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Art museums are some of the most recognizable cultural institutions worldwide. No matter what country you’re from or how familiar you are with art, you’ve probably still heard of a few famous museums and the pieces that they contain. 

If you’ve ever dreamed of seeing some of the world’s most iconic art up close and in person, here are some of the top art museums in the world.

The Louvre – Paris, France

It’s almost impossible to write an article about the most incredible museums that the world has to offer without mentioning the Louvre. This palatial museum is one of the most recognizable museums on the planet, having been featured in literature and film for decades. The Louvre houses over 380,000 individual works, many of them iconic features that are recognizable to even the most casual art fans. Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa sits center stage, but it also houses masterpieces such as Eugene Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People, which is instantly recognizable.

The Museum of Modern Art – New York, NY, USA

New York City’s premier art museum holds some of the most reproduced works in the entire world – Van Gogh’s The Starry Night, Dali’s The Persistence of Memory, and works by Andy Warhol, Frida Kahlo, and Picasso. The museum’s collection is constantly evolving, and it currently houses roughly 200,000 works.

State Hermitage Museum – St. Petersburg, Russia

This massive six-building museum complex is a historical artwork on its own, but it also houses the largest collection of paintings in the world. The collection contains a whopping three million items, though only a fraction of these is on permanent display. Still, you can marvel at works by Rubens, da Vinci, Picasso, Cezanne, Goya, Camille Pissarro, and more, all while strolling through the museum’s marvelous historical architecture. 

Tate Modern – London, England

This museum was once a power station, but it’s been a home for some brilliant artwork since 2000. The Tate’s particular speciality is surrealism, including work by Dali, Nan Goldin, Mark Rothko, and Piet Mondrian, just to name a few. If your tastes lean toward the weird and the whimsical, then you should definitely add the Tate Modern to your bucket list.