How to Find Your Favorite Artwork at the Museum

Ever Wondered Where Your Favorite Painting or Sculpture is on Display? Use This Guide to Find it Before Your Next Trip to a Museum

Have you ever fallen in love with a work of fine art? Think about the art you see in pop culture: Van Gogh's painting "Sunflowers" or Rodin's sculpture "The Thinker"

Where can you go to see these pieces in person? If you do not live in a major city with a large, well-funded museum, chances are you would need to travel hundreds, if not thousands of miles to see your favorite Picasso, your beloved Rembrandt, your inspirational sculpture by Michaelangelo.

But let's say you are a traveler, or you are planning a special trip to a city that houses some fine art treasures. How do you know what museums to visit? Are your favorite works even on display in a museum? Navigating the fine art world can be frustrating - artwork travels all over the world in special exhibitions so that more of the public can be exposed to some of the finest examples by the most renowned artists. Visiting the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam does not guarantee that you will see "Starry Night", so do your homework!

Step 1 - What is the artwork you are looking for?

First you'll need to identify the artist and name of the piece you love. If you know either of those pieces of information, you are on the right track. A search on one of the major search engines will help you either find the name of the artist, or websites about the artist where you can see their works and find the one you are looking for. If not, think about where you saw the piece. Was it in a magazine, on television, or on a greeting card? Try going back to the source of where you saw it, and see if you can get more information.

If that is not possible, and you don't know anything about the piece, there are a few things you can try. First is a forum like Art Conversation www.artconversation.com/questions/. There are many free on line forums like this where you can write a description of the piece and others with knowledge on the subject can reply and help you identify works of art.

If that doesn't prove to be fruitful try a service like Askville, powered by Amazon http://askville.amazon.com/. It is a large, general question and answer forum that is checked often by people from all disciplines.

Step 2 - Where is it located?