Famous museums of the world

Travel

A look at some of the most famous museums in the world.

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City is one of the world's most famous museums. The Guggenheim's focus is on modern, contemporary and avant-garde art.

The British Museum, founded in 1753 and opened in 1759, lures more than 6 million visitors annually.

The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York City has on display a wide variety of modern art in various disciplines, including architecture & design, painting & sculpture and media & performance art.

The National Gallery of Art, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. features an impressive collection of European works of art and a sculpture garden.

The Louvre Museum in Paris is one of the world's best known museums. It had a record number of visitors in 2005 and is the most visited museum in the world. It also is one of France's most historic landmarks. The Louvre houses 35,000 works of art.

Tate Modern in London is one of four art galleries that form the Tate collection. The gallery, housed in a former power station, contains international modern art and will also collect and display work as it is created.

The J. Paul Getty Museum, housed in two separate facilities in Los Angeles and Pacific Palisades respectively, displays an impressive collection of European paintings, drawings, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, decorative arts, and European and American photographs. The museum consistently ranks as one of the most visited museums in the world.

The view from outside the new Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago in May 2009. The light-filled galleries show the Art Institute's marvelous collections of postwar and contemporary art in their full glory, including many works that have been buried in storage for decades.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art was established in 1876. It bills itself as "one of the largest museums in the United States" and has over 225,000 objects in its collections.

The famous Hermitage Museum, with its ornate facade, is home of many priceless works of art and historical artifacts. Airboats ply the Neva River in front of the museum.

The Mus e d'Orsay in Paris is another world-renowned museum. The turn-of-the-century train station, saved from demolition and remodeled, began its new life in December 1986, and since then has become one of Paris' top-ranked tourist attractions along with the Louvre and Versailles, drawing 3 million visitors yearly.

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The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City is one of the world's most famous museums. The Guggenheim's focus is on modern, contemporary and avant-garde art.

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