Gallery sights in Europe
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Galleria dell’Accademia
A lengthy queue marks the otherwise inauspicious entrance to this museum, built especially to hold a single masterpiece, Michelangelo’s David. The collection now encompasses works by Botticelli and Taddeo Gaddi, a fine group of Russian icons, and several rooms of 14th-century paintings, including a remarkable embroidered Coronazione della Vergine (Coronation of the Virgin). However, it’s David everyone’s hot for – and for good reason. The subtle detail – the veins in his sinewy arms, the muscles that seem to ripple under his marble skin, the change in expression as you move around the statue – is impressive. Michelangelo was also the master behind the unfinish…
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National Gallery
Gazing grandly over Trafalgar Sq through its Corinthian columns, the National Gallery is the nation's most important repository of art. Four million visitors come annually to admire its 2300-plus Western European paintings, spanning the years 1250 to 1900. Highlights include Turner's The Fighting Temeraire (voted Britain's greatest painting), Botticelli's Venus and Mars and van Gogh's Sunflowers. The medieval religious paintings in the Sainsbury Wing are fascinating, but for a short, sharp blast of brilliance, you can't beat the truckloads of Monets, Cézannes and Renoirs.
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Tate Modern
It's hard to miss this surprisingly elegant former power station on the side of the river, which is fortunate as the tremendous Tate Modern really shouldn't be missed. Focussing on modern art in all its wacky and wonderful permutations, it's been extraordinarily successful in bringing challenging work to the masses, becoming one of London's most popular attractions.
Outstanding temporary exhibitions (on the 4th floor; prices vary) continue to spark excitement, as does the periodically changing large-scale installation in the vast Turbine Hall. The permanent collection is organised into four themed sections, which change periodically but include works by the likes of Mark R…
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Peggy Guggenheim Collection
After tragically losing her father on the Titanic, heiress Peggy Guggenheim befriended Dadaists, dodged Nazis, and amassed avant-garde works by 200 modern artists at her palatial home on the Grand Canal. Peggy’s Palazzo Venier dei Leoni became a modernist shrine, chronicling surrealism, Italian futurism, and abstract expressionism, with a subtext of Peggy’s romantic pursuits – the collection includes key works by Peggy’s ex-husband Max Ernst and Jackson Pollock, among Peggy’s many rumoured lovers. Peggy collected according to her own convictions rather than for prestige or style, so her collection includes inspired folk art and lesser-known local artists alongside artis…
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Musée d'Art Ancien
To view the collections of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts chronologically, start with the Musée d'Art Ancien. Begin with the Flemish Primitives, including works by Rogier Van der Weyden, Dirk Bouts, Hans Memling and Gerard David. Move onto Quinten Matsijs, whose paintings demonstrate a turning point in Flemish art as traditional realistic scenes were superseded by the more flamboyant Renaissance style imported from Italy.
The Breugel family, in particular Pieter Breugel the Elder, comes next. The mysterious Fall of Icarus is one of his most famous works, although De Volkstelling (The Census at Bethlehem, painted in 1566) is more typical of his distinctive peasant scenes.…
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Gallerie dell’Accademia
Hardly academic, these galleries contain more murderous intrigue, forbidden romance, shameless politicking and near-riots than the most outrageous Venetian parties. The walls of the former Santa Maria della Carità convent complex maintained their serene composure for centuries, with the outstanding architectural assistance of Bartolomeo Bon, Palladio and Carlo Scarpa – but ever since Napoleon installed his haul of Venetian art trophies in this convent in 1807, there’s been nonstop visual drama inside these walls. To guide you through the ocular onslaught, visits are loosely organised by style, theme and painter from the 14th to 18th centuries, beginning with Paolo Venezia…
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Tretyakov Gallery
The exotic boyar castle on a little lane in Zamoskvorechie contains the main branch of the State Tretyakov Gallery, housing the world’s best collection of Russian icons and an outstanding collection of other prerevolutionary Russian art. Show up early to beat the queues.
