A picture may be worth a thousand words, but even the shortest explanation -- in a language you understand -- will add depth to your experience.
Traveling throughout Western Europe can make one feel like they've just been through a semester or two of art history. While it's possible to make it around the continent without visiting a museum, the experience is made much richer by at least diving into a few of the best. Even those who aren't typically museum goers generally find the experience more interesting, if they follow a few guidelines.
For me, determining the "better" museums is based on a couple of factors:
1. Quality of content
2. Availability of English explanations
3. Quality of experience
Doing a little homework before you invest time and money visiting museums will drastically alter your view. Often, museums have their own Web sites which will give you a good feel for the brick-and-mortar version. There are literally thousands of museums in Western Europe, but not all of them are worth your precious time and money.
The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam is a good example of a museum that meets all of my top criteria. In addition to a vast collection of Van Gogh works, it also houses works by artists influenced by Van Gogh as well as rotating exhibits. In addition, the museum features a lovely research library with books in a variety of languages. Also, the audio tour is available in English. If a museum does not have information in English, I tend to lose interest and find my time would have been better spent reading a book on the subject.
Finally, and this can be difficult to discern beforehand, but quality of the museum experience can make or break one's visit. Although the main floor of the Van Gogh Museum was mind-numbingly packed, the rest of it was easily accessible and the content more than made up for the lines.
Not having a particular interest in art before I visited Europe, my interest was certainly piqued after a few good museum visits. I can only imagine what it's like for those with an initial appreciation of art. But do your homework. Even an art history major would have a difficult time enjoying a museum in a language they don't understand. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but even a short explanation can put the picture in context and add depth that will make or break your experience.
