ART MUSEUMS
1. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, MA
25 Evans Way • 617 566 1401
• Open 11am–5pm Wed, Fri–Mon, 11am–9pm Thu • Adm •
www.gardnermuseum.org
One of the all-time great private collectors, Gardner built this lovely Renaissance-style palace to display her 2,500-object collection.
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
2. Mass MoCA, North Adams, MA
1040 Mass MoCA Way • 413 662 2111
• Open late Jun–Labor Day: 10am–6pm Sun–Wed (to 7pm Thu–Sat); Sep–late Jun: 11am–5pm Wed–Mon • Adm •
www.massmoca.org
The Mass MoCA museum focuses on new work by living artists, and also stages dance, avant-garde theater, and performance art.
3. Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME
7 Congress Sq • 207 775 6148
• Open 10am–5pm Tue–Sun (to 9pm Fri); 10am–5pm Mon (end May–mid-Oct) • Adm •
www.portlandmuseum.org
A visit to Maine’s largest art museum is rewarded by the chance to admire the work of the great American landscape painters, including Winslow Homer, Fitz Henry Lane, and Marsden Hartley.
4. Worcester Art Museum, MA
55 Salisbury St • 508 799 4406
• Open 11am–5pm Wed–Fri, Sun, 10am–5pm Sat • Adm •
www.worcesterart.org
Striking Roman mosaics, arms and armor, and a top collection of pre-Columbian art from Mexico and Central America are the highlights at this small general art museum.
5. Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, NH
150 Ash St • 603 669 6144
• Open 11am–5pm Sun–Mon, Wed–Fri, 10am–5pm Sat • Adm •
www.currier.org
In addition to its emphasis on 19th-century painting, the Currier Museum’s collection embraces dynamic contemporary art as well.
6. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
465 Huntington Ave • 617 267 9300
• Open 10am–5pm Mon–Tue, Sat–Sun, 10am–10pm Wed–Fri • Adm •
www.mfa.org
Highlights at Boston’s world-class Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) include major holdings of Asian, Egyptian, and Nubian art. It also has the most important Monet collection outside of Paris.
Homer’s The Blue Boat at Boston’s MFA
7. Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA
East India Sq • 978 745 9500
• Open 10am–5pm Tue–Sun • Adm •
www.pem.org
Staggering collections of China Trade treasures, historic furniture, and Asian art and artifacts fill this soaring building by top architect Moshe Safdie.
8. The Clark, Williamstown, MA
225 South St • 413 458 2303
• Open 10am–5pm daily • Adm •
www.clarkart.edu
French Impressionists and English landscape artists are at the core of this diversified collection.
9. Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT
600 Main St • 860 278 2670
• Open 11am–5pm Wed–Fri, 10am–5pm Sat–Sun • Adm •
www.wadsworthatheneum.org
America’s oldest public art museum has New England’s best collection of the startlingly oversized landscapes of the Hudson River School.
Avery Court, Wadsworth Atheneum
10. Shelburne Museum, VT
Rte 7, Shelburne • 802 985 3346
• Open May–Dec: 10am–5pm daily; Jan–Apr: 10am–5pm Wed–Sun • Adm •
www.shelburnemuseum.org
From elaborately stitched quilts to two elaborate miniature circuses, the museum celebrates American folk art and ingenuity.
TOP 10 ARTISTS OF NEW ENGLAND
1. John Singleton Copley (1738–1815)
America’s first great portraitist, Bostonian Copley fled to England during the Revolution.
2. Fitz Henry Lane (1805–65)
Largely self-tutored, Gloucester-based Lane revolutionized the handling of light in seascapes.
3. Winslow Homer (1836–1910)
Homer is most celebrated for his vigorous Maine seascapes.
4. Childe Hassam (1859–1935)
Hassam painted the streets of Boston and the Connecticut landscape with equal flourish.
5. Marsden Hartley (1877–1943)
Hartley painted powerful abstract landscapes of his native Maine.
6. Edward Hopper (1882–1967)
While spending his summers on the coast, Hopper painted scenes full of psychological nuance.
7. Rockwell Kent (1882–1971)
Painter and illustrator Kent is best known for his stark Arctic landscapes.
8. Norman Rockwell (1894–1978)
Rockwell championed home-spun American values in covers for The Saturday Evening Post .
9. Louise Nevelson (1899–1988)
Raised in Maine, Nevelson is known for her Abstract Expressionist sculptural assemblages.
Sculptor Louise Nevelson
10. Andrew Wyeth (1917–2009)
Visual artist Wyeth is noted for the almost photographic realism of his tempera landscapes.
