Lesson 7, Ex.1b

When I look back at the museums I have enjoyed the most, I have been involved in an experience that cannot be replicated in a book, on a website, in a movie, or on TV. I have been surrounded by the things that real people have used, and the power that flows from those artifacts is outstanding. I have been to a play at Ford’s Theater, and I swear when I looked across the way to the infamous box, I could see Abraham Lincoln sitting there enjoying the show. I have seen artifacts recovered from the Titanic, a space capsule that landed on the moon, and the original Constitution.

I have been inside a slave cabin on a South Carolina plantation and a World War II aircraft carrier. I have stood in a one room schoolhouse, sat at a desk, rung the school bell. I have seen terrific dresses worn by Jackie Kennedy, complete with matching pillbox hats and tight, ladylike gloves. I have looked at fabulous works of art -- Hudson River School landscapes, Frederick Remington sculptures. I have seen the workshop where the Wright Brothers worked on bicycles, the house where Heinz ketchup was invented, and Thomas Edison's laboratory. So you see, there is no substitute for the “real thing.” In an era of text-messaging, computer games, and virtual reality, we must ground ourselves with something that is REAL. Museums are in the unique position to provide these incredible experiences.

Lesson 8, Ex.2b,c

What is the best museum/art gallery in the world?

This was the question put on Facebook and Twitter. Unsurprisingly, the most popular tourist destinations in the world came out on top. None of the top ten museums were outside North America and Europe. Well, the top ten most popular museums were:

1. The Louvre

The Louvre may be the world’s greatest art museum – but it’s also the one most avoided by visitors to Paris. Discouraged by its size and richness, many people head to smaller galleries. But if you have even the merest interest in the fruits of human civilisation from antiquity to the 19th century, then visit you must. The most famous works from antiquity include the Jewels of Rameses II and the armless duo – the Winged Victory of Samothrace and the Venus de Milo. From the Renaissance, don’t miss Michelangelo’s Slaves, Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa and works by Raphael, Botticelli and Titian.

2. British Museum

The British Museum was established in 1753, largely based on the collections of the physician and scientist Sir Hans Sloane. It is widely considered to be one of the world's greatest museums of human history and culture. Its permanent collection, numbering some eight million works, is amongst the finest, largest in existence, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its beginnings to the present. There are galleries devoted to Egypt, Western Asia, Greece, the Orient, Africa, Italy, the Romans, prehistoric and Roman Britain and medieval antiques.

3. Musée d’Orsay

Housed in the former railway station, on the left bank of the Seine, in Paris, the Gare d'Orsay holds a spectacular collection of French Art, making it a must-see for any art lover. The museum displays France’s national collection of paintings and sculptures, furniture, and photography, and is probably best known for its extensive collection of impressionist and post-impressionist works (the largest in the world) by such painters such as Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Cézanne, Seurat, Gauguin and Van Gogh.

4. Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) New York

Its grand reopening in 2004, following the most extensive renovation project in its 75-year history, created a genuine art universe of more than 100,000 pieces. You could easily hole up for a couple of days and still not properly see it all. Most of the big hitters – Matisse, Picasso, Cezanne, Rothko, Pollock – are housed in the central five-storey atrium. The sculpture garden – returned to its original, larger vision – is a joy to sit in. 5. Metropolitan Museum of Art

What can you say about this beautiful behemoth? Its size, and the depth and breadth of its collection is simply terrific. More than five million come a year for special exhibits, or just to see the Great Hall entrance, the Tiffany windows in the American Wing, the collection of African, Oceania and other works. Also great is the famed European Collection on the 2nd floor – it’s a city within a city, really, and it’s easier to get lost here than in Central Park outside. 6. Galleria degli Uffizi

The Galleria degli Uffizi, home to the Medici family’s private collection, was passed to Florence in 1743 by the last of the family, Anna Maria Ludovica, on condition that it never leave the city. Housed inside the vast U-shaped Palazzo degli Uffizi its sheer size alone impresses (don’t dream of viewing the 50-plus rooms and 1555 works of art properly in one visit – preselect which artists or period of art interest you most). In high season (particularly in July), waiting times can be up to five hours. Visitors who reserve a ticket in advance have a much shorter wait.