Most of these links and reviews come courtesy of the Netsurfer Digest. To see a complete list of back issues or to subscribe to their e-zine contact the Netsurfer Digest Home Page: http://www.netsurf.com/nsd/index.html
THE WEB MUSEUM
Probably the best source of Painting on the Web - orientated to traditional canvas painting http://sunsite.doc.ic.ac.uk/wm/
UKIYO-E MUSEUM
Best source of Japanese Art I've found - can't remember the URL though - try getting it through http://www.daiwa-foundation.org.uk/
THE FINE ARTS MUSEUMS OF SAN FRANCISCO
One of the best kept secrets in California is the entity known as the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, comprised of the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum and the California Palace of the Legion of Honor. With an astounding database of over 60,000 online images at your disposal, you can find just about any image you could desire. A search using the word "portrait" called up over 200 images. Stop first at the Site Map and take off from there. A calendar of events, class offerings, and site tour information are also available. Very well organised and intuitively arranged, this site has everything the original does, except the fog. "http://www.thinker.org/index.html"
AMSTERDAM'S STEDELIJK MUSEUM OF MODERN ART
The Stedelijk Museum of Modern Art has come online with the usual calendar of events and listing of exhibitions, but one item of interest is the ongoing restoration of a Matisse print by paper restorer, Andre Van Oort. Visitors can view the restoration as it progresses and plenty of good graphics from a variety of fine artists. Just make sure you go side to side, not up and down when you're looking for photos. "http://art.cwi.nl/"
If you secretly yearn to hide behind the camera in a tiny photo booth and peek at the patrons as they snap pictures of themselves, then you'll enjoy Wade's Photobooth Gallery. Could these plain black-and-white pictures really be art? Or is it simply boring junk? With time, patience, and an up-to-date browser, you can wade through the images and personal information to make your own decision. "http://www.concentric.net/~wadet/"
Squares beware, this is a round hole of aesthetic pleasures. Slick, beautiful images inhabit a page of art, architecture, design, photography and film. From virtual mountains for rock climbers to indie haute couture, this page is a bewitching, hipper-than-hip collection of advice for becoming a slicker, groovier, all-round spunky person. Big photo spreads and a focus on independent work help make this a sexy destination. "http://www.ruse.com/"
The subject is fake masterpieces and the source is Le Musee Imaginaire. These folks are ready to sell you legal fakes of the works of artistic masters from Manet to Modigliani, but unless the JPEGs lie, these won't fool anyone who ever got an "A" in art history. There are plenty of pictures to whet your appetite for the real thing. Almost as interesting as the subject of the site is the unbelievable amount of self-congratulatory back-patting. In six languages, no less. "http://www.museeimaginaire.it/"
If snowy, windswept vistas and ice cubes hold particular beauty in your eye, try Marc Deneyer's iceberg pictures on for size. The black-and-white photos come in convenient bite-sized thumbnails so you can pick and choose which to view. Besides the Greenland iceberg pictures, Deneyer also has a few other landscapes to offer, including one from Scotland that looks just like the hiking scene from "Trainspotting", minus the wheezing addicts and the footbridge. If you want more than pictures, a working knowledge of French will prove helpful, as the little text that exists is primarily of that bent. "http://www.skynet.be/deneyer/home.html"
Belgium is noted for Hercule Poirot, Tintin, endive, and for being the birthplace of noted surrealist Rene Magritte. Containing 34 reproductions of Magritte's works, Luc Girardin's Art Gallery is a treasure trove of desktop wallpaper. The site's in French and the files are large (200 kB on average), but there are enough of Magritte's lesser known pieces stored here to make it worth a browse. A second source of Magritte paintings can be found within the WebMuseum, a collection of amazing variety and depth. The Magritte section contains 26 reproductions, organized chronologically. Girardin: "http://heiwww.unige.ch/art/magritte/" WebMuseum: "http://mistral.enst.fr/wm/paint/auth/magritte/"
STEREOSCOPIC PHOTOS - 19TH CENTURY VIRTUAL REALITY
Stereoscopic photographs are paired photographs that recreate the sensation of three dimensions when viewed through a stereoscope, and Patch American High School in Stuttgart has a page devoted to them. The lion's share of the images depict turn of the century Yosemite. Others depict scenes from World War I, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, and more period sites. Unless you have a stereoscope, or you're extremely talented at crossing your eyes, you'll have trouble experiencing the 3-d effect, but the old sepia photos are still fun in plain old 2-d. "http://192.253.114.31/Projects/stereograms/Stereoscopic_Photographs/Stereoscopic_Photographs.html"
