Google Unveils Thousands of Digital Paintings In Art Project.

There's no denying that Google is a little bit scary. The digital empire is spreading through the world and branding its big steaming G all over everything. Our phones, or books our street, and now our art.

As a book lover I will always see the appeal of physical books and the bookshelf shall never be banished from my abode, yet Google books is undoubtedly a fantastic tool that opens up a whole world of literatue classic and modern alike.

The same can be said for paintings. You've get to see them 'in the flesh' to truly appreciate them but then we don't all have the time or money to hop from art gallery to art gallery and thus Google steps in with its mammoth art project.

Unveiled today was a collection of artwork from 17 different museums from around the world.

Using the same Street View technology that powers Google Maps, the program lets viewers experience a virtual 360 degree tour of the gallery of their choice and select the artwork they want to explore. Some of the artwork will be featured in high resolution and all of it will have a related history attached and even YouTube videos where applicable. Fantastic!

And here's where you can really see the advantage in Google's virtual gallery-users are able to create their own gallery made up of their favourite pieces from the collections. You can tag your own comments to the art and even share your personal gallery with your friends.

The museums participating include, Altes Nationalgalerie, The Freer Gallery of Art Smithsonian, National Gallery (London,) The Frick Collection, Gemäldegalerie, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, MoMa, Museo Reina Sofia, Museo Thyseen - Bornemisza, Museum Kampa, Palace of Versailles, Rijksmuseum, The State Hermitage Museum, State Tretyakov Gallery, Tate, Uffizi and Van Gogh Museum.

And it's not just me who is impressed by Google, Dr. Nicholas Penny, Directory of the National Gallery says of it-

"The Google Art Project is a powerful example of how digital technology can help art institutions work in partnership to reach out globally, to new audiences and enable works of art to be explored in depth and with stunning clarity."

So grab a glass of wine and a laptop and your night in is sorted.

Source: Fox