Google Does It Again

A certain someone who shall remain nameless constantly makes fun of me for "drinking the Google kool-aid" and buying into every single one of their products.  How is this possible, you ask?  Well, I use: GMail, Blogger (obviously), Picasa, I'm writing this using Chrome, I have an Android phone, and got GoogleTV for Christmas.  Basically, every portion of my life is integrated into Google somehow.  Good thing they aren't going bankrupt any time soon. Hey Google, if you want to pay me to be a walking billboard for you, I'm totally in.

The latest portion of my life that Google has invaded is my love for art!  Google Art Project was released yesterday and is probably one of the coolest web-based galleries that I have come across in a very long time.  Art Project enables the whole world to view thousands of notable pieces of art from some of the greatest art collections and museums. Not only can you view these paintings from a regular distance, you can zoom in on the 7 gigapixel images(!) to see every last brush stroke and crack in the aged paint.  Then, with the click of a button, you have left the Museum of Modern Art in NYC (MoMA) and are now inside of the Palace of Versailles in France. Google also included their street view technology that enables a virtual stroll through any museum included in the project.   I love this.

I never would have expected that the general public would be able to view these masterworks in such great detail. I absolutely love the fact that you can zoom in so precisely that you are able to see places where the canvas was left bare. Beginning and advanced painters alike will learn so much from studying the paint strokes of these masterful artists at this level. Check out one of the most famous pieces included in this collection: Vincent van Gogh's The Starry Night:

Want another Google link? Images via Google, duh.

Have you seen any great works of art in person?  Does Google Art Project compare to the real thing?  I think that it does.