5 Top Art Museums You Never Knew Existed

Everyone has heard of prominent art museums such as the Louvre, the Smithsonian, and the Tate, but many other fine museums receive little or no mention in books and magazines. We thought it would be fun to bring you a few that you’ve probably never heard of.

Saatchi Gallery, London, England

Courtesy of Saatchi Gallery

The Saatchi is Britain’s leading contemporary art museum, and its mission is to bring art to the widest audience possible. Owned by philanthropist Charles Saatchi, it opened in 2008 in Chelsea and features young artists as well as others whose work has not been widely exhibited in the United Kingdom.  

Previous exhibitions have included modern sculpture and installations as well as Middle Eastern and Indian art, and have shown artists such as Andy Warhol, Rachel Whiteread, Anselm Kiefer, and Frank Stella.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Los Angeles, California

Courtesy of Los Angeles County Museum of Art

The largest art museum west of Chicago, LACMA boasts more than 100,000 works. Featuring works from 3500 BCE to the present, the history of art is well represented in LACMA’s seven-building complex. A true multicultural treasure, the museum houses some of the finest Islamic, Asian, and African art in the world.

In addition to paintings and relics, LACMA features photography, print and drawing, costume and textiles, and decorative design collections. Artists include Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Pablo Picasso, and Camille Pissarro.

Art Gallery of Ontario, Canada

Courtesy of Art Galley of Ontario

With 68,000 works in its permanent collection, the AGO houses a massive collection of Canadian art as well as works from the Impressionist, Expressionist, Italian Renaissance, and Baroque styles. Its Henry Moore Sculpture Center is the most extensive public collection of Moore’s art. In addition, the AGO prides itself on its exhibitions and is currently showing the art and film of Julian Schnabel and the prints and watercolors of Frans Masereel.  

National Museum of Fine Arts, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Courtesy of National Museum of Fine Arts

With over a million visitors a year and 34 exhibit halls, Buenos Aires’ National Museum of Fine Arts is Argentina’s principal art museum and contains close to 13,000 major and minor works. The museum’s ground floor holds an international collection of paintings from the Middle Ages to modern day, and the second floor houses a variety of sculpture and photographic art.

Artists include Paul Gauguin, Van Gogh, Edgar Degas and Claude Monet, and prominent Argentinian works include “The Repose” by Eduardo Schiaffino and “The Soup of the Poor” by Reynaldo Giudici.

National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia

Courtesy of National Gallery of Victoria

Founded 150 years ago, the National Gallery of Victoria is the oldest and largest public art gallery in Australia, with the widest variety of art. Its collection includes the works of Old Masters such as Rembrandt and Rubens, Egyptian artifacts, Australian native art, Greek vases, and photography. It also regularly features exhibitions of other art forms such as fashion and modern light installations.

In 1986, Picasso’s “The Weeping Woman” was stolen by a group called the “Australian Culture Terrorists” and returned a week later.

While writing this blog post, we found dozens of art museums in places ranging from Cleveland, Ohio to Limerick, Ireland. The next place you travel is likely to have an art museum with a surprisingly significant collection.