The art world took a tumble last spring when Covid-19 emerged. Museums and galleries across the world closed their doors and exhibitions were canceled. A year later, as museums slowly begin to reopen doors as restrictions relax, art lovers have much to look forward to. Not only will we be able to visit the museums we are missing, but there will be five new museums to look forward to visiting as well.
The Big Apple
In March, a new art museum emerged in one of the cities that is considered one of the top ten cities for art lovers. Thanks to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Frick Madison has opened on Madison Avenue. The Frick Collection is housed in the Marcel Breuer-designed building that was former home to the Whitney Museum of American Art. The collection will be under the Madison Avenue roof for the next two years. This is the temporary home for the collection during the period of renovation taking place at its historic location on seventieth street.
The Frick Collection is a significant collection of highlights from the permanent collection. It’s arranged in chronological order and by region. In addition, the Frick Madison offers visitors a reading room with full access to the resources of the Frick Art Reference Library. The room is available by appointment for researchers and anyone seeking to discover the rich art historical resources of this illustrious reference library. As many museums are following protocol and guidelines, entry is timed and tickets should be reserved in advance. Memberships are available at many levels from individual to Patron Fellow which entitles members to attend special dinners celebrating the opening of an exhibition.
The City of Light
In late January of this year, the Bourse de Commerce — Pinault Collection opened. The museum was the result of prominent French businessman Francois Pinault’s twenty-year plan. Pinault had a dream to build a private museum for his personal contemporary art collection. After a year of the city’s art museums and galleries being closed, Pinault opened the doors of the Bourse de Commerce.
The 1st arrondissement will be home to Pinault’s collection. The city’s modernized and recently restored building that was formerly a stock exchange will house the collection. Quite fittingly, the building is positioned between the Louvre and the Pompidou Center. The building itself was rehabilitated by famed Japanese architect Tadao Ando. One of the most notable sights will be the thirty-foot concrete cylinder inside the building that will be the Bourse’s main exhibition gallery. France’s former minister of culture Jean-Jacques Aillagon believes "The Bourse de Commerce will be this unexpected and surprising museum of contemporary art, showing art as it is made and thus reflecting the current state of our world."
Home of the Largest Pyramid in the World
Southwest of the capital city of Cairo is the plateau Giza in Egypt. Most famous for serving as the crypt for the royalty of the old kingdom of Egypt, Giza is home to the largest pyramid in the world. This coming summer, sometime in June, the city will also be home to one of the largest museums in the world. The museum has been in the works for close to ten years at a cost of what translates to one billion American dollars. The Grand Egyptian Museum will also be known as the GEM or the Giza Museum. It was designed by Heneghan Peng Architects and the lofty museum will encompass over thirty-five hundred years of the country’s history. It will be home to more than fifty thousand artifacts. One of those will be the complete famed Tutankhamun collection. For those enamored of Tutankhamun, the GEM will display pieces never displayed before.
The GEM has been touted as the largest archaeological museum in the world and sits on fifty hectares or approximately one hundred twenty-three acres of land. The museum is less than two miles from the Giza pyramid complex and an essential part of a new master plan for the Giza Plateau. One of the most exclusive aspects of the museum is its use of the level difference in its construction of a new edge to the plateau. The edge is defined by a veil of luminous stone that transforms from day to night. While the GEM was opened for a brief period two years ago, it was shut down as throngs of tourists slowed construction that was underway. Covid delayed its original opening date from 2020 to June 2021.
Asia’s World City
The nickname ‘Asia’s world city’ is often used to describe a city known for its glamour and luxury shopping. By the end of 2021, Hong Kong will also be home to a new museum, the M+. The museum of visual culture will be situated in the West Kowloon cultural district. The museum will dedicate itself to the 20th and 21st century visual art, architecture, and moving images of Hong Kong, Mainland China, and other locations in Asia.
M+ will take its place as one of the largest museums in the world. It will exhibit modern and contemporary visual culture through its three cinemas, lecture theatre, learning hub, and live performance spaces. Visitors and tourists will be able to dine in multiple restaurants and cafes, several with roof terraces and view of Victoria Harbour and the Hong Kong skyline. The marathon like plans included sixty-five thousand square miles at a cost of more than two billion American dollars. M+ will house a collection of more than eight thousand objects and forty-seven thousand archival items. The museum intends to rival the Tate Modern and Museum of Modern Art in New York City. After five long years, physical construction has been completed and internal design endeavors are the focus, including installing the collection and plans for an elaborate celebratory opening of its doors later this year.
Land of the Midnight Sun
Nicknamed the Land of the Midnight Sun, Oslo, Norway is famous for its nautical and Viking history. The largest city in Norway it is also famous for its museums and this summer will open the doors to its newest museum, The New Munch Museum.
Oslo will see the opening of the world’s largest collection of art by Edvard Munch in Oslo’s harbor this summer. Munch is one of the most famous Scandinavian painters of the early 1900s. Munch was famous for his paintings, drawings, and photography. With his work he achieved a prominent position in the international art world, becoming a critically acclaimed artist in art history. Prior to the New Munch Museum, Munch’s work was wedged into a small building east of Oslo. The new museum will consist of thirteen floors where close to twelve hundred of Munch’s paintings will be highlighted. Many of these works will be exhibited for the very first time. The New Munch Museum is said to become one of the world’s largest institutions dedicated to one artist alone. It is set to become part of Oslo’s famed waterfront skyline in Biorvika, built by Estudio Herreros. Oslo is known for being an eco-conscious city and the Munch Museum will cement that with its recyclable concrete and steel elements and a façade of perforated, translucent aluminum. The new urban development is where the Oslo Opera House is situated as well.
As the world begins slowly reopening after a year that tested museums and galleries everywhere, there will no doubt be changes to get used to. But one thing we have learned is that despite the obstacles a pandemic year has put in front of it, the art world will continue to thrive and adapt. There will always be art to see somewhere and somehow.
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