Golden Era in Art History: Picks of Modern Art Museums

Just got back from Stockholm and ready to start this month with theme Art and Lifestyle.

I’m a huge fan of modernism. Modern art is always fun to look at and there are many genius are involving. I try to visit as many modern art museum as possible when travelling to different cities. I’m currently expending my collection of authentic pieces from my painter Francis Picabia (since he’s not that famous, he doesn’t have any personal exhibition so I can only found his works one by one in each modern art museum.). Here are countdown of my 5 favorite modern art museums:

 

#1 MoMA, New York

Fauvism painting from Matisse

My favourite artist is Francis Picabia

No matter are you an art fan or a regular tourist to the NYC, you won’t be disappointed at MoMA.

MoMA not just collected works from names that everyone know in modern art like Dali, Frida, Warhol, Matisse…but their finest collections! Like Van Gogh’s Starry Night, Monet’s Water Lillies, Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon(and way more to name.)! It was like heaven to me once I entered the painting gallery, finally seeing those paintings that I used to be learning from and familiar with in real live!

There are exhibitions about contemporary installations, films and photography as well in MoMA, no problem spending days there. And visit to the museum shop is a MUST!

 

#2 Centre Pompidou, Paris

Center Pompidou is the biggest modern art museum in Europe, the center itself is already a piece of modern architecture and capable of multi functions like theater and conference room.

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Apart from a huge collections of famous modernism art work, I highly recommend the contemporary art session. There are lots of interesting and large scaled  installations that visitors are able to interact with. These installations are one of the best ways to raise discussion over social issue.

 

#3 Tate Modern, London

Painting from Francis Picabia

It’s obvious from the name the museum is all about modern art. Good things always comes for free! There are no admission fee for the permanent exhibitions including collections of paintings to installations. Time by time there are paid special exhibition and pop up exhibits on the ground floor in the museum as well.

Don’t forge to check out the stunning view over the Thame on the second floor balcony!

Tate modern is well known of its generous support to British contemporary artist, which offering an open space and programs for young artists to start up their projects. Art of the leading contemporary British artists like Damien Hirst and Sara Lucas had been featured in Tate before.

 

#4 Kiasma, Helsinki

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If you consider yourself a socialist or activist, you will like Kiasma, Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki. Kiasma is different from the other modern art museum.  Without a permanent collections of art works, Kiasma temporary exhibitions collaborate with contemporary artist and their up-to-date works.

These exhibits are more like intervention toward hot topics in the society like globalizations, 3^rd world war, feminism etc, and with various medium like film, sculpture, installation and so on. You may ended up involved in social debate there, who knows!

 

#5 Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo

If you are a fan of architecture, you will be amazed by those unique and smoothness post-modern architecture in northern Europe. You will be surrounded by art just entering the area of Oslo pot and sure to recognize the this stunning museum designed by Renzo Piano.

Damien Hurst’s work

Astrup Fearnley Museet is supported by private company and aimed at cultural exhibition, like bringing American and European pop art together. It has a large collection of Damien Hirst’s(British significant contemporary artist who graduated from my university, Goldsmiths, UoL)well known installations of animal specimen.