Okay, so the title is a little dramatic but it did get your attention. Art is
just like that. Dramatic, edgy, electric or mellow, the artist has a vision
they want the viewer to see. Sometimes what you see is a sharp edged crimson
tree in a Dali oil or a wandering cerulean blue line dissecting a Georgia
O'Keefee painting.

As the author Margaret Wolfe Hungerford stated in her novel Molly Bawn, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." As the quote states, art is subjective. No two people perceive a painting in the same manner. There are so many choices in art today that everyone should be able to find an area where they feel comfort.

On an in-person visit to the museum you might stand back from a painting and say "Ummmm, I like that." And, while you gaze at the art on your computer screen take a few moments to delight in the color, the composition, and the creation.

As an art history major in college, I can barely quiet the voice that says,
"let's just look at one more Rose window or maybe there's another Picasso
around the corner. I just have to see it." You get the picture; I am an
incurable art junkie. Let's hook up with all those extraordinary websites,
designed to pique our interest in the engaging world of art.

One of the most famous museums and highly publicized since opening day December 16, 1997, is the Getty Center. The Getty Collection is extensive, including antiquities, decorative arts, photographs, paintings, manuscripts, drawings, sculpture and architecture. True, you won't be able to stand on one of the highest cliffs overlooking all of Los Angeles and you won't take the tram ride up the hill, or sip café latte in the courtyard. But neither have I, and I live here. Just try to get tickets to park, they are sold out, it seems until the next millennium. But, the web site is always available.

Three thousand miles from Los Angeles, the Detroit Museum of Art was founded in 1883. As a child, my sister took me to the museum to enrich my appreciation of art or at least I think that is what she told our mother. One of the things I found amazing and somewhat overwhelming, at the age of eight, was the larger-than-life size bronze status of The Thinker by Rodin at the front entrance to the museum.

Although I haven't been back to Detroit in years, I learned from the website that The Thinker can still be seen today sitting it out on the same spot. I loved the ancient mummies and Egyptian artifacts. If you can't get enough of Egyptian treasures, this is the place to go. If you are a teacher there is a bonus. The DIA has lesson plans on Ancient Egypt for your students.

Bonus number two: this museum presents a couple of unusual events on their website. What other museum do you know where you can enjoy Brunch with Bach? During the holidays visitors are treated to six magical nights of celebration and pageantry 400 years earlier at Queen Elizabeth's Winter Court.

Next let's swing south from Detroit to St. Petersburg, Florida, where you can
view the collective works of Salvador Dali, a favorite artist of mine.
There are over 160 drawings, oils, and watercolors here. Dali lovers will be in heaven, all others need not make the trip. The original museum opened in Cleveland, Ohio in 1972, with Dali himself presiding over the ceremonies. In 1980 the collection was re-located to St. Petersburg, Florida where the museum plays host to over 250,000 patrons a year.

Well, since we are criss-crossing the country, it's back to the West Coast for
us and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the DeYoung Museum
and the Legion of Honor.

These museums, at one time, were rival institutions. However, they both owe
their beginnings to international expositions. The DeYoung Museum grew out of
the California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894 and the Legion of
Honor for the Panama Pacific International Exposition of 1915. These two
museums were deeded to the City of San Francisco by their founders and continue to build on the vision of the founders Alma and Adolph B. Spreckels and M.H. DeYoung, who assured a future home for the fine and decorative arts to the people of San Francisco.

Hope you enjoyed this guided tour of some of the museums available on the
Internet. I know I had an artful time.


More Museums

You can never have too many links to art museums. Here are a few more great
museums to visit on-line. See you in the guest books of all those wonderful
museums.

Guggenheim Museums

Established 60 years ago by Solomon R. Guggenheim and artist-advisor Hilla
Rebay, the Guggenheim was originally housed on East 54th Street in New
York. The first permanent home for the museum was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and opened in 1959 amid considerable controversy.

The Cleveland Museum of Art: A World of Great Art for Everyone

Ranging in scope from ancient Egypt to the present, don't miss The Cleveland
Museum of Art. It opened to the public in 1916, without ever charging an
admission fee. This museum is the focal point of Cleveland's University Circle
of cultural facilities.

LACMA: The Los Angeles County Museum of Art

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is the premier visual arts museum in the Western United States. There are more than 150,000 works housed in this
extensive collection.

The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art

John and Mable Ringling built their winter home, Ca'd'Zan, in 1924-26 and
completed the art museum in 1929. The Ringlings bequeathed the entire estate
and his collection to the people of Florida in 1936.

Norton Simon Museum

At the Norton Simon in Pasadena, California there are over 2,000 years of
Western and Asian art represented. Mr. Simon's art interests began in the '50's
with artists like Degas, Renoir, Gauguin and Cezanne.

National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

Extensive is the only way to describe the National Gallery of Art. The NGA
houses one of the finest collections in the world, highlighting the major
achievements in art from the Middle Ages to the present time.