as many centuries. On view through July 9 is the celebration of female power with "Hatshepsut: From Queen to Pharaoh." For more information, visit metmuseum.org.
Norton Simon Museum
Located in Pasadena, California, the Norton Simon Museum is a richly packed treasure trove of fine art and antiques from the 14th century to modern-day amusements. Its offerings include the anticipated, such as several remarkable works from van Gogh and nearly two dozen Rembrandts to the unexpected, such as a 13th-century gilt bronze statue from Nepal, Constantin Brancusi's notable "Bird in Space" (1931, polished bronze) and feline-lover Paul Klee's witty "Idol for House Cats." On view through April 17 is "Telling Tales," an exhibition of 12 artworks that studies how artists communicate the essential aspects of a tale through gesture, setting, symbol and composition. From May 12 to August 28, "Translucence: Southern California Art in the 1960s and 1970s" showcases 23 objects by nine prominent local artists whose work explored the concepts of perception, reflection, light and illusion. For more information, visit nortonsimon.org.
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