Dresden Closed

Picture: Wikipedia

The Dresden Gemaldegalerie is closed for construction until March 26.  Very annoying when an entire museum is closed, but at least it's only a few months.  The Cleveland Museum of Art closed for almost three years, and the Rijksmusuem has been largely closed for a decade.  The Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp and The Mauritshuis in The Hague are both currently closed for long-term building projects.  It's hard to imagine what kind of improved visitor services could justify depriving the world of these collections for such a long time; cramped and crowded 'highlights' displays just don't compensate.  The Rijksmuseum building has now been closed for nearly a tenth of its life.  Sometimes those in charge seem to forget that people come to their institutions see paintings by great artists rather than building projects by Very Important Museum Directors.