Last April Google announced the largest ever addition of museums and works of art to the Art Project. Since then, 15 million users have enjoyed the paintings, sculptures, street art and photographs as well as testimonies of the material culture of all the civilisations that have populated the earth throughout history. And from today, users will be able to enjoy 29 more museums from 14 countries.
A wide range of institutions worldwide, small and large, are represented, so that the user can explore contemporary art from all over the world. Istanbul Museum of Modern Art, admire the pieces of the Art Gallery of South Australia (who has contributed nearly 600 works) or access to the treasures of the famous Palazzo Vecchio in Italy.
In Spain, the following have just joined the initiative Archaeological Museum of Alicante (MARQ) and the Lázaro Galdiano Foundation.
The Archaeological Museum of Alicante MARQ begins its participation in Google Art Project with 80 pieces, including a fragment of a bronze hand found in the forum of the Roman city of Lucentum, the head of a mythical animal in stone, a small terracotta representing a Carthaginian warship (birreme), a decorated gold plate from the end of prehistory, a collection of Islamic bronzes and the popular art of Alicante on ceramics.
According to the director of MARQ Manuel Olcina "this selection of pieces shows the rich archaeological and historical heritage of the lands that today make up the Province of Alicante, they are testimonies of human activity, its achievements, its ideas and its cultural universe from prehistoric times to the present day".
Likewise, in the opinion of the Museum Manager, Josep Albert Cortés, "the MARQ is going to offer the possibility of bringing Alicante closer to the world through Google, opening up the Alicante museum not only to all Internet users but to all those who can visit the Alicante Costa Blanca and enjoy the cultural offer that the MARQ and its archaeological sites have to offer".
From the Fundación Lázaro Galdiano, Director Elena Hernando Gonzálo comments: "This year marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of José Lázaro (Beire, 1862-Madrid, 1947) and we want his enormous work as a bibliophile, publisher and art collector with an international reputation to be known. For this reason, the Fundación Lázaro Galdiano joins Art Project to share and disseminate the quality, richness and diversity of this great Collection. A visit to the Museum, housed in his Madrid residence, the palace of Parque Florido, is a pleasant experience to leave the rush behind, take a journey into the art of times past and pay homage to a man who dedicated his life to surrounding himself with beauty. You are most welcome.
Among the most relevant works included in the project are: "Aquelarre", by Francisco de Goya, "Meditaciones de San Juan Bautista", by El Bosco, "Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda", by Federico de Madrazo, "Libro de descripción de verdaderos Retratos, de Ilustres y Memorables varones" by Francisco Pacheco or "Espada" by Giacomo Magnolino.
Now, the total number of pieces online is more than 35,000 and we have included new ways for internet users to enjoy art, such as the possibility to compare and examine two pieces at the same time and see how the artist's style has evolved over time, observe how cultures can have similar tendencies or delve into two parts of the work at the same time.
One example is the comparison of the sketch of the work by Winslow Homer's"The Life Line" of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design MuseumThe complete works of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
But the user can also:
- Browse content by artist name, artwork, art type, museum, country, collections and period.
- Share and comment on favourite works via Hangouts, with Google+.
- Take a tour inside 46 museums from the project website or directly with Street View on Google Maps.
- Discovering overlooked details. More than 30,000 works have been digitised in high resolution and now reveal all the small elements of each brushstroke that the human eye alone cannot perceive.
- Create your own collection by adding comments on each work and share it with whoever you want.
Find more information about Art Project at YouTube and on the website of Google +
