Museums where the whole world opens up
Museums where the whole world opens up
We often strive to travel by plane to other countries, to other continents, to see something unusual and new. In India, many years ago, I visited the Queen Elizabeth Museum, where a huge painting by the Russian artist Vereshchagin called "Elephants" struck me with its magic: wherever you stood, it seemed that the animals were looking right at you. In London, in a free museum, you could see sarcophagi with Egyptian mummies and ancient artifacts. In Brazil, you can admire rare semi-precious stones that cost a fortune, especially in the museum at the Stern factory. Believe me, a lover of museums and travel, in New York you can see works no worse than in the Louvre and the Prado Museum in Madrid, where museums open up a whole world to you. And on 47th Street in Manhattan, you can buy unique stones cheaper than in the factories of Rio de Janeiro.
It is New York's museums that make the capital of the world a true capital of culture, a place where eras and continents meet.
The Metropolitan, or simply "the Met," is the largest museum in the United States. Its collections span five thousand years of human history. Egyptian sarcophagi and Van Gogh's paintings, antique statues and Rembrandt's canvases stand side by side. In one day, a visitor seems to embark on a round-the-world journey across eras and continents. Interesting fact: the museum's collection contains more than 2 million exhibits, and it is impossible to see them all in one lifetime.
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is a territory of bold experiments. Masterpieces by Picasso, Matisse and Warhol coexist with daring works by 21st century artists. MoMA teaches us to look at the world in a new way, breaking the usual boundaries of perception. Interesting fact: the most popular painting of the museum is Van Gogh's "Starry Night". It is photographed by hundreds of thousands of visitors every year.
The American Museum of Natural History — The Universe Under the Roof. This museum is known to everyone for its giant dinosaurs, ocean and space halls. The exhibits reveal the secrets of the Earth and the Universe, and a walk through the halls turns into an adventure — as if scenes from "Night at the Museum" come to life before your eyes. Interesting fact: the museum's collection exceeds 33 million objects — from meteorites to whale skeletons.
Guggenheim: Temple of Modernism. The museum building, created by Frank Lloyd Wright, has become a symbol of New York. Spiral galleries lead visitors upward, revealing masterpieces by Kandinsky, Chagall, Pollock. Interesting fact: when it opened in 1959, critics called the building "too bold", and today it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Jewish Museum reveals a rich history and tradition, while the Immigrant Museum on the Lower East Side tells the story of the early settlers who built New York City.
There are museum pearls in New York, and they are not alone. The mansion of millionaire Henry Frick houses a unique collection of European paintings and furniture. Interesting fact: during the restoration, the Frick Museum was temporarily housed in a former bank building on Madison Avenue, which in itself became a cultural event. After the restoration and renovation, which cost more than one million and lasted 5 years, porcelain flowers by the magnificent sculptor, artist and architect Vladimir Kanevsky, a native of Kharkov (Ukraine), harmoniously fit in next to the masterpieces of painting. He has been creating beauty from porcelain for more than 30 years, and during these years of his work, porcelain flowers have appeared in the collections of kings and queens. Vladimir Kanevsky's porcelain peonies, made in 2024-2025, and other porcelain flowers, which were exhibited at his solo exhibitions at the Meissen Porcelain Factory in Germany, the Hermitage and the Holwood Museum in Washington, fit harmoniously with other masterpieces of art.
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, "Self-Portrait", 1658; Johannes Vermeer, "Mistress and Maid", c. 1664-67; John Constable, "The White Horse", 1819; Thomas Gainsborough, "The Honourable Frances Duncombe", c. 1777; Hans Holbein the Younger, "Sir Thomas More", 1527; Jean-Antoine Houdon, "Diana the Huntress", 1776-95.
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, "Louise, Princess de Broglie, later Countess d'Haussonville", 1845; Hans Memling, "Portrait of a Man", 1470-75; Pierre-Auguste Renoir, "The Walk", 1875-76; Edgar Degas, "The Rehearsal", 1878-79; Clodion, "The Dance of Time: Three Nymphs Supporting the Clock", 1788. No words!
New York museums are more than just collections of exhibits. They are living spaces of dialogue between cultures and generations. When we cross their threshold, we travel around the world and through time – and take a piece of eternity with us.
Marina Lagunova
