ART
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Art
in Miniature
ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/bulldancer |
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| Curious
how many hobbies deal with items in miniature. Perhaps it's the space
constraints
of working in all those garden sheds. Miniature painting has a long and
glorious history of course, probably dating first to the illuminated
manuscripts
that were the stock in trade of medieval monks. Despite a few dodgy
decades
after the advent of photography, miniature painting is again going
strong.
This site gives advice on materials, courses, finding a teacher and
buying
and collecting miniatures. There's also onsite inspiration in the shape
of some delightful pictures both medieval and modern. |
Art
www.wisecat.co.uk/art |
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| Whether
you are looking for details of the latest exhibition at the Royal
Academy
of Arts in London, a catalogue listing for the Louvre in Paris, a
dictionary
to explain to you exactly what chiarascuro and picture plane mean, or
simply
a guide to what's good to see on your trip to Glasgow, the tersely
titled
Art is the site to click to. Links to sites covering every aspect of
painting
and sculpture. |
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Official
Picasso web site, endorsed
by his son Claude, no less. Paintings are grouped according to people
rather
than period. There are lists of exhibitions and other events here.
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See Monet on
this site from
the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in America, which takes visitors on a
tour
through the great impressionist's life and work.
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A door to the
net for artists
and galleries. Sign up for your own site or find links to organisations
and artists
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Everyone knows
some - or at
least one of the Renaissance genius's work. Here are many more. Five
hundred
years on, the left-handed vegetarian still leaves artists,
technologists
and inventors gasping.
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San
Francisco Museum of Modern Art
www.sfmoma.org |
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| Something
of a work of art in itself, this website. The SFMOMA is one of the
world's
greatest facilities dedicated to modern art, with a superb collection
of
painting and sculpture. Enter the website and you are faced with a
minimalist
white page, with fast-changing shots of the stunning museum building
itself,
its modernist lines looking stunning against the San Francisco skyline.
Click further and you receive thumbnails and rubrics on the collection
itself. |
British
Museum
www.british-museum.ac.uk |
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| The
home page 'welcomes you to one of the greatest museums in the world',
and
anyone who has marvelled at the Bloomsbury leviathan's unrivalled
collection
of artworks Classical and modern, from prehistoric and Roman coins,
through
medieval carvings and Oriental antiquities won't argue with that. This
is an excellent site in its own right, crammed with essays and
pictures.
If you're planning a visit to the museum itself, start your planning on
the Internet. |
The
Glass Painting Specialists
www.glasspainter.demon.co.uk |
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| Stained
glass was once the sole preserve of medieval monks labouring away in
damp
cloisters but time, and technology move on. Professional glass painter
Jane Dunsterville has expanded her work with conventional stained glass
to include research into making the whole process easier, cheaper and
more
accessible to beginners. This site is the fruit of her labours. Be
inspired
by examples of Jane's own work, including her professional commissions,
featured on the site, and take a look at what others have come up with
in the Gallery section. |
Inside
the Louvre
sunsite.doc.ic.ac.uk/wm/paint |
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| Excellent
preparation for a visit to this auspicious art gallery, or simply as
education
and entertainment for those who can't make it to Paris. Inside the
Louvre
not only lists all the paintings and sculptures within the galleries,
but
allows you to take a look at them and backs up your viewing with
background
history, so there are biographies not just of the artists themselves
but
of the movements they sprung from. |
Stained
Glass Warehouse
www.stainedglasswarehouse.com |
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| Definitely
a hobby for those with a steady hand and a keen eye, stained glass
making
isn't just about producing 40ft high rose windows for the west end of
your
local cathedral, but crafting miniature gems to sit proudly on the
mantelpiece.
This site appears to have been constructed by someone with an
over-fondness
for sky-blue and purple, but we'll let that pass. An excellent source
of
raw materials, and at reasonable prices. Design ideas abound, and the
best
feature is the stained glass search engine, routing you straight to the
pick of the sites worldwide. |
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ART MUSEUMS
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By offering
affordable posters
and detailing information on art galleries across the globe, this
impressive
site successfully appeals to the art enthusiast as well as those who
don't
know their Hirst from their Hogarth. There is a guide to art movements,
biographies of leading artists and recommended reading lists. All
featured
exhibitions have pictures and descriptions so you don't have to keep
leaving
the site.
