Contrasts and Bold Colors
From birth, any bold contrasts are mesmerizing, especially black, red, and white combinations. Niki de Saint Phalle’s sculptures should be perfect for that!
You might find Mark Rothko a bit unimpressive, but I think your baby will love it.
Mirrors
Once babes are a little older, say a month, mirrors become objects of great affection. Once you hit the six-week smiling mark, they are the best places to get big grins from the little cherub. So, any artwork with mirrors will be a big hit and will get lots of oohs and ahhs from fellow gallery visitors as you and your darling beam at each other’s reflections. An ideal immersive experience would be the tourist trap that is Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirror Rooms at the Tate Modern in London. Never mind Instagram selfies. This is a sensory class for your baby.
Lights and Shiny Things
This is an obvious one, of course, but anything with big bright lights, especially ones that glimmer or twinkle, will totally captivate the bambino. Kusama’s Infinity Room would tick this box, but so would any work by the minimalist Dan Flavin or lots of immersive artworks.
The exhibition of Mark Fell in London was local to me and was on my to-do list to visit with my then-five-month-old. I am 100% sure my baby adored the rippling gold foil artwork!
Mobiles and Dangly Bits
We all know about baby gyms and baby mobiles and, to be honest, some artworks are effectively just a giant version of those. If you can hold your baby beneath a moving sculptural piece, they are bound to love it. Introduce them to Alexander Calder while young!
I and my baby recently went to the Turner Contemporary in Margate. The video installations and virtual reality work by Lindsay Seers and Keith Sargent were great fun. The big silver sculpture (see the right side of the image) moves according to viewer interaction and got super close and dangly over our pram. The baby was in fits of giggles.
Baby-Friendly Cafes and Toilets
Finally, it goes without saying that most art museums and galleries have very fancy toilets and cafes. With children, this is essential. Somewhere to change a nappy and to get some refreshments is a must. Going out with a little baby can be tough, and a museum café can be a good enough destination in itself to get out of the house.