Back in 2020, the pandemic ushered in a golden age of virtual media, living up to the original promises of digital technology while offering new life and unprecedented access to some of the world’s cultural landmarks, some previously financially or physically inaccessible. Today, thousands of users every month virtually explore treasures from the Uffizi Galleries to the Guggenheim. This is leading to a digital art boom.
Virtual Art world brings together international artists, new media, and technology to produce works in VR, augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR), explaining that many technologies in prototype have been bumped up to help deal with widespread user demand.
Online art platforms are a very good choice for those who wish to buy art on the Internet. Digitization of art commerce has been booming for years, changing the art world forever. Whatever it is that art collectors are looking to buy – may it be contemporary or classic art, by well-known or emerging artists, paintings, prints, sculptures, books, or design items –they can find it online.
Many famous art galleries, including the Louvre, Tate, and the Met have vast amounts of content from their collections available to view on the net, and there are plenty of less-known names that are worth checking out too.
Today, online art exhibitions are a great way of finding new inspiration without having to leave the home. Below, is our pick of the best virtual galleries for inspiration.
The New York Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Met is the biggest and the most-visited art museum in the US. The museum has launched a digital collection. There’s a variety of sections such as:
- Met Kids;
- Primer;
- audio guides.
The digital art space gives a really broad sampling of the Met’s content and could keep you entertained for hours.
Musée du Louvre
Now you don’t need to go to the capital of France to enjoy the iconic art stored in the Louvre. A whopping 490,000 works of art from the museum are available to view online. There are interactive maps in French, English, Spanish, and Chinese.
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art is one of the best-loved art institutions not only in New York City but in all of the US. The museum showcases American artworks from the 20th and 21st centuries. Its buildings themselves are part of the canon of great American architecture designed by European architects, first residing in a Brutalist building by Marcel Breuer (now the Met Breuer) before moving to a purpose-built edifice by Renzo Piano in the West Village.
Today, visitors to its website can browse over 25,000 artworks, ranging from photographs, film, books, paintings, textiles and performance art.
The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
The Smithsonian is the world’s largest research and museum complex. The institution has a pretty awesome digital art space. Its visitors can ‘walk’ around three floors of the museum, checking out rooms such as the Hall of Fossils, Insect Zoo, and Geology.
Singulart
Singulart is one of the art galleries that are based exclusively online. It focuses on increasing inclusivity in the arts, noting that nearly half of the works on display are by women artists, an average of just 11% in U.S. museum collections. One of the best virtual galleries also has its own awards to highlight emerging artists.
Google Street Art Project
The Google Street Art Project provides digital art space via Google where you can view some of the world’s most amazing street art. One of the most stunning online art platforms occupies a bit of a no man’s land between the public realm and the gallery, transforming the urban space into something of an ephemeral outdoor art museum. Street art can offer a window into the culture, history, activism, and movements of a society. Some of the walls, cities, and projects that appear on the Street Art Project even come with audio guides that tell you the stories behind the walls.