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The
Louvre
www.louvre.fr |
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| Don't
worry, there's an English language version of this website from the
most
famous of French art galleries. This is an impressive resource
including
lots of fast loading thumbnail images of the major works stored in the
Parisian gallery (you just click on the images to pull up bigger more
detailed
pictures). If you want to familiarise yourself with the layout of the
Louvre
before you take a trip over there give the virtual tour a whirl - it
takes
in the obligatory Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo exhibits. All the
sections
of the site are splendidly presented with plenty of images from each of
the seven main departments in the gallery. |
The
Museum of Modern Art
www.moma.org |
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| Even
if you can't afford the trip to New York to visit this museum take some
time out to have a look at The Museum of Modern Art's excellent
website.
The design is fabulous and incredibly stylish. Exhibitions are backed
up
by plenty of online information as well as discussion areas and
photographs
of the exhibits. The online store is a shopper's delight, full of
interesting
and unusual gifts if you want to wield your credit card. Or if that all
sounds a bit pricey you could always send a free electronic MOMA
postcard
to a friend, featuring an image from the museum. |
Art.com
www.art.com |
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| Art.com
is first and foremost a commercial site that sells prints, posters,
photos
and lithographs, but it's also a great resource for art lovers. The
reference
section is impressive and includes a history of twentieth century art,
written decade by decade and giving background on the artists, images
of
their most famous works and, of course, the opportunity to buy posters
and prints of their work. The guide to museums and galleries is sadly
restricted
to the US but the dictionary of art terms is relevant no matter where
you
are. And it's worth taking time out to browse through the art work for
sale - you're bound to end up buying something from this massive
collection. |
Van
Gogh Museum
www.vangoghmuseum.nl |
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| This
gorgeous looking site is packed full of images from the Van Gogh Museum
and, thankfully for us, is presented in English as well as Dutch. This
museum in Amsterdam is home to the world's largest collection of works
by Van Gogh (including 200 paintings, 500 drawings and 700 letters).
Many
of the most famous works are reproduced on the site along with works
from
other 19th century artists including Gaugin and Toulouse-Lautrec. Art
historians
should make the excellent Van Gogh's Life and Times section of the site
their first stop. |
Worldwide
Arts Resources
www.world-arts-resources.com |
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| Worldwide
Arts Resources is a massive art search engine providing links to
artists,
museums, galleries and art history information housed on the Internet.
This really is a comprehensive resource; over 15,000 artists are listed
in the artists' index (they're sorted by genre of art) and there are
thousands
of links to commercial and non-commercial galleries. This site makes a
fabulous starting point for any art lover or art historian who wants to
learn more about a specific artist or a period of art; you can even get
the latest arts news emailed direct to your mailbox by handing over
your
email address. |
National
Gallery
www.nationalgallery.org.uk |
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The
biggest and most famous gallery in the country, the National Gallery in
Trafalgar Square will take you at least a day to see on foot and the
same
could be said of this sprawling website.
As well as all
the usual practical
information, the gallery includes a stunning amount of detailed
explanations
on the works of art therein. You can also view many of the pictures
themselves
in a separate window while another fascinating feature tells you the
story
behind some of the more unusual items in the collection. |
The
Grove Dictionary of Art
www.groveart.com |
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| The
Grove Dictionary of Art is a huge work of art history and research
published
by Macmillan and costing a minimum of £275. The really good news
is you can check out the online version of the dictionary for
absolutely
free for 24-hours. Hand over your email and contact details and you'll
get a password and username in return that gives you access to 41,000
cross-referenced
articles and over 12,000 links to images of works of art housed in
galleries
all over the world. All aspects of the visual arts from prehistory to
contemporary
paintings and photography are covered in this gargantuan online
resource. |
The
Tate Gallery
www.tate.org.uk |
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| Although
the biggest Tate gallery is in London this site also covers exhibitions
on show in the Liverpool and St Ives buildings, you also get the latest
news on the Tate London expansion work in the Bankside Power Station
(due
to open May 2000). The Tate has worked hard at getting its works into
electronic
format and the web site is home to over 8,000 works of art, ordered
alphabetically
by artists. If budgets permit take a whirl around the Tate online store
and check out all manner of art-related products, from T-shirts to
stationery. |
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