The building was designed by Viktor Vasnetsov between 1900 and 1905. The gallery started as the private collection of the 19th-century industrialist brothers Pavel and Sergei Tretyakov. Pavel was a patron of the Peredvizhniki, or Wanderers, a group of 19th-century painters who broke away from the conservative Academy of Arts and started depicting common people and social problems. Nowadays, these are…
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MUMOK
The dark basalt edifice and sharp corners of the Museum moderner Kunst (Museum of Modern Art) are a complete contrast to the MuseumsQuartier’s historical sleeve. Inside, MUMOK is crawling with Vienna’s finest collection of 20th-century art, centred on fluxus, nouveau realism, pop art and photo-realism. The best of expressionism, cubism, minimal art and Viennese Actionism is represented in a collection of 9000 works that are rotated and exhibited by theme – but take note that sometimes all this Actionism is packed away to make room for temporary exhibitions. On any visit you might glimpse: wearily slumped attendant (not part of any exhibit), photos of horribly deformed bab…
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Musée d'Art Moderne
The Musée d'Art Moderne houses 19th- and 20th-century art and occupies a subterranean gallery that meanders for six levels below ground. Due to the opening of the new Magritte Museum here, some of the collection has been moved to the Dexia Art Centre in Rue de l'Écuyer. Whether here or there, earlier highlights to look out for include sculptures by Constantin Meunier, Ensor's macabre fighting skeletons, and many paintings by Paul Delvaux.
Other national artists include Léon Spilliaert and Rik Wouters, both of whom belonged to the Fauve group of painters. The international scene is much less extensive but look out for Francis Bacon's delightful Le Pape aux Hiboux (Pope …
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Museo e Galleria Borghese
Cardinal Scipione Borghese (1579–1633) was the most knowledgeable and ruthless art collector of his day, and his collection, in the Museo e Galleria Borghese is as dazzling as his park. If you only have time (or inclination) for one art gallery in Rome, make it this one, which is not only exquisite, but also provides the perfect introduction to Renaissance and baroque art without being overwhelming. It’s housed in the Casino Borghese, whose neoclassical look is the result of a 17th-century revamp. To limit numbers, visitors are admitted at two-hourly intervals, so you’ll need to call to prebook, and enter at an allotted entry time, but trust us, it’s worth it.
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Manchester Art Gallery
A superb collection of British art and a hefty number of European masters are on display at the city's top gallery. The older wing, designed by Charles Barry (of Houses of Parliament fame) in 1834, has an impressive collection that includes 37 Turner watercolours, as well as the country's best collection of Pre-Raphaelite art. The newer gallery features a permanent collection of 20th-century British art starring Lucien Freud, Francis Bacon, Stanley Spencer, Henry Moore and David Hockney. Finally, the Gallery of Craft & Design, in the Athenaeum, houses a permanent collection of pre-17th-century art, with works predominantly from the Dutch and early Renaissance masters.
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Zhyvopysna aleya
About three-quarters of the way up Andriyivsky uzviz on the left, just before you get to St Andrew's Church, is Zhyvopysna aleya, which turns into a giant outdoor art gallery on weekends. We can't say much for the art (anyone for an air-brushed portrait of a semi-clad vixen in front of St Andrew's Cathedral?), but the leafy path leading southeast from here to Volodymyrska Hirka park makes for a pleasant walk or jog.
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Doom Painting
In St Thomas's Church, the amazing doom painting is above the chancel arch, painted in 1475. It depicts Christ on the day of judgment, sitting astride a rainbow flanked by visions of heaven and hell; on the hell side, look out for two naked kings and a nude bishop, a miser with his moneybags, and a female alehouse owner, the only person allowed to hang on to her clothes.
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Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts
Housed in the first major building by Norman Foster, now the darling of Britain's architectural set, the Sainsbury Centre is the most important centre for the arts in East Anglia. Filled with an eclectic collection of works by Picasso, Moore, Degas and Bacon, displayed beside art from Africa, the Pacific and the Americas, it also houses changing exhibitions that cover everything from local heritage to international art movements. Even if you're not an art buff you're almost guaranteed to find something of interest going on here.
The gallery is about 2 miles west of the city centre. To get here take bus 25, 26 or 35 from Castle Meadow (20 minutes).
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Giudecca 795
Do you follow the Titian colourists or go with the Tintoretto flow? Either way, Giudecca 795 has you in mind, featuring contemporary artists with a strong sense of colour and dynamic line. Look for Vito Campanelli’s high-impact all-red paintings and Guitamachi’s graphic train-track cityscapes.
