Google Art Project launched this week, putting the work of art museums around the world online in a consolidated place. Using Google’s Street View technology, you can walk around the galleries and look at the art on the walls. At launch, museums include Tate Britain, MoMA, the National Gallery, the Van Gogh Museum and many more. For me though, the best part of this is the high resolution images of the artwork. You can zoom in on paintings like Van Gogh’s Field with Flowers near Alrles so far that you can see every brush stroke. Seeing images in a text book or in a standard Google search lets you get the layout of a picture. But looking at the work close up lets you see how the art was really made. That’s what I love most when I get to see art in person. Google Art Project recreates that experience when you can’t see the art in person – or when the museum is so crowded you can’t see it once you get there.

A preview of Google Art Project.

Behind the Scenes.

Read more

• Google Art Project
• Tate Britain’s experiences launching their collection in Google Art Project, and why they did it.

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1. “Please Don’t Touch the (Touchable) Art.”
2. Learning to Love You More – Miranda July, Harrell Fletcher and The Oliver Family
3. Artist Astronauts, Artist Cosmonauts, Artists in Space

Sophie Blackall is a Brooklyn based artist, illustrator of numerous books, who recently began illustrating Craigslist Missed Connections. One example:

m4w (Harlem)
Remember? Uptown A train. Sunday at around 9pm. I was the black dude reading Bukowski’s Post Office. You were reading the Arts and Leisure section. You passed wind rather loudly and started chuckling. I’d like to see you again. The flatulence wasn’t a turn-off.

View Sophie’s Missed Connections illustrations.
Visit Sophie Blackall’s website.

Buy Sophie Blackall’s illustrated books.