STUDY TOURS PAGE: Abroad — Around the U.S. — Around Central Texas
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STUDY TOURS ABROAD
Destinations chosen for significant art historical interest, particularly including special exhibitions and concentrations of material from the "modern" period--eighteenth and nineteenth centuries: museum collections, historic houses and other sites
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| Leonardo Monument by Pietro Magni (1872), adjacent to Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II (1877) and La Scala |
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| SPRING 2018: MILAN — Italian Art & Identity
April 3-14
[travel April 2 and 14]
The Italian peninsula was organized for centuries as many small independent states. In the 19th century, the movement toward unification, Risorgimento (“Resurgence” 1815-1870), culminated in the formation of modern Italy at about the same time as Impressionism, and Italian artists adopted modern styles to express nationality in their art; one key example is Grandi's Monument to the Five Days. The itinerary will give special attention to this dynamic as well as major historic monuments and collections ... and the world's best hot chocolate at Café Armani!
Highlights:
- Milan Cathedral, Museum and Treasury
- Santa Maria delle Grazie: Leonardo's Last Supper
- Sforza Castle, including Leonardo's Sale delle Asse and Michelangelo's Rondanini Pietà
- La Scala & Museum
- Poldi Pezzoli Museum
- Brera, esp. XIX collection, Canova, Hayez (founder of Brera Salon)
- Museo del Novecento
- Museo del Risorgimento
- Museo Bagatti Valsecchi
- Gallerie d'Italia-Piazza Scala (splendidly-restored palaces displaying a survey of 19th-century Italian art)
- Gallery of Modern Art
- Milan Cemetery, known as the Cimitero Monumentale (1818-1889)
- Excursion to Cremona (Museo del Violino)
- Excursion to Pavia (Certosa)
Sharon Hecker, PhD published world authority on "Impressionist" sculptor, Medardo Rosso, and energetic, fun colleague on an earlier Milan study tour, will collaborate with us and catalyze special access and arrangements.
Background reading suggestions:
- Ross King, Leonardo and The Last Supper
- Walter Isaacson, Leonardo da Vinci
- Anything by Sharon Hecker
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Milan tour flyer+reg form |
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| Paul Gauguin, Beside the Sea, 1887 |
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FALL 2018: AMSTERDAM: History, Art & Artists
September 28-October 7, 2018
Golden Age artists and sites, excursions, the best of Amsterdam, Van Gogh and modern Dutch artists, and a special exhibition at the Van Gogh Museum about Gauguin & Martinique (Karen's dissertation topic), organized around pictures Theo van Gogh bought from Gauguin that remained in his collection, were inherited by his nephew, and are now in the museum that he built.
8-day tour checklist (no particular sequence intended):
- Rembrandtshuis + Rijksmuseum + key churches
- Van Gogh Museum + architecture of contemporary architect, Berlage: Beurs + American Hotel
- Excursion to The Hague: Mauritshuis, Gemeentemuseum, Panorama at Scheveningen
- Excursion to Hoge Veluwe Park: St Hubertus Hunting Lodge, Kröller-Müller Museum
- Excursion to Delft to explore Vermeer sites and Porceleyne Fles, oldest blue-and-white pottery
- Anne Frank House + Amsterdam Hermitage
- Van Gogh, Mondrian, and the Dutch landscape
- Free day for personal choices, shopping
"Gauguin and Martinique" opens at the Van Gogh Museum October 5, 2018; if we can get ourselves invited to the press opening, we'll go earlier!
Late-day events: Rembrandt Walk; performance in world-famous Concertgebouw
Good background reading:
• Simon Schama, The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age (1987)
• Russell Shorto, Amsterdam: A History of the World's Most Liberal City (2013) EXCELLENT intro to A'dam and the Dutch
• Mariët Westermann, A Worldly Art: The Dutch Republic, 1585-1718 (2005)
• Kees Kaldenbach, Pilgrimage through Life: Travelling in the Footsteps of Vincent van Gogh (1990)
Flyer+registration form (at left): TOUR COST, DETAILS, DEADLINES
ALL PLACES FILLED AS OF MARCH 26; please send an email to join the short waitlist
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One-page flyer + registration form |
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| SPRING 2019--Tentative Dates May 13-24, 2019
WALES — Art, History, and the Paths of Celtic Saints
Explore castles and crosses, the art and architecture of the early monasteries, and major art collections and sites of legend, complemented by gentle walks along scenic roads revered as the pilgrimage routes of Saint Brigid (in the north) and Saint David (in the south)
Two hotels, Chester and Cardiff
Get to know key artists (native sons) and their work:
- Richard Wilson, the first passionate enthusiast of Welsh scenery
- David Cox, major watercolorist to develop a repertory of Welsh landscapes
- Augustus John, Post-Impressionist often compared to Gauguin and Matisse, famed for portraiture
- James Dickson Innes, champion of North Wales life and scenery in Post-Impressionist style
- Frank Brangwyn, acclaimed disciple of William Morris, prolific international muralist
- Graham Sutherland, Abstract Expressionist, his work collected in a new museum in Haverfordwest
