Gallery sights in North America
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Metropolitan Museum of Art
With more than five million visitors per year, the Met is New York’s most popular single-site tourist attraction, with one of the richest coffers in the arts world. The Met is a self-contained cultural city-state, with two million individual objects in its collection and an annual budget of over $120 million. Since completing a multimillion-dollar remodeling project that brought works out of storage, renovated the halls of 19th- and early 20th-century paintings and sculptures, expanded the Ancient Hellenistic and Roman areas and sparklingly remade the American Wing, the place is looking more divine than ever – despite operating in the midst of a financial crisis that has…
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Frick Collection
This spectacular art collection sits in a mansion built by prickly steel magnate Henry Clay Frick, one of the many such residences that made up Millionaires’ Row. The museum has 12 splendid rooms that display masterpieces by Titian, Vermeer, Gilbert Stuart, El Greco and Goya. The Oval Room is graced by Jean-Antoine Houdon’s stunning figure ‘Diana the Huntress.’
This museum is a treat for a number of reasons. One, it resides in a lovely, rambling beaux arts structure built from 1913 to 14 by Carrère and Hastings. Two, it is generally not crowded. And, three, it feels refreshingly intimate, with a trickling indoor courtyard fountain and gardens that can be explored…
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Museum of Modern Art
Founded in 1929, MoMA is one of NYC’s most popular museums, home to more than 100,000 pieces of modern artwork, most by A-listers – Van Gogh, Matisse, Picasso, Warhol, Lichtenstein, Rothko, Pollock, Bourgeois and many others. It’s dedicated to showcasing artwork based on the emerging creative ideas of the late 19th century through to those that dominate today. It’s easy to get lost in the vast collection for an entire day; if you want to maximize your time and create a plan of attack ahead of time, download the museum’s floor plan and visitor guide from the website beforehand. MoMA's permanent collection spans four levels, with prints, illustrated books and the unmissable…
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Philadelphia Museum of Art
Just two short hours outside of NYC sits one of the most historic cities on the eastern seaboard, fairly overflowing with important sites from America’s colonial days and its fight for independence. But for most people, Philly is famous for one thing and one thing only: it was the gritty city that served as a backdrop for fictional underdog boxer Rocky Balboa. Who can resist temptation to shadow-box at the top of the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, just like Rocky did?
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National Museum of Women in the Arts
The only American museum exclusively devoted to women’s artwork resides in this Renaissance-Revival mansion. Its collection – 2600 works by almost 700 female artists from 28 countries – moves from Renaissance artists such as Lavinia Fontana to 20th-century works by Kahlo, O’Keeffe and Frankenthaler. The permanent collection is largely paintings, and mostly portraits – not as rich a range as one might hope. But special collections are incredibly varied, ranging from Maria Sibylla Merian’s natural history engravings to Native American pottery.
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MassArt
This is the country’s first and only four-year independent public art college. It is one of the country's oldest art schools and – as such – was the first to grant an art degree. Originally the Massachusetts Normal Art School, the institution was part of a plan by civic leaders to promote fine arts and technology, in an attempt to ensure the state's continued economic growth.
Other parts of this plan included establishing the Museum of Fine Arts (founded in 1870) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1860).
Nowadays, there's always some thought-provoking or sense-stimulating exhibits to see at MassArt. In the South Building, the Bakalar and Paine galleries…
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Des Moines Art Center
The Des Moines Art Center is worth a look both for its interesting architecture and for its collection of modern art including American greats such as Edward Hopper and Georgia O'Keeffe. A highlight is IM Pei's sculpture garden, featuring Red Grooms' Germanic 'butter cow'. The museum stays open until 21:00 on Thursdays.
There is also a downtown branch at 800 Walnut Street (at the corner of 9th & Walnut Streets).
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Contemporary Arts Collective
One of the most established art galleries at the Arts Factory is the nonprofit Contemporary Arts Collective, which boasts high-quality, engagingly curated exhibits of works by emerging city artists. Trifecta Gallery hosts a variety of national and international artists. S₂ Art Center & Atelier produces limited-edition, fine-art lithographs using antique presses.
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Museum of Children's Art
This museum, also known as MOCHA, is a combination children's art gallery, and children's art class, where your kids can create their own masterpieces. Not surprisingly, it's a very popular venue for children's birthdays. A lively farmers market takes place every Friday morning outside the museum, making this a particularly good time to visit.
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Goethe-Institut Gallery
This esteemed German cultural centre presents temporary exhibitions of contemporary fine arts emphasizing the avant-garde from Europe and across Canada. German language courses, German film screenings with English subtitles ($5 per person), concerts and dramatic readings are also on the agenda. Check the online schedule.
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Brooks Museum of Art
At the park's western fringe, this well-regarded art museum has an excellent permanent collection encompassing everything from Renaissance sculpture to Impressionists (eg Renoir) to abstract expressionists (eg Robert Motherwell).
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Barnes Foundation Gallery
The Barnes Foundation Gallery houses an exceptionally fine collection of impressionist, post-impressionist and early French modern paintings, including works by Cézanne, Degas, Matisse, Monet, Picasso, Renoir and Van Gogh.
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Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is a prestigious academy that has a museum with works by American painters, including Charles Willson Peale and Thomas Eakins.
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Geffen Contemporary at Moca
Arty types can pop next door to gawk at the cutting-edge and often provocative exhibits at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA.
