There are a plethora of amazing art museums and the best ones have become full travel destinations. Home to the vast majority of the world's most valuable paintings, sculptures and artefacts, these art museums are a treasure trove of knowledge, offering a unique chance to navigate the history of creative expression through the ages. Here is a selection of the best art museums you should visit at least once in your lifetime...
Brandhorst, Munich
The Brandhorst Museum is a fairly new but very respectable German contemporary art museum. It was inaugurated in 2009 by the German state of Bavaria to house and display the incredible contemporary art collection of Anette Brandhorst and her husband Udo Fritz-Hermann, heirs of Fritz Henkel, founder of the famous German chemical company. The extraordinary Brandhorst collection, which was donated to the state after Anette Brandhorst's death, includes a comprehensive selection of groundbreaking artworks by artists such as Andy Warhol, Cy Twombly, Gerhard Richter, Damien Hirst, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Alex Katz. The museum's unique two-storey building, with its facade of thousands of colourful glazed ceramic louvres houses three separate exhibition areas linked by staircases.
The Louvre, Paris
Located in a former royal palace on the right bank of the Seine river in Paris, the Louvre is arguably the largest and most famous museum in the world and an iconic monument in the city. Home to one of the most impressive art collections in history, it is a must-visit establishment for anyone with a slight interest in art. The collection was first assembled in the 16th century as the private collection of King Francis I. Among the first works he purchased was Michelangelo's famous Mona Lisa. After the French Revolution in 1793, the museum became a national art museum and the collection was opened to the public. Today it holds over one million artworks, of which approximately 35,000 are on display. This impressive and diverse collection spans from antiquity to the mid-19th century.
Stockholm Modern Museum
The Modern Museum or Museum of Modern Art of Stockholm is a state-funded establishment located on the island of Skeppsholmen, a setting of impressive natural beauty in central Stockholm. Opened in a former drill hall in 1958 and later moved to its new building, the museum collects and exhibits all forms of contemporary art. “Moderna Museet” houses one of the world's finest collections of Swedish and international modern and contemporary art from the early 20th century to the present day, including works by Dali, Picasso, Rauchenberg, Duchamp and Matisse. The museum's first-class collection includes more than five thousand paintings, sculptures and installations, some 25,000 drawings, prints and watercolours and almost 100,000 photographs dating back to 1840. In addition to the permanent collection and temporary exhibitions, Moderna Museet Stockholm also regularly holds various learning activities and workshops for children related to contemporary art. In 2009, it extended to a new branch in the city of Malmö.