Google's Art Project Finally Takes Off

When it launched in February of last year by providing online access to the collections of 17 museums in nine countries, the Google Art Project broke new ground. And yet, while promising, there it sat, more a proof of concept than a satisfying experience. As the months went by it increasingly seemed that the Art Project was destined to simply fade away.

Happily, that was not to be its fate since Google has now given it a massive expansion by including 151 museums in 40 countries (although the Louvre is still absent), with 46 of the 30,000 images available in "gigapixel" photo-capturing technology, which lets you zoom in to the brushstroke level; try that in a gallery without setting off the security alarms. New Explore and Discover tools make it easier to find and browse the works, with a My Gallery feature allowing you to build a personalized gallery from the images that you can comment and share, with integrated Google+ and Hangouts adding to the mix. Let's hope this time Google keeps the Art Project expanding, so it can fulfil its potential.