Very soon art might not just be confined within the walls of a museum, courtesy the Google Art Project.
First launched on February 1, 2011, by Google with works in the Tate Gallery, London; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City; and the Uffizi in Florence, the project was lauded for its innovative and experimentative attribute, albeit earning a few sceptical raised eyebrows. After giving art connoiseurs and others alike a unique opportunity to explore 17 museums from around the world, the project has now reached India. Google, on Tuesday, announced a partnership with the National Museum and National Gallery of Modern Art, bringing the country’s premier museums into its fold.
Indian artworks like the Radha and Krishna in the boat of love from the National Museum and Santiniketan Triptych at the National Gallery of Modern Art can now be viewd by people from all over the world from the comfort of their homes via the Internet.
The works can also be enjoyed in ?gigapixel? super high resolutions thus revealing their fine-grain details beyond what is visible to the naked eye. You can also stroll through the galleries using the technology from Google Street View, and save specific views of artwork to create a personalised online collection.
Kumari Selja, Hon?ble minister of culture and minister for housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation who inaugurated the initiative said, ?In recent times, unfortunately, art has become somewhat inaccessible for a variety of reasons. A substantial body of artwork is locked up in private collections that are not easily accessible…Fortunately, technology has come to our aid and it has now become possible to access art, and information related to it, with relative ease and little expenditure And I am happy that Google Art Project has created this extensive platform that allows web-surfers to not only see high quality digitised images of art on their computer screens but also to access enormous amount of information about the art works.”
Commenting on the globalised platform the project upholds, Amit Sood, head of Art Project, Google said, ?The new expanded Art Project demonstrates our commitment to all types of art and cultures and civilisations all across the globe. The Art Project is no longer just about the Indian student wanting to visit Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. It is now also about the American student wanting to visit the National Gallery of Modern Art in Delhi.?
Art lovers can also view important artworks like M F Husain’s Zameen, Bhupen Kakkar’s Man with Plastic Flowers and also works by artists like Jamini Roy and Amrita Shergill. Urging the paricipating museums to be more robust in their drive to showcase Indian works worldwide, Kumari Selja siad, “It should be ensured that at least 10,000 artworks from each museum are made part of the initiative as soon as possible”.
Google also plans to add other institutions in India were already underway.
