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Where are the world's best art museums?

by Grant Martin (RSS feed) on Mar 4th 2008 at 1:00PM

Reuter's just published a list of the world's top art museums and for once I actually agree with a top ten list. Their top pick is the Louvre, on the banks of the Parisian Seine. One can get lost in that museum for hours (and stand in line to get in for more), and the wealth of art and artifacts on display is truly astounding. And while their classical antiquity collection is not as strong as the British Museum (not ranked) or the Getty (4), their painting and drawing collections are arguably the best in the world. Other contenders?

Musee du Louvre, Paris, France
Vatican Museums, Vatican City, Rome, Italy
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York
J. Paul Getty Center, Los Angeles, California
Musee d'Orsay, Paris, France
Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
Tate Modern, London, England
Prado Museum, Madrid, Spain
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

I was pleased to learn that I've been to seven of their top ten choices, including all of the top four. I'll have to make sure I visit the Musee d'Orsay next time I'm in Paris, which I hear is a less touristy, debaucherous Louvre.

One museum I'd like to have seen? The British Museum. Hundreds of years of imperialism and looting have resulted in an impressive collection of artifacts from around the world centered around a beautiful atrium. And it's free.

Filed under: Arts and Culture, News

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Mary Mar 4th 2008 1:32PM

Once again, you're not getting the full story. The list was actually put out by TripAdvisor, not Reuters, and the list was compiled based on traffic to TripAdvisor's site.

It's a good list, but popularity has never really been the measure of good art.

Danielle Mar 4th 2008 5:38PM

Yes, these are all great museums! What about the Hermitage in Russia, MOMA in New York, the Boston MCA is spectacular, The Denver Art Museum and the Oceanside Museum of Art in San Diego just expanded and is a cultural destination in Southern California.