- English and Continental visitors who depicted Wales, e.g. Turner, Girtin, Sandby, and Sisley
Explore world-famous scenery and history-laden castles:
- Sublime landscape of Snowdonia
- Preseli Mountains, source of the big “blue” stones at Stonehenge
- Coastal castles (subjects of paintings): Conway, Caernarfon, Harlech
- Great cathedrals and abbey ruins: St Davids, Carmarthen
- Glastonbury (legendary burial place of King Arthur)
CITIES AND TOWNS:
Llandudno: Victorian-era holiday town, base for excursions around North Wales
Chester: Roman city made a stronghold by William the Conqueror, the most complete walled city in Britain
St. Davids: Britain’s smallest city and a revered pilgrimage destination on the scenic Pembrokeshire coast
Swansea: city of Dylan Thomas:
- Glyn Vivian Gallery & Museum: British art, especially work of Welsh artists 1800 and later
- Brangwyn Hall: 5 immense “British Empire” panels commissioned for Parliament
Hereford:
- City Museum & Art Gallery: pictures of Wales by Turner, Cox, Girtin, Varley
Tintern Abbey: among artists, a favorite picturesque ruin
Cardiff:
- National Museum of Wales: Wales history and one of Europe’s great art collections
- Llandaff Cathedral (Rossetti triptych, The Seed of David; Burne-Jones organ case)
- Cardiff Castle—Roman garrison to Victorian fantasyland
- Tredegar House, XVI-century country mansion and gardens
- The St. John’s Bible scriptorium, producing the first handwritten, illuminated Bible commissioned in 500 years
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| Jonathan Adams, Millennium Center opera house, Cardiff |
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| STUDY TOURS ABROAD: Additional Destinations in the Works
German Art & History Along the Mighty Rhine
Cologne to Munich, possibly via cruise
Ireland of the Celts
Castles, monasteries, libraries, and museums with focus on the sites and monuments resonant of the times of the Celts and Celtic reverberations in later times
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| Book of Kells, c. 800 (Trinity College, Dublin): Book of John, incipit |
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TOURS AROUND THE U. S.
Long weekends in spring and fall, with focus on major art collections and historic architecture
Group arrangements include historic hotels and special receptions
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| Ever Rest, Home & Studio of Jasper Cropsey, Hastings-on-Hudson |
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| SPRING 2018 -- by popular demand, repeat of the 2008 tour!
FRIENDS OF THE NEILL-COCHRAN HOUSE MUSEUM STUDY TOUR #14
(May 14-19, 2018)
"Great Houses of the Hudson River"
A study tour emphasizing historic house museums, art and architecture
Thematic Highlights:
Hudson River School:
• Metropolitan Museum of Art and Albany Institute of History and Art
• Motifs--Tarrytown, West Point, The Catskills
• Studios--Samuel F. B. Morse, Jasper Crospey, Thomas Cole, Frederic Church
Historic Houses:
• Morris-Jumel Mansion (GW's HQ during Battle of Harlem Heights, oldest house in Manhattan)
• Gracie Mansion (official mayoral residence since 1942)
• Sunnyside (home of Washington Irving)
• Boscobel (superb Adamesque house and grounds, 1804)
• Edgewater (former home of Gore Vidal)
• Vanderbilt Mansion
• Springwood FDR Mansion and Presidential Library and Museum
Lovely historic hotels and special meals, including a dinner at the Culinary Institute of America
Arrangements by Karen Bluethman Heart of Texas Tours on behalf of the Neill-Cochran House Museum
Deposits have been received for all places; send an email to join the waiting list
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2018 Hudson River Tour flyer+reg form |
DAYTRIPS in Central Texas
Chartered coach transportation, lunch, museum admissions, snacks, handouts.
Your check is your reservation.
A note to daytrip friends:
Cancellations because of illness, etc., are understandable; however, a flurry of last-minute cancellations can make it impossible to meet the budget. Same-week cancellations may not be eligible for refunds. You are always welcome to give your place to a friend.
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| Elie Nadelman, Man in the Open Air, 1926 |
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| SPRING DAYTRIP: Fort Worth Art Museums
Saturday, April 28, 2018
Time for The Kimbell and the Modern, with a seated luncheon at Café Modern
Complete details and registration information on the flyer at left.
ALL PLACES FILLED. To join the short waiting list, send an email: karen_pope@mac.com
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April 28 FW Daytrip |
| SPRING DAYTRIP: Washington-on-the-Brazos
Tuesday, March 20, 2018
A daytrip devoted to Texas history:
• Star of the Republic Museum
• Independence Hall, “birthplace of Texas”
• Barrington Living History Farm, c. 1850
• Original home of Anson Jones, last President of the Republic
Arrangements include chartered coach transportation, admissions, gratuities, lunch, snacks, and a contribution
to the Neill-Cochran House Museum (Abner Cook, 1855)
All details on the flyer at left. SPOTS STILL AVAILABLE!
Register @ https://nscdatx.z2systems.com/np/clients/nscdatx/event.jsp?event=9&
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Washington-Brazos daytrip flyer |
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