I have to say I’ve been overwhelmed by the response to this posting subject; my wife’s 10 suggestions were sensational but it’s the contributions from all the other commentators that have left me breathless. Ah well I’m going to press on until someone gets moved enough to write back with some locations and venues that made them sigh with with pleasure. As promised the next two lists are my favourite art galleries/museums that we’ve visited or spent time in over the years. Increasingly, I find myself spending more time here than other more hedonistic places these days. A sure sign of advancing maturity (some might call it boring old git syndrome). I don’t care.
Galleries UK
1. Tate Online, Britain, Modern, Liverpool. Despite all my years managing the sponsorship of Tate Online I’ve never visited Tate St Ives, sadly. The others are just brilliant.
2. Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art – check out Landform, natural landsculpture.
3. Lowry Centre Art Gallery. Salford’s most notable son.
4. Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield (thanks to Dave for introducing me to this great collection)
5. Baltic Centre (see ‘raise ya, why aye’ posting)
6. Dean Gallery, Edinburgh. Saw the Testino photographic exhibition here. You’ll be captivated by Paolozzi’s studio
7. National Portrait Gallery. Great people managing the collection. Some great Hockney pieces
8. National Gallery of Scotland. Really like the building and exhibitions
9. Oxford Museum of Modern Art, Small but always very funky. Great to kill half an hour whilst C was in M&S next door.
10. Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. Always great, never disappoint. Some interesting architectural shows in recent years.
Galleries Worldwide
1. Guggenheim Bilbao. Just my favourite building in the world. My friends bought us a visit for my 50th. Went in 4 times in 3 days. Just go and see this place if you ever get the chance.
2. Metropolitan Museum of Art NY. A must see if you’re in NY. Breathtakingly wide collection.
3. Guggenheim NY. Another stunning building and some great art.
4. MoMA, NY. 3 galleries in one city? Absolutely. A fantastic collection of modern art.
5. Stedelijk MoMA, Amsterdam. One of the world’s greatest collections. If you like van Goch queue for 3 hours, it’s worth it.
6. Prado, Madrid. Sprawling but fabulous. This might be the THE collection.
7. Musee D’Orsay. Great setting (former train station) and more accessible than the big L.
8. San Francisco MoMA. Very west coast.
9. Art Institute of Chicago. Serious and comprehensive.
10. Picasso Collection and Fundacio Joan Miro, Barcelona. Two smallish collections but stunning.
There you go. Some major omissions I know but these are the places I’ve enjoyed visiting probably the most. In most cases they were relatively easy to visit which isn’t the case with some of the national blockbuster museums/galleries. I’ve seen some more great art in Paris and Brussels; Seattle, Las Vegas (surprisingly) and Miami; Verona, Florence and Milan, and even Milton Keynes but I would still like to visit more galleries in Rome, Manchester, Glasgow, Walsall, St Ives, LA and also London. Let me know if you’ve been to a gallery/museum or witnessed a piece of art/sculpture/photography/installation which has left you in awe. If you’ve never felt that, let me know too.
pp
Pasta Paulie 