A view of Rodin's Court at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh.

© Carolyne Parent/Shutterstock

North Carolina Museum of Art

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Expanded in 2010 with the completion of the stunning, glass-and-steel West Building, this superb museum stands 6 miles west of downtown. Ranging far and wide, from ancient Egypt to modern Africa, its permanent collection includes works credited to Giotto and Botticelli – albeit with ‘assistance’ – and even a 17th-century ‘Golf Player’ etched by Rembrandt. The museum also holds around 20 jet-black Rodin bronzes, and a gallery celebrating alumni of the pioneering Black Mountain College near Asheville, including Robert Rauschenberg.

Look out for Michael Richards' sculpture of a Tuskegee airman pierced by airplanes, which hauntingly prefigured Richards' own death in the 9/11 attacks.


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