VIRTUAL MUSEUM TOURS OFFER ESCAPE FROM COVID-19 LOCKDOWN

Save yourself from social interactions while saving the admission fee while seeing great local, national and international art exhibitions. Artscope Magazine has previewed a wide collection of shows and picked the best for you to hunker down and watch in this time of social distance.

MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON, HIGHLIGHTS TOUR. See the latest show and the permanent exhibit with great graphics and video without braving the traffic, human and auto.

https://mfa.org/visit/mfa-guide/highlights

NEW ENGLAND AIR MUSEUM VIRTUAL TOUR. While air traffic slowly comes to a standstill, look at the beginnings, middle and latest in air travel.

http://www.neam.org/shell.php?page=virtual_tours

BOSTON CHILDREN’S MUSEUM VIRTUAL TOUR. A great tour to keep the kids busy at home. Interactive and easy to navigate.

https://www.bostonchildrensmuseum.org/museum-virtual-tour

GOOGLE ARTS AND CULTURE offers a series of “Museum Views” including the ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM. Watch this beautifully presented video including the paintings and sculptures on display and those that were stolen and are no longer in the museum.

https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/isabella-stewart-gardner-museum

See this FACEBOOK LIVE tour of the NASTY WOMAN CONNECTICUT exhibition that was videoed this past weekend.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/233868990368216/wp/202017237696667/

THE NATIONAL GALLERY in Washington, D.C., offers an exhaustive tour of its east and west wing, featuring classic, renaissance, American and European art in the West Wing and Contemporary art in its East Wing. All Smithsonian Museums are closed to the public now but this virtual tour, using Google Street View includes just about everything at the National Gallery.

https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/national-gallery-of-art-washington-dc

Also on Google Street View is a tour of the fabulous RIJKSMUSEUM, AMSTERDAM. Rembrandt, Vermeer, Hals, and more.

https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/rijksmuseum

NASA (NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION) offers a virtual tour led by the adorable robot named Audima. This one is for you and the children, cooped up in the house.

https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/nasa

If you want to preview the VENICE ARCHITECTURE BIENNIAL, aptly named “How Will We Live Together?” curated by MIT Dean of Architecture and Planning, Hashim Sarkis, here is your chance for public viewing.

https://www.labiennale.org/en/biennale-channel

THE LOUVRE’S 360-degree video tour of the museum is breathtaking. I particularly liked clicking on rare artifacts to see their history.

https://www.louvre.fr/en/visites-en-ligne

303 GALLERY NEW YORK has its intended display on Art Basel’s website, artbasel.com. For all at ART BASEL SWITZERLAND this coming June, go to the viewing room for VIP users from March 18-19, or on March 20-25 for public access by creating an account.

https://www.artbasel.com/viewing-rooms

Also on http://www.artsandculture.google.com: tours of MoMA (MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, New York); the MUSEE D’ ORSAY, Paris; the UFFIZI GALLERY, Florence, Italy; the METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART (including its just opened Gerhard Richter retrospective); the YALE CENTER FOR BRITISH ART; the BERKSHIRE MUSEUM in Pittsfield, Mass. MASS MoCA (including current shows); the WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART, New York (including the present Diego Rivera show), MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY (Boston and Nantucket); the MAINE MARITIME MUSEUM (Bath, Maine) and more.

Don’t forget YouTube all features many videos of art exhibits. For one of the best and the newest, go to THE PALESTINE MUSEUM US’s video tour of its exhibit of 200 works by 50 Palestinian Women artists previewed in Artscope’s online edition last week: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iA7oEUoSso0

Artscope will add to this list, as more online tours, viewing rooms and utube videos become available. Enjoy your round the world tour from the comfort of home. Stay safe!