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Lower East Side Art Galleries
Though Chelsea may be the heavy hitter when it comes to the New York art gallery scene, the LES has its very own collection of about a dozen quality showplaces, thank you very much. Some have actually relocated here from Chelsea in recent years, and all are now anchored by the New Museum (235 Bowery). Participant Inc, showcasing emerging talent and hosting varied performances, was one of the places hailed as jump-starting the gallery trend here when it opened several years ago. Other popular, contemporary spaces include Gallery Onetwentyeight, Reena Spaulings Fine Art, Lehmann Maupin and the new Angel Orensanz Foundation, housed in a soaring, gorgeous former synagogue…
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National Museum of Asian Art
The dangling sculpture Monkeys Grasping for the Moon, an image of a dozen stylized primates fashioned into the word ‘monkey’ in a like number of languages (including Japanese, Hebrew, braille and Urdu) is perhaps the most impressive piece of introductory art to welcome you to a Smithsonian institution – and a reminder that you have just entered a very special museum. The Arthur M Sackler Gallery (1050 Independence Ave SW) and Freer Gallery of Art (cnr 12 St & Jefferson Dr SW) combine to form the National Museum of Asian Art, one of the most pleasant Smithsonian museums in the capital. Make sure to visit them in tandem.
This is simply a lovely spot in which to while…
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Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec
Anyone curious about Québec art needs to carve out at least half a day for a visit to this museum, one of the best in the province. There are expert permanent exhibitions that range from art and artists in the early French colonies to Québec’s abstract artists. There are also individual halls devoted entirely to the province’s artistic giants of the last century. The do-not-miss permanent exhibitions include one devoted to Jean-Paul Lemieux (1904–90) and another to Jean-Paul Riopelle (1923–2002), which includes L’hommage à Rosa Luxemburg (Tribute to Rosa Luxemburg; 1986), his largest work. The Brousseau Inuit Art Collection of 2639 pieces spanning 50 years…
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Smithsonian American Art Museum
If you only visit one art museum in Washington, DC, make it this one, technically composed of two institutions. There is, simply put, no better collection of American art in the world. Collectively, these museums are known as the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The National Portrait Gallery is, in its way, a portrait of America, seizing and interpreting the nation’s visage by displaying her multiple faces throughout the ages. The Museum of American Art, on the other hand, exhibits the beauty and vision of those figures, the external aesthetic of the humanity so eloquently captured in the Portrait Gallery. Both occupy three floors in the 19th-century US Patent Office…
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Anahuacalli
Designed by Diego Rivera to house his collection of pre-Hispanic art, this museum, 3.5km south of Coyoacán, is a fortresslike building made of dark volcanic stone. It incorporates stylistic features from many pre-Hispanic cultures. An inscription over the door reads: ‘To return to the people the artistic inheritance I was able to redeem from their ancestors.’ If the air is clear, the view over the city from the roof is great. The House of Anáhuac (Aztec name for the Valle de México) also contains one of Rivera’s studios and some of his work, including a study for Man at the Crossroads, the mural that was commissioned for the Rockefeller Center in 1934. In…
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ICA
Boston is poised to become a focal point for contemporary art, with the highly touted opening of the new Institute of Contemporary Artsin its dramatic new quarters. The building is a work of art in itself – a striking glass structure cantilevered over a waterside plaza. The spacious light-filled interior allows for multimedia presentations, educational programs and studio space. More importantly, it provides the venue for the development of the ICA’s permanent collection of 21st-century art.
Several galleries are dedicated to the growing permanent collection and the ongoing Momentum series, while others rotate, showcasing national and international artists working in…
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Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute
The Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute is a gem among US art museums. Even if you’re not an avid art lover, don’t miss it. Robert Sterling Clark (1877–1956), a Yale engineer whose family had made money in the sewing machine industry, began collecting art in Paris in 1912. He and his wife eventually housed their wonderful collection in Williamstown in a white marble temple built expressly for the purpose. The collections are particularly strong in the Impressionists. Mary Cassatt, Winslow Homer and John Singer Sargent represent contemporary American painting. From earlier centuries, there are excellent works by Hans Memling, Jean-Honoré Fragonard and Francisco de…
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Sperone Westwater
The Sperone Westwater gallery represents heavy hitters like William Wegman and Richard Long, and its new home was designed by the famed Norman Foster, who’s already made a big impact on NYC with the Hearst Building and his plans for the new Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center.
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Laguna Art Museum
With its back to the Pacific Ocean, the Laguna Art Museum is a great example of a local gallery - dedicated to supporting and exhibiting the work of local artists, past and present. It also plays a significant role in Californian art conservation and scholarship.
Laguna has an enduring reputation as an artists' haven, despite the ineluctable creep of real estate (and Republican) values. While the heady days of the 20s (in which it was estimated that artists made up half the town's population) are long-gone, this little museum keeps the flame burning. The permanent collection holds more than 5000 works by over 800 different artists, documenting Californian art since the…
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Garash
A gregarious toddler on the contemporary art scene, Garash was established in 2003 in this classic early 20th-century building, complete with original columns. Exhibitors are mainly Mexican and Japanese and tend to be in the innovative genre of Hisae Ikenaga, the Madrid-based sculptor famed for transforming mass produced modular furniture into startlingly contemporary sculpted forms (which is what many of us end up doing naturally when trying to assemble an Ikea flat pack!) and who has had a successful solo exhibition here. This is one of the galleries to participate in the annual MACO art fair, established in 2004 and held during the last week of April. This is…
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Mary Boone Gallery
Among the showcases that create the most buzz in these parts are the so-called ‘blue-chip’ galleries, including the Mary Boone Gallery, whose owner found fame in the ’80s with her eye for Jean-Michel Basquiat and Julian Schnabel in SoHo.
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