North America virtual art crawl- how to get cultured from your home
- FancifulRoamer
- Jan 11
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 24
Art can build bridges across societies around the world. We live in incredible times, as with an internet connection and a few clicks, we can access virtual art preserved across millennia. Spark your creativity by browsing endless collections from North America from the comfort of your home.
The Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Getty is a powerful organization working on conserving and exhibiting art and culture from around the world.
The online collection is categorized by era and department. You can look through thousands of years of drawings, photographs, manuscripts, and decorative arts.
Clicking on the pieces of art, you will find more information about the artist and the piece itself. You even have the option to download a high-quality version of the art that is in the public domain.
Famous pieces in the Getty Museum are authored by great masters like Van Gogh, Manet, and Rembrandt. There are also unique works such as the Mummy of Herakleides, the Bust of Emperor Caracalla, and antique furniture that is a form of art in itself.
Getty also offers an online library of books on art, antiques, architecture, and more. They're all free to read and download, great for anyone who wants to dive into educating themselves on the visual arts.
Guggenheim Museum, New York
The Guggenheim Museum holds artwork from the late 19th century until today. You can look them up by date, artist, movement, and medium. There are many interesting special collections to browse. This museum has a forward way and brings together paintings from the 1800s, alongside modern installations.
The building itself is a UNESCO for its iconic architecture. It was built by the greatest American architect of the 20th century, Frank Lloyd Wright.
Now, Guggenheim has a presence in Bilbao, Venice, and Abu Dhabi, so there's even more art to explore online as well.
Among the famous art pieces at the Guggenheim are Paris Through the Window, Composition 8 by Kandinsky, the Maman sculpture, and Farm Women at Work.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art MET, New York
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the best museums I've seen, with a huge collection. You can spend days there and not see everything. When I visited, it was for a whole day, minus a hot dog break on the steps of the museum. I was exhausted. Luckily, we can browse the collection online. The catalogs hold art from all continents and civilizations. My favorites were the Egyptian and the Greek sections.
Don't miss the famous paintings like The Dance Class, The Water Lily Pond, The Musicians, and Self-portraits by Van Gogh and Rembrandt. Van Gogh's Starry Night is also at the MET.
The National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
Heading North, we can peruse Canada's National Gallery. They have gathered a great collection of Indigenous and Canadian art, as well as international pieces.
You can search the online collection by artist, medium, and time. You can also look up keywords. For example, you can search for "cats", and only view items tagged as such.
The National Gallery of Canada is focused on inspiring and bringing people together. So they also offer online webinars and workshops through their YouTube channel. You can find out the schedule and details here.
Museo Soumaya, Mexico City
Of course, we have to travel to Mexico as well, for a well-rounded art and culture experience in North America.
The Soumaya Museum is a private collection of European art, as well as Mexican art and pre-Hispanic works. The museum website is in Spanish, which most devices can easily translate.
Rodin's The Thinker sculpture is on display here, along with Mexican legends Diego Rivera and Rufino Tamayo. Rodin is very popular here, as it's the largest exhibition located outside of France.
More famous art pieces at Soumaya include Madonna of the Yarnwinder by Da Vinci, Dining Table by Agustin Arrieta, and the mural of Rio Juchitan by Diego Rivera.
As I did in my European Art Crawl post, I have to mention the vast online collections provided by WikiArt and Google Arts and Culture.
WikiArt allows you to browse and learn about artists and artworks. You can order your own canvases of your favorite pieces.
Google Arts and Culture provides virtual tours of museums with Street View. They also have blogs, games, and activities for the whole family.
I hope you enjoy your art crawl from the comfort of your space. I enjoyed putting this together while getting lost in stunning creations.