Now here is a classic example of a true Renaissance man. Leonardo da Vinci really did do it all, as you'll see in this properly extensive online exhibit. Organized somewhat like a museum, the Leonardo da Vinci Page features everything from Leo's famous paintings (the Mona Lisa, the Last Supper, etc.) to drawings of his engineering and scientific visions. There's even a helicopter. The guy was a visionary - what else can we say? "http://www.leonardo.net/main.html"
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND ART GALLERY HAS WORLDWIDE SCOPE
OK, so it's not quite the Louvre, but the U. of Maryland gallery does offer some culturally rich collections for your online viewing pleasure. Stop by to peruse traditional African sculpture; early Chinese ceramics; mid-20th century Japanese prints; American social realist and regionalist work; U.S. government-sponsored murals from the 1930s; and 20th century prints, photographs, and paintings. New exhibits are added regularly. "http://www.inform.umd.edu/EdRes/Colleges/ARHU/ArtGal/.WWW/aghome.htm"
As you might imagine from a self-proclaimed "symposium, exhibition, resource and creation of the fine arts", this site features various art-i-facts, including art publications, works of current artists, lists of galleries, and other art, craft, and design-related sites. The main draw is a zippy and nifty Netscaped slide show of featured features - wait for what you want then dive right in. "http://www.rain.org/~scultura/art.html"
IF IT COMES FROM A CAMERA, IT'S HERE
With a Netscape-enhanced designer look, WorldCam showcases camera and film resources. Link up to world film festival sites, motion picture studios, film schools, and even a list of live Web video cameras. The screening room contains humongous (typically several MB) clips from independent productions and provides an opportunity to submit your own material. The site holds plenty of promise but the design, while creative, is slow and tough to comprehend. Try your hand at script writing by collaborating on the "World's Largest First Draft" behind the Graffiti Screenplay link. "http://www.ovd.com/"
THE SMITHSONIAN - AMERICA'S ATTIC
The 149-year-old Smithsonian Institution is prepared to celebrate a big birthday next year with a Web site so packed with neat stuff, it's almost like a trip to the real thing. The pages are a little stingy with graphics, but there's so much cool information available that it's hardly noticeable. Descriptions of all current and upcoming exhibitions in each of the many Smithsonian museums are available in digest form, as is a complete overview of the Smithsonian complex. Also on hand are the fancily titled Encyclopedia Smithsonia (a FAQ), discussion mailing lists, previews of current exhibitions, and Smithsonian perspectives on current issues. "http://www.si.edu/start.htm"
ART OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN FRONTIER
This dramatic portfolio by David Penney features Native American art from the North American woodlands and plains (circa 1780-1920). Indians from these regions designed and created beautiful objects used in a variety of ceremonies and celebrations. Highlights include colorful clothing and bags of porcupine quill and buckskin, woven sashes, jewelry, and smoking pipes. Not all the items are uploaded yet, but take a look at what they have. "http://cedar.cic.net/glrain/diapages.htm"
The Metropolitan Museum of Art arrives with a stunning site that offers a delightful experience for those not able to visit the New York City icon. The museum director's online brochure describes the entire collection and a calendar lists current exhibitions. Select a floor and room to navigate the online gallery. Each room is described thematically, and lists several images that can be examined. Images are displayed and annotated on the page, and clicking on one will summon a higher quality JPEG. The Met's famous gift shop is properly represented with a huge collection of gifts, including prints and posters, displayed in photographs. This site is simply a cultural oasis. "http://www.metmuseum.org/"
The Norton Museum in Pasadena has put part of its Great Masters collection online with lots of heavy hitters like Rembrandt, Monet, Degas, and Rodin, all nicely arranged with informative text about each painting or sculpture. There's also a representative sample of the museum's quite large South Asian sculpture. Not an extensive site, but well done. "http://www.citycent.com/CCC/Pasadena/nsmuseum.htm"
The "Christus Rex et Redemptor Mundi" Web site offers, among other biblical and religious links, a tour of one of the planet's greatest works of art: the Sistine Chapel. The collection of 325 downloadable images from the 500-year-old church beautifully depicts biblical events such as Genesis and the life of Moses. Most famous of them all is Michaelangelo's repainting of the ceiling. Obviously, this is an image/bandwidth intensive site, but the sheer quality of the paintings captured more than compensates for the download time. "http://www.christusrex.org/www1/sistine/0-Tour.html"
