There’s so many wonderful art museums in the United States that it’s impossible to visit them all. That’s why you really need to narrow down your search to only include the best art museums in the US before you plan your next trip.
In the following guide, we will lay out each of our picks for the top ten best art museums of all time. Before we do that however, we will first address where the best art museum itself is, as well as some of the values we kept in mind when judging different museums.
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Where is the Best Art Museum in the United States?
At the risk of offending art enthusiasts loyal to their nearest art museum, we would have to say our pick for the place with the best art museum in the United States is New York. Specifically in New York city.
The museum was originally conceived by a group of French immigrants hoping to spread their enthusiasm to Americans in 1866. Still it wouldn’t be until 1870 that it actually opened to the public in New York.
In that time it has been able to accrue and maintain such a diverse variety of works, including some of the most well known exhibits of all time. The humble origins, constant growth and storied history make it hard to argue that any other place in America has
What is the Biggest Art Museum to Visit in the US
The United States is home to some of the largest and most impressive art museums in the world. From the Art Institute of Chicago at 264,000 square feet to DC’s National Gallery of Art at a still impressive 16,000 square feet.
The largest of them all however, is New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. That’s right, not only is the Metropolitan Museum of Art considered the best museum in the United States, it’s also the most robust.
How Do You Know the Best Art Museums?
Before we break down the 10 best art museums, let’s first establish exactly how we went about making our picks, as well as why we think they’re representative of what a significant portion of hardcore art enthusiasts taste–even if they might have a slightly different order, or a couple that just barely missed ours.
Any one art lover’s picks for the best art museums are bound to be as inherently subjective as art itself. Still, there are some objective factors we can place value on and thus calculate their quality.
Each of the following values were applied and carefully weighed in order to come to our decisions:
- Quality of the exhibits: Some art museums have good quality exhibits while others have excellent. When we’re looking for the best we don’t want anything short of excellent quality exhibits that preferably span a wide range of time.
- Diverse Cultural representation: The best art museums are the ones that lift the artistic voices and visions of everyone, for a more complete picture.
- Diverse artistic representation: Does the museum have an above average variety of different art forms and styles? The most comprehensive collections make for the best museums.
- The experience of the museum: This is really just anything having to do with what it’s actually like to go to the museum and explore the exhibits.
So all of that is just to say you will likely agree with our list if you share at least some of the values we listed above. Choosing those particular values is still subjective, but it gets us closer to being able to construct an effective list that will resonate with art fans everywhere. So without further adieu let’s move forward and discover the 10 Best art museums in the US. Also dive more into the list of Best Art Museums to Visit in the World.
The 10 Best Art Museums to Visit in the US
Each of the following Art museums has maintained a certain level of quality that puts them above the rest. Without further ado, these are our picks for the top 10 best art museums in the United States.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
As we mentioned previously, the metropolitan museum of art–better known as The Met–is our number one pick for the best art museum to visit in the midwest. Still, there are many more reasons to think The Met is the best museum in the United States than just because it’s the biggest.
The following aspects of The Met balance together to make it the most worthy museum on our list:
- One of the largest permanent collections: The Met contains about two million permanent, high quality pieces of art.
- Incredible, diverse exhibits: They have everything from ancient Chinese calligraphy to the ceremonial ceilings out of New Guinea. You can learn about cultures all over the world and the various subcultures all throughout the US.
- The experience is perfect: The Met is a work of art in and of itself. Along with being the largest art museum in the US, it also has true craftsmanship in its design, offering stunning views. Of course it also has all the conveniences you’d ever want as well, going as far as having a restaurant.
The Met is really a place that should be on any art lovers bucket list. In fact, it’s one that may even make it on the bucket list of those who are only kinda interested because of what a marvel it really is.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
While the museum of fine arts can’t boast being the biggest art museum of all time the way The Met can (actually it’s 14th if you’d like to know), but it does have a massive collection that makes it extraordinarily impressive.
It deserves to be on a list of the best Museums in the US because it has one of the largest American art collections in the country. They have over 65,000 pieces that include everything from mummies and ancient weapons to delicate paintings and high end vases.
They also have a wide variety of art from many diverse backgrounds. They have everything from one of the largest collections of Egyptian Art in the world to interesting compilations of many different groups. For example, The Art of America exhibit brings together works from North Central and South America as well as the Caribbean.
Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago is quite unique in that it doubles both as one of the largest museums in the world and a research institution at the same time. While this used to be more common, it’s not something you see everyday anymore. Still, when you visit you can know you’re not only in a place about the past, but the cutting edge future as well.
The collection at the Art Institute of Chicago spans a whopping 300,000 culturally and artistically diverse pieces. The pieces themselves are special because they span thousands of years of human cultural evolution.
Philadelphia Museum of Art
One of the first things you’ll notice about the Philadelphia Museum of Art is just how unique and majestic the building itself happens to be. The stone work and great pillars that greet you at the front door will wow you before you’ve even had a chance to see any of the art on the outside.
Once you get in however, you will be able to explore over 240,000 diverse works of art from many different cultural backgrounds and time periods. One of their most impressive exhibits is an outdoor sculpture garden that spans over one acre. You can get lost in all the different pieces that are available.
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Located in the United States capital, the Smithsonian Art Museum is far and away one of the most recognizable art museums across the entirety of the country.
This one really digs into the nuances of American art and how it affected and was affected by history and cultural changes. They have over 40,000 individual works of art that come from over 7,000 American artists throughout the years.
New York Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of modern art in New York is where you want to go if you want to get in on the cutting edge of expression and enjoy some of your old favorites at the same time.
The New York Museum of Modern really has a wide range of works spanning over 200,000 pieces. This is a place where you can see one of a kind classic pieces by Picasso and Van Gogh and then go on a way to check out more recent photographic art.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
We’ve already had enough museums from the east coast. Now let’s check out what’s great about the west coast.
In fact, one of the most impressive boasts the Los Angeles County Museum of Art can make, is that it is the largest art museum on the west coast.
Beyond all that, it’s really just a nice experience being there. The museum never feels too closed in because all of the works of art are sprinkled throughout a 20 acre lot with multiple buildings.
National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of art is known for having one of the largest and most diverse collections in the country. With 150,000 pieces they have everything from some of the most impressive collections of paintings from the middle ages to a special sculpture garden you can get lost in. , ultimately driving more people to come to visit than almost any other museum in America.
Like the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Gallery of Art is based out of Washington DC. Of course then, that means there is a decent amount of historical American art as well.
Cleveland Museum of Art
While it may not have as many pieces as some of the other museums on the list, the Cleveland Museum of art has some real gems when it comes to historical works. You can find pieces that go all the way back thousands of years.
Of course, they also have plenty of everything else in their still impressive 45,000 piece collection.
City Museum of Saint Louis
Developed by sculptor Bob Cassily in the late 90’s, the City Museum of Saint Louis has become one of the biggest highlights of the gateway to the midwest.
They have 5000 years worth of history spread out over nearly 35,000 works of art. The art spans across cultures and styles, leaving something for anyone.
You can even get an idea of whether or not you like what they have on their website, as they have a searchable collection.
So Really, What Do You Think is the Best Art Museum?
The best of these art museums for you may be different from the picks we made. If you’re more into American historical pieces, then the Smithsonian Art Museum might really strike a chord with you. If you love sculptures you wouldn’t want to miss the one acre spread of them at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
The point is, there’s a lot to see at all of these places. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to throw several of them on your bucket list. Then you can let us know, what do you think is the best art museum in the United States?