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Museo Nazionale delle Arti del XXI Secolo (MAXXI)
Housed in a former army barracks, and built to an avant-garde design by Anglo-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid, MAXXI (National Museum of 21st-century Art) has a permanent collection dedicated to contemporary art and architecture as well as space for more experimental events.
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Gallery of Photography
Ireland’s premier photographic gallery, this place has ever- changing exhibits, often with Irish themes, including photographs of Dublin in the ‘rare auld times, ’ as per the popular Dublin ditty.
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Athens Municipal Art Gallery
The municipality’s rich collection includes more than 2300 works from leading 19th- and 20th-century Greek artists, including works from the acclaimed ‘30s generation, as well as a fine collection of engravings.
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PinchukArtCentre
The rotating exhibits at the world-class PinchukArtCentre feature elite names in the world of European contemporary art and design, all financed by billionaire mogul Viktor Pinchuk.
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Smolyan Art Gallery
Opposite the museum, the Smolyan Art Gallery boasts some 1800 paintings, sketches and sculptures by local, national and foreign artists.
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İstanbul Modern
In recent years İstanbul’s contemporary-art scene has boomed. Facilitated by the active cultural philanthropy of the country’s industrial dynasties – many of which have built extraordinary arts collections – museum buildings are opening nearly as often as art exhibitions. İstanbul Modern, funded by the Eczcıbaşı family, is the big daddy of them all. Opened with great fanfare in 2005, this huge converted shipping terminal has a stunning location right on the shores of the Bosphorus at Tophane and is easily accessed by tram from Sultanahmet. The museum’s curatorial program is twofold: the 1st floor highlights the Eczcıbaşı family’s collection of Turkish 20th-century and con…
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Palais Liechtenstein
After many years collecting dust in depot vaults, the private collection of Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein is now displayed in the magnificent Palais Liechtenstein. It’s a magnificent private collection consisting of some 200 paintings and 50 sculptures, dating from 1500 to 1700.Built between 1690 and 1712, the palace illustrates the audacious folly and extravagance of baroque architecture. Frescoes and ceiling paintings by the likes of Johann Michael Rottmayer (1654–1730) and Marcantonio Franceschini (1648–1729) decorate the halls, staircases and corridors of this sumptuous palace. The palace is in four sections. On the ground floor near the western staircase (lef…
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Pushkin Fine Arts Museum
This is Moscow’s premier foreign-art museum, showing off a broad selection of European works, mostly appropriated from private collections after the revolution. The Pushkin’s collections are located not only in this main building, but also in the Museum of Private Collections and the Gallery of European & American Art of the 19th & 20th Centuries. A collective ticket to all three museums is available for adults/students for R500/300.
To see the incredible collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist paintings, visit the Gallery of European & American Art. What’s left in the main building is still impressive, especially since the place has been revamped, with mor…
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Fondazione Giorgio Cini
A defunct naval academy has been cleverly converted into a shipshape gallery for the Fondazione Giorgio Cini, preserving the original double-height timber ceiling and going for a weatherbeaten-high-design look with luminous stairs in glass and rusted iron. The gallery hosts high-profile international and Italian shows, ranging from a mind-bending avant-garde Japanese typography show to a retrospective of Venice’s own poetic abstractionist, Giuseppe Santomaso – including his Letters to Palladio, paintings of envelopes with Palladian proportions. Behind Palladio’s grand church extend the grounds of the former monastery with a long history, beginning in the 10th century …
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Scuola Grande di San Rocco
You’ll swear the paint is still fresh on the 50 action-packed Tintorettos painted between 1575 and 1587 for the Scuola Grande di San Rocco. Everyone wanted the commission to paint this building dedicated to the patron saint of the plague-stricken, so Tintoretto cheated a little: instead of producing sketches like his rival Veronese, Tintoretto painted a magnificent tondo (ceiling panel) and dedicated it to the saint, knowing such a gift couldn’t be refused or matched by other artists. Take the Scarpagnino staircase to the Sala Grande Superiore, in which Tintoretto covered the ceilings with Old Testament scenes that read like a modern graphic novel. Grab a handglass (m…
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