Trust the Canadians to come up with a National Gallery site that is clear, easy to understand, and presented in French and English. Information on the History of the National Gallery of Canada, tours, exhibitions, and events are all there. You can become a member, peruse the bookstore, or visit the Contemporary Photography Museum. All the paintings are presented in expandable thumbnails in full color. And, no, it is not all Group of Seven. "http://national.gallery.ca/"
The Texas Humanities Resource Center looks at the history of censorship of the arts since the onset of book burning in the year 1205. A dedicated and original site, it provides startling information: "Alice in Wonderland" was banned in China in 1931 because "animals should not use human language." Add to the list of banned works those of Judy Blume and the celebrated 30,000-year-old sculpture, Dolni Vestonice. This page will shock, amuse, and increase awareness of the controlling forces of censorship. "http://www.humanities-interactive.org/"
You have to, because no-one else could bring together such an amazing collection of Picasso's portraiture in one spot. Oddly, the best Web version of the Museum of Modern Art's (MOMA) Picasso exhibition isn't at that institution's Web page, it's here. Including 220 paintings and pastel/pencil drawings, this collection displays Picasso's private drawings of family and friends. The site's well organized with fairly quick downloads. Definitely worth a visit for anyone who loves Picasso, or wants to learn to love him. "http://www.clubinternet.com/picasso/homepage.html"
To function, armed forces have to make war seem more glorious and patriotic than deadly serious. Propaganda departments work overtime producing literature and images tailored to awaken the spirit of duty, honor, and loyalty to one's country. A sampling of one technique used by the US Government during the Second World War is found at the WWII Propaganda Posters site, full of downloadable versions of the posters that were used to inspire hope during the dark days of fear, rationing, and shortages. Posters extoll the virtues of buying War Bonds and of carpooling, pictures worth a thousand well chosen words. "http://www.openstore.com/posters/"
This elaborate and compelling exhibit presented by the Houston (Texas, USA) Museum of Fine Art has over 60 exhibits from ancient Egypt. Though the images are great, you must work around the poor graphic design of the pages in several places - red text on black, for instance. The page provides special information for teachers and students, and has RealAudio and QuickTime VR files of interest. "http://www.chron.com/content/interactive/voyager/egypt/tour/index.html"
If it's on your wall, it's trash. On somebody else's, it's art. That appears to be the aesthetic at Digital Jungle's Graffiti from London. It's a combination gallery, newswire, and e-zine on the London graffiti scene, with scads of photographs of legally and illegally paint-bombed trains and walls. In addition to the visual, the site features information on the various London crews, short histories of favorite graffiti sights, and latest news from the local graff community. An interview with local bomber Ser sets the rhythm and rhyme of an artful subculture where the objets d'art are often erased within days of their creation. "http://www.graffiti.org/dj/"
ERTE'S ART DECO MUSEUM
This site offers an
excellent opportunity to take a closer look at the interesting art and
life of Russian-born painter Romain de Tirtoff, also known as Erte (a
name he gave himself after the French pronunciation of his initials).
See how his distinctive flair for fashion, illustration and sculpture
emerged in the first quarter of the century and then reappeared in the
1960s. A comprehensive collection of his works is available for viewing.
<http://www.ajarts.com/ajarts/erte.html>
WEB-SPANNING ART AND ARTISTS
A project attempting
to unite various nodes of the Net in one vast tapestry is focusing on
"The bride stripped bare by her bachelors, even", a work of art by Marcel
Duchamp. The original piece, also known as "The Large Glass", consists
of sculpture and painting on a glass background. Captured as an image
map, "The Large Glass" page will eventually point to 25 separate Web sites,
each casting its unique perspective on an assigned section of the artwork.
This new means of interpreting art, while obviously not for purists, exemplifies
how the Internet medium continually redefines the way we interpret the
message. <http://caiiamind.nsad.newport.ac.uk/lead.html>
A. PINTURA, ART DETECTIVE
A. Pintura, Art Detective, is a clever educational site probably best appreciated by kids 10 and older. It introduces the work and style of several European masters (and Gauguin, too). Building lessons in art appreciation around a simple noir mystery, Pintura tries to identify a painting, comparing it to known works by Van Gogh, Titian, Millet, Gauguin, Raphael, and Picasso. The comparisons open short discussions on art history and techniques. While the site is far from comprehensive, it's thorough enough to provide a solid foundation that will allow you to tell between Renaissance and realism, or Van Gogh and Titian. <http://www.visi.com/~eduweb/pintura/>