It’s the perfect post-holiday treat for yourself: an art-filled weekend escape to Manhattan that gives you plenty of time to take in several of the most intriguing exhibits on view in three cultural powerhouses—and a night on the town to enjoy as you like.
Art historian Ursula Rehn Wolfman leads the visit, which highlights early 20th-century artists and their works. A special feature of the excursion is a private visit to the renowned Neue Gallery New York—before opening hours—to view the Ronald S. Lauder Collection, which presents selections from the collection of the museum’s co-founder and president.
The Whitney Museum of American Art’s major exhibition, At the Dawn of a New Age: Early Twentieth-Century American Modernism showcases art produced between 1900 and 1930 by well-known American modernists and their now largely forgotten, but equally groundbreaking peers. Drawn primarily from the Whitney’s permanent collection, it provides new perspectives on the myriad ways American artists used nonrepresentational styles developed in Europe to express their subjective responses to the realities of the modern age.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Cubism and the Trompe l’Oeil Tradition exhibition offers a radically new view of Cubism by demonstrating its engagement with the age-old tradition of trompe l’oeil painting. Many qualities seen as distinct to Cubism were, in fact, exploited by trompe l’oeil specialists over the centuries. In a contest of creative one-upmanship, the Cubists Georges Braque, Juan Gris, and Pablo Picasso parodied classic trompe l’oeil devices and invented new ways of confounding the viewer. Along with Cubist paintings, sculptures, and collages, the exhibition presents canonical examples of European and American trompe l’oeil painting from the 17th through the 19th centuries.
While the Neue Gallery focuses on Austrian and German art and culture of the early 20th century, Ronald S. Lauder’s personal holdings encompass a broad range of masterworks. The Ronald S. Lauder Collection includes around 500 selections of Greek and Roman antiquities, medieval art, arms and armor, Italian gold-ground and Old Master paintings, and Austrian and German art and design, many of which are on view to the public for the first time. With a focus on important additions to the core collection, as well as opening new areas of inquiry, the exhibition provides a unique insight into one of the finest private collections in the world and introduces visitors to the mindset of a passionate lifelong art lover.
Tour participants stay at the Art Deco-era Hotel Edison in the heart of the Theater District. The location is perfect for visiting the TKTS booth for discount tickets to a show on Saturday evening, which is yours to fill. An early three-course supper is included before you set off on Sunday. Price includes Saturday boxed lunch en route and Sunday breakfast and supper.
World Art History Certificate elective: Earn 1 credit*
Know Before You Go
- Cost includes bus transportation, lodging, services of a Study Leader and Representative, admissions and fees, gratuities, and select meals (1 breakfast, 1 lunch, 1 dinner).
- The tour departs by motorcoach from downtown Washington, DC with a designated secondary pick-up outside the city. Content delivered by the study leader on the way to the destination, after the secondary pick-up, is an integral part of the study tour experience. Meeting the group once the tour is en route is discouraged.
- Tour meets and departs by bus from the Mayflower Hotel, Connecticut Ave. and DeSales St., NW, with a pickup at the DoubleTree Hilton, 15101 Sweitzer Lane, Laurel, Maryland, at about 8:40 a.m.
- Smithsonian is a mask-friendly environment. Masks are strongly recommended to be worn on buses at all times and may also be required at various indoor sites.
- Single-room supplement $100 (factored into the Single Room Member and Single Room Non-Member pricing).
- Singles registering at the double-room rate are paired (on a nonsmoking basis) if possible, but must pay the single-room supplement otherwise.
- Detailed information is emailed to registrants about four weeks prior to departure.
- Participants are advised to purchase travel insurance for overnight and multi-day tours from a provider of your choice. Travel insurance provides additional coverage against unforeseen incidents that require last-minute cancellations.
- For additional tour information:
*Enrolled participants in the World Art History Certificate Program receive 1 elective credit. Not yet enrolled? Learn about the program, its benefits, and how to register here.
