American Visionary Art Museum
The Baltimore Museum of Art and the American Visionary Art Museum represent two distinctive and divergent aspects of the city’s cultural scene. Spend a fascinating day visiting both with art historian Ursula Wolfman.
Begin with a guided tour at the 104-year-old Baltimore Museum of Art, whose collections encompass 19th-century, modern, and contemporary art. Among the museum’s 95,000 holdings is the largest collection of works by Henri Matisse in the world.
The internationally renowned Cone Collection is the crown jewel of the BMA. In the early 20th century, Baltimore sisters Claribel and Etta Cone visited the Paris studios of Matisse and Picasso and began amassing an exceptional collection of approximately 3,000 objects, including 500 works by Matisse, which were displayed in their Baltimore apartments.
Opened in 1995, the American Visionary Art Museum on the Inner Harbor showcases works of self-taught artists whose unique voices set them apart from other makers of contemporary art. A guided tour of highlights of the collection and time on your own offer opportunities to explore what the museum calls their “Wonderland” campus: three floors of exhibition space in the main building, two outdoor sculpture plazas, and the Jim Rouse Visionary Center. The museum’s collection provides surprising, whimsical, and often-powerful examples of how artists working beyond mainstream traditions have defined highly personal expressions of creativity.
Lunch is included at the celebrated Gertrude’s restaurant at the Baltimore Museum of Art, which offers a modern menu that celebrates the culinary traditions of the Chesapeake region.
Fringe stop at about 8:55 a.m.
World Art History Certificate elective: Earn 1/2 credit*
*Enrolled participants in the World Art History Certificate Program receive 1/2 elective credit. Not yet enrolled? Learn about the program, its benefits, and how to register here.
