Depicting a busy boulevard on a snowy morning, this 1897 work by Camille Pissarro was painted from his room in the Hôtel de Russie. Heavily influenced by some of Manet’s earlier urban works, the painting is an example of Pissarro’s short brushwork, used to capture the movement and dynamism of the busy street scene.
Abstract vertical shapes represent the crowds parading up and down the boulevard, with the carriages passing through the slushy snow on both sides of the street. Can you guess the city?
The Boulevard Montmartre on a Winter Morning by Camille Pissarro. The painting was one of a series the artist made from this exact spot, something he thought might appeal to dealers at the time. Zoom in and explore for yourself, here.
One of a series of paintings by the artist from his 1908 visit to the city, this is generally regarded by critics as showing Monet at the peak of his powers. He was staying at the Palazza Barbaro at the invitation of Mary Young Hunter and painted this scene from that viewpoint.
The painting captures the shifting appearance of the city caused by the effects of the water, using the mooring poles to counterbalance the buildings on the right of the canvas. But which city is it?
It's Le Grand Canal by Claud Monet, painted in the famous lagoon-city of Venice. Monet, however, is arguably more interested in capturing the light reflecting on the water than the architectural beauty of the city itself.
Edward Hoppers 1942 painting, Night Hawks, shows people in a late night diner as viewed through the large glass window of the building. The light from inside illuminates the empty street and is believed to depict the loneliness of a city late at night.
It's one of the most recognizable paintings in American art, the diner itself was imagined, and not based on a real location, but Hopper said it was a composite of numerous burger bars, grocery stores and bakeries he knew from his home town. Which city was that?
It's New York City, of course. Hopper was a native of Nyack, New York, about 20 miles north of Manhattan, and spent time in Greenwich Village. Explore Night Hawks for yourself here.
Arriving in this city in 1746 and remaining there for nine years, Canaletto seemed to draw as much inspiration from his adopted home as he did from Rome or Venice in his native Italy.
Unlike many of his other paintings of the city, the view is more or less at ground level and shows off the large curve of the river as it winds through the city. It provides a panoramic view of the city, although it’s safe to say it looks a little different today. But do you know where it is?
The Thames from Somerset House Terrace towards Westminster by Canaletto is one of a number of London cityscapes produced by Canaletto during his time in the UK. This view is up the river from the terrace at Old Somerset House.
How many of the cities could you identify? If you need to brush up on your urban artwork you can find out more by taking a tour of Canaletto's Europe, here.
Is there anything stranger than human curiosity? The desire to discover and learn can drive us to build some of the weirdest and most wonderful collections of… well, anything. So, to fulfil your own appetite for adventure, here's a list of the world's strangest museums.
No, this isn't actually a small square in the backstreets of 1950s Tokyo, it's the Shin-Yokohama Rāmen Museum! With a rather liberal interpretation of 'museum', the building is home to several branches of famous ramen restaurants from Kyushu to Hokkaido.
Where else, but Minnesota? It turns out the title of 'World's Largest Twine Ball' is a touchy subject. But Darwin, Minnesota, is the site of the The World's Largest Twine Ball Museum, featuring… the world's largest twine ball made by a single person.
Some stories end in happiness, others end at the Museum of Broken Relationships in Zagreb, Croatia. This unique collection draws together the objects left behind when the romance ends: pairs of shoes, unopened bottles of wine, even lint from an ex-boyfriend's belly button.
We can only hope that your underwear doesn't end up here…
Click and drag to explore.
Satisfy your morbid curiosity here in Amsterdam. For most of history, people have beheaded and bludgeoned each other in the name of justice. Trivial crimes from witchcraft to regicide were met with brutal, bodily punishment. And here you can experience it all!
Welcome to the International Clown Hall of Fame & Research Centre in Baraboo, Wisconsin. It might not look it, but it's a serious organisation, and home to all sorts of clowning memorabilia. So stop clowning around.
Scully, did you ever hear the one about the International UFO Museum in Roswell, New Mexico? The museum focuses on the famous 1947 close encounter in the nearby desert, but also features an extensive library and exhibits all focused on the history of UFO encounters.
Take me to your curator...
Over on the east coast, the cryptozoology museum in Portland, Maine collects rare, one-of-a-kind zoological specimens as well as reports of cryptid sightings and folk stories of strange creatures.
In Gatlinburg, Tennessee, the Museum of Salt and Pepper Shakers holds more than 20,000 examples of these essential items of tableware. The collection was started in 1985 by archaeologist Andrea Ludden, as a record of the wealth of creativity to be found in these simple objects.
At Leeds Castle near Maidstone, Kent, there's an utterly singular museum dedicated to dog collars. The collection was originally donated in 1977 by Mr John & Mrs Gertrude Hunt, since then, more examples, dating from the 16th-19th century, have been collared by the museum.
What is it about the English that encourages them to become such avid, eccentric collectors? In Southport, in the back of a DIY shop, you can visit the nation's foremost museum of gardening equipment.
You're only a few short steps away from entering the fascinating, high-adrenaline world of lawnmower racing, or perhaps you're keen on lawnmowers of the rich and famous? And visit the world of tomorrow; the first solar-powered robot mower!