All the major online art exhibitions in the UK

From the Royal Academy to the British Library, galleries and museums have radically improved their digital offerings. Now's the time to use them
March 28, 2020
Royal Academy

Over the last few years, galleries and museums have radically overhauled their digital profile. Now is the time to dig deep. As Rebecca Salter, head of the Royal Academy, says: “While our front doors will close, we plan to be very much open to you online.” Browse their podcasts and videos—including the rare clip of Picasso drawing from Henri-Georges Clouzot’s 1956 documentary Le Mystère Picasso. 

National Gallery

The National Gallery has filmed many of its excellent lunchtime talks about individual paintings, delivered by a team of academics and curators. As a viewer, you get the best seat. And since the Artemisia Gentileschi exhibition recommended last month is out of bounds, listen to exhibition curator Letizia Treves discuss the artist.   

Art UK

Art UK’s heroic enterprise of photographing over 230,000 publicly owned artworks held in collections up and down the country—sculptures and monuments as well as paintings and prints—now comes into its own. You can browse by artist, subject, theme or genre. There are short essays, too. An entire afternoon can pass in serendipitous wandering. 

British Library

In March, the British Library launched an ambitious project to make 30 historical globes available for close-up, interactive inspection using digital technology—including Willem Janszoon Blaeu’s small star globe of 1606.