My escapades at Art Museums abroad! || ALG-O-Rhythm Magazine

My escapades at Art Museums abroad!

Writer: Maitreyee Rajput
Email: maitreyee.rajput@gmail.com

It’s actually a pretty funny incident that got me hooked on visiting the museums whenever I was travelling overseas. It was back in 2017, I was in London on my first ever trip to Europe. The day started out on a glorious note and I left from my Airbnb with a map of the famous London tube in my pocket. Drinking up the city’s views with my eyes as even a coffee was damned expensive there and I had recently quit my decently paying corporate job, I reached Trafalgar Square by late afternoon. And London’s famous or shall I say infamous, weather decided to show me its colours. The sky grew darker and it started drizzling in no time. I had to look for a shelter as I had left my Airbnb without paying any heed to the owner’s advice of always carrying an umbrella. And then, I saw a line of people moving towards the gate of an impressive building. As it’s said, when in doubt, follow the crowd - so, I quickly made it to the queue.  And there it was – The National Art Gallery and it read “Free Admission” …Whoop!!! It surely was one of the very few places which did not charge an entry fee. I stepped in quickly and was particularly pleased with myself for having found such a nice shelter from the rains. Once inside, I started the tour of the museum and in a short span of time, I really started enjoying it.  The gallery had over 2000 paintings of many great artists, some of which are over 800 years old. I still vividly remember quite a few of the paintings housed there. A life size painting of the racehorse painted by George Stubbs is surely one of them. I even now remember the glistening skin of that magnificent creature ready to gallop. There were a few turners with their bright Sun breaking at the horizon.  Also, there were quite a few masterpieces by Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci (I particularly remember ‘Virgin of the Rocks’), Millet, Vermeer, Rembrandt. The museum had proudly hosted few of the iconic and famous paintings by Van Gogh. I remember entering into a dedicated chamber where Van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’ and ‘Van Gogh’s Chair’ were modestly displayed and being profoundly shaken with the simplicity and the character that was poured into these paintings. Although it was the first day of my visit to the gallery, it surely wasn’t the last. I was in London for about 10 days and every evening, I visited the gallery and now it wasn’t because it was raining. I would drop my baggage at the cloak room, rent the audio guides and roam around in the various chambers of the museum as my heart willed. And there it began - my fascination with Art Museums.

The next time I was in Europe, I was in Paris for a couple of days. I had already booked my tickets for the Louvre. It was my dream to be standing in the largest art museum and the home of ‘Mona Lisa’ or ‘La Joconde’, as they say in French.  The sight of the Louvre with the glass pyramid is a sight to behold. The museum hosts a plethora of collections from various antiquities, sculptures, decorative art and paintings.  When I entered the museum, I could feel that the time I had on my hands was too short as I just had a day. Jumping directly to the collection of paintings, I made my way to Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Virgin on the Rocks’ and I was thrilled to see the different version of the same painting I had seen in the National Art Gallery at London. Seeing two paintings of this genius artist which had identical composition but different details, housed in two different countries was surely a great experience. 

In the museum, I could also see a handful artists working on recreating the paintings displayed on the museum walls. The visitors in the museum would gather around them to see their work, however, ensuring that their presence did not disturb the artists. 

All the paintings in the museum were tagged with details about the painter and the painting, though they were entirely in French and of little help to me since my knowledge of French started with ‘merci’ and ended with ‘beaucoup’. The audio guides were also available with various language options which was really helpful.

The visit to the Louvre made me exhausted with so much to walk and so much to see. A day there was definitely not enough. I left the museum with a plan to come back there again, though I’m yet to do so.

One thing that struck me particularly on every occasion I visited art museums abroad was the discipline and the decorum that was displayed by everyone, be it the museum staff or the visitors. The reverence for the art was shown and felt in the air there. Whenever I was observing any painting, the visitors behind me would stand in the queue silently without disturbing my pace and I was expected to show similar courtesy. The paintings were displayed and could be viewed from a really short distance. And only for ‘Mona Lisa’, I remember there was a significant distance maintained between the painting. It was displayed in the huge protective glass case and there was a section from where the visitors were allowed to look at the painting. The museums also had many seasonal exhibitions where the paintings loaned by other galleries/patrons were displayed. Wherever any section of any artist was being restored, adequate notice of the same was given at the museum entrance/museum website. I could always see an effort being made to make visitors experience worthwhile.

I believe that it is this culture of valuing, conserving and proudly displaying the nation’s heritage, be it nature, be it historic monuments or be it art, that needs to be inculcated in every society. This would definitely encourage us to admire and respect art, if not become an artist.