Inspiration - The Google Art Project

As I get things ready for my solo exhibit in two short weeks at the Shaw Galleries in downtown Pittsburgh, I continue to look at images both on-line and in books that inspire me to keep painting and studying art history. Of the many places available to study paintings on-line, one of my favorites is the “Google Art Project”.

Google is amazing in many ways (both good and not so good), and they have put their abundant technological capacity to great use in the Art Project. Thanks to this site we are all able to tour the world’s finest museums and get close-up views of the paintings in them, on our own computer monitors. Not only that but, there is a good amount of background info on any painting chosen. Reason enough to buy a big new Apple display!

Not every painting in every museum listed is available, but it’s still amazingly impressive. The site kicked-off last year, but new museums were added just recently. Did I mention close up views? Well I meant really, REALLY close-up views:

               Rembrandt van Rijn, the “Night Watch”, Rijks Museum, Amsterdam

        “Night Watch” - extreme close-up showing Willem van Ruytenburch’s collar.

When this site went live early last year, I wrote a more detailed post about it, which you can read by clicking here.

I can go on an on about the fantastic capabilities of the site, but you really must check it out for yourself, and wile away the hours looking and learning about some of the worlds best art!

JoeWinklerArt.com