By Crocker Staff
In 2018, the Google Art Camera and its operator spent two weeks inside the Crocker, photographing more than 80 works from our permanent collection. It took us a long time to get all the steps ironed out, but we are now officially part of Google Arts & Culture!
The platform provides an incredible opportunity, free of charge, for museums, parks, and historic sights throughout the world to share their collections digitally using Google’s custom-built gigapixel camera. A gigapixel image is made of over one billion pixels and can bring out details in artworks that are invisible to the naked eye.
Visitors to the Crocker’s collection via the Google Arts & Culture can dive deep into the restoration of Wilhelm Gentz’s Harem Taking a Walk, explore depictions of work and labor in paintings, and journey through seasonal landscapes in addition to viewing some of their favorite European and American paintings in ultra-high-definition.
A close up look of Wilhem Gentz's Harem Taking a Walk via Google's custom-built gigapixel camera. The Crocker's page includes several articles, including a brief look at the painting's restoration process.
Beyond the art camera, Google offers (for free) Museum View technology that creates travelable, 360-degree panoramas of museum interiors (to showcase exhibitions or architecture, for example) and exteriors (to showcase the landscape, grounds, or outdoor sculptures). We are hoping to take advantage of this opportunity sometime in the future, too!
So with that, we invite you to kick back, relax, and zoom in on the Crocker! You will be sure to discover details in these paintings you’ve never noticed during gallery visits, and understanding these works in new ways will undoubtedly enhance your experience the next time you visit the Museum. Enjoy!
Top Image: Alexander F. Harmer (American, 1856-1925), Vaqueros, 1906. Oil on canvas, 20 x 29 in. Crocker Art Museum, gift of Roger Christiansen and Gary J. Kinley. Image via Google Arts Insitute.
