A list of the 20 best art museums in America, including the Wadsworth Atheneum, MoMA, MFA Boston, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the top dog, the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
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Saving folks a click:
1. Metropolitan Museum of Art - New York City, NY
2. Art Institute of Chicago - Chicago, IL
3. National Gallery of Art - Washington, D.C.
4. Philadelphia Museum of Art - Philadelphia, PA
5. Museum of Fine Arts - Boston, MA
6. Museum of Fine Arts - Houston, TX
7. Cleveland Museum of Art - Cleveland, OH
8. Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) - New York City, NY
9. Detroit Institute of Arts - Detroit, MI
10. Getty Center / Getty Villa - Los Angeles, CA
11. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts - Richmond, VA
12. St. Louis Art Museum - St. Louis, MO
13. Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) - Los Angeles, CA
14. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art - San Francisco, CA
15. Legion of Honor / De Young - San Francisco, CA
16. Baltimore Museum of Art - Baltimore, MD
17. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art - Bentonville, AR
18. Wadsworth Atheneum - Hartford, CT
19. Whitney Museum of American Art - New York City, NY
20. Dallas Museum of Art - Dallas, TX
an actual “best museums” list involves merging of this list with their other list of "best small museums" (which follows).
I came here just to comment about the Menil in Houston. If you are in Houston and only have time to visit one art location, I recommend the Menil over MFAHouston. I am a member of the film society at MFAH and have seen great exhibits at the museum, but there is something magical about the Menil, which has four key buildings (when the Rothko chapel reopens), each of which has a different vibe and approach. And if budget is important, the Menil is always free to visit (although easy to donate to).
+1 Menil is remarkable—also, the surrounding neighborhood of bungalows, quite a vibe.
Thanks for adding that follow up. I'm a huge fan of smaller museums (as well as the big ones) and as a DC area resident I'm quick to recommend both Glenstone and The Phillips Collection (as well as the Kreeger, which has the additional benefit of being in a Philip Johnson-designed building that resembles a smaller Lincoln Center).
Oooh, who doesn't love a good (subjective) best list of something people feel passionate about! American Visionary Arts Museum in Baltimore gets my vote. Been 12 times; always blows my hair back. Features self-taught artists, usually without formal training, who use the creative process as self-healing and to tell their story, which is frequently traumatic. I love this place because it showcases the creative mind of others AND stirs up emotions in me, like no other place I've been to. Indeed, I became a member of Kottke just to put in my vote for best museum ... that's how strongly I love this place! As a side note, Glenstone is good; Storm King is great.
I see (through the paywall) there's also a list of the best small museums across the country. Hoping the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena and the Nelson Atkins in Kansas City are on there — they're fantastic.
There's also a list of the best college art museums.
I note the omission of the Legion of Honor and the DeYoung in San Francisco.
Sorry, there it is. Ignore that!
I just returned from a family vacation to Atlanta and I can’t believe the High Museum didn’t make this list. Their family programming and exhibit curation is wonderful.
Obvious homer bias here but I feel the AKG in Buffalo belongs on this list, it's an incredible space, especially if you are into modern and contemporary art. And with the recent redesign, the AKG is bridging the museum-community gap in a way I haven't seen anywhere else.
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