Many art museums have no choice but to stay closed to stop the novel coronavirus from spreading. Under the circumstances, museums are making various attempts to let people at home experience fascinating exhibitions.
On May 18, the official site of the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, started streaming a virtual reality video, or VR video, of the Peter Doig exhibition. The exhibition was suspended on Feb. 29, three days after it opened. Viewers can change their viewpoint, and the imagery induces feelings that cause fans to post tweets like, "I was amazed at the presence of each piece," on the museum's official Twitter account.
Many of Doig's art works are huge, some of them standing nearly 4 meters tall.
"VR is the best medium to replicate the magnitude of each piece," said Daisuke Suzuki, the chief executive officer of Artlogue, an Osaka-based company that produced the VR video. "We tried to make the video so that people who saw the visual media were inspired to look at the real thing."
"We want to let many people know about our exhibitions in whatever way possible," said Tomohiro Masuda, the chief curator of the museum.
Apparently, Doig happily agreed to the VR video when asked for permission.
The exhibition reopened at the museum on June 12.
Cameras zoom in on details
The National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo has posted a YouTube video about the exhibition "Masterpieces from the National Gallery, London," which was originally scheduled to open at the National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo on March 3 but was postponed.
The video includes commentary by curator Yusuke Kawase, the exhibition's supervisor.
In the video, the camera zooms in on Carlo Crivelli's "The Annunciation, with Saint Emidius," for more than seven minutes to accommodate for Kawase's equally long commentary on the 15th-century painting, thereby offering viewers an opportunity to appreciate the finer details they may not notice in the museum.
Van Gogh's 'Sunflowers' merchandise
There are more and more online services for art fans to purchase exhibition catalogs and related merchandise.
Products at the National Gallery exhibition, which are available on the Nitteleya Web online shop, include one that features Van Gogh's "Sunflowers."
Merchandise for the Peter Doig exhibition is available in the Maruyodo online shop. There are many fashionable products, including T-shirts that bear images of the works created by the artist for the exhibition.
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