From world-class museums to the more obscure, the Berkshires has a lot for those interested in the visual arts. Here is a sampling of the museums the region has to offer.
Mass moca
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Berkshire Artist Museum
82 Summer St, North Adams, Massachusetts 01247This museum is one of the lesser known in the Berkshires. It features the work of Eric Rudd and visiting artists, showcased in historic church re-purposed as an art museum and gallery space. It is a great way to get to know the work of some of the regional Berkshire artists.
Insider Tip: Do not neglect to check out the gallery. It holds some impressive work.
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Berkshire Museum
39 South St, Pittsfield, Massachusetts 01201Its collection includes a sizable group of paintings from the revered Hudson River School. including significant works by Albert Bierstadt and Frederic Edwin Church. The diverse collections also boast artifacts of ancient history and natural science: fossil collections, a 143-pound meteorite, an Egyptian mummy, shards of Babylonian cuneiform tablets, samplings of early Mediterranean jewelry, and representations of Berkshire ecosystems including local mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, insects, plants, and minerals. It is the repository for objects unique to the region such as the writing desk of Nathaniel Hawthorne and the musket believed to have belonged to Israel Bissell (a cohort of Paul Revere who made a midnight ride to Philadelphia to warn that “The British are coming!”)
Insider Tip: The museum has hosted some impressive collections in the past such as Gilbert Stuart, Rembrandt Peale, John Singleton Copley, Thomas Sully, Paul Cézanne, Pierre Auguste Renoir, and John Singer Sargent. Be sure to keep abreast of their visiting exhibits.
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Chesterwood
Williamsville Road, Stockbridge, MassachusettsThe summer estate and studio of American sculptor of the Lincoln Memorial and other notable works Daniel Chester French (1850–1931), Chesterwood is a hidden gem in the Berkshires, hosting an impressive museum of French's work as well as a sculpture garden. The site includes the house, his studio, and a 19th century converted barn which is home to the museum.
Insider Tip: Follow the path into the woods to the north to have a lovely walk and see some of the featured sculptural artwork.
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Clark Art Institute
225 South St., Williamstown, Massachusetts 01267The collection of the Clark features European and American paintings, sculpture, prints, drawings, photographs, and decorative arts from the Renaissance to the early twentieth century. The collection is especially rich in French impressionist and Academic paintings, British oil sketches, drawings, and silver, and the work of American artists Winslow Homer, George Inness, and John Singer Sargent. Based on the founding gift from Sterling and Francine Clark, the collection has expanded over the years through numerous acquisitions as well as significant gifts and bequests, including the gift of the Sir Edwin and Lady Manton Collection of British Art and the gift of paintings by George Inness by Frank and Katherine Martucci.
Insider's Tip: Make no mistake of it. If you are into Impressionist art, you will not be dissapointed.
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Frelinghuysen Morris House & Studio
92 Hawthorne Street, Lenox, Massachusetts 01240George L. K. Morris and Suzy Frelinghuysen, prolific abstract artists since the late 1930s, were a remarkable couple at the leading edge of the national and international art scene. Collectors and intellectuals, they created a Berkshire home that reflected their aesthetic worlds. Visitors can walk through the House with all of its original furnishings and view not only the works of Morris and Frelinghuysen on the walls, but walk right up to the works of some of their more famous colleagues and contemporaries including Picasso, Braque, Leger and Gris. As Director Kinney Frelinghuysen notes, "The integration of living quarters with the immediacy of a concentration of works of art is a pleasurable and unexpected way to propel visitors into early 20th century art."
Insider's Tip: A visit to this museum does not take all that long so you can plan to visit other sites in the region on the same day such as The Mount.
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Kidspace at MASS MoCA
87 Marshall St., North Adams, Massachusetts 01247Kidspace is a child-centered art gallery and hands-on studio presenting exhibitions and educational experiences in collaboration with leading artists. The program focuses on contemporary social issues and expanding notions of art and art materials. Artists are selected for the educational and artistic merit of their work and their ability to connect to children (and adults). Exhibitions have featured renowned artists from around the world including Long-Bin Chen, Devorah Sperber, Portia Munson, Lisa Hoke, Willie Birch, Gajin Fujita, Tim Rollins and K.O.S., Roger Shimomura, Ran Hwang, Nick Veasey, and Nick Cave.
Insider's Tip: A great place for the whole family. Works as a great interlude to the main museum.
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MASS MoCA
87 Marshall St., North Adams, Massachusetts 01247With vast galleries and a stunning collection of indoor and outdoor performing arts venues, MASS MoCA is able to embrace all forms of art: music, sculpture, dance, film, painting, photography, theater, and new, boundary-crossing works of art that defy easy classification. Much of the work we show in our light-filled spaces, on our technically sophisticated stages, and within our lovely network of late 19th-century courtyards is made here during extended fabrication and rehearsal residencies that bring hundreds of the world’s most brilliant and innovative artists to North Adams all year round. MASS MoCA exhibits art by both well-known and emerging artists, focusing on large-scale, immersive installations that would be impossible to realize in conventional museums. The broad-shouldered, raw industrial character of our soaring galleries (with 250,000 square feet of open and often naturally lit space) has proven both inspiring and liberating to artists.
Insider's Tip: There is great food and beverages on site, including affordably priced cafés, a full-service restaurant, and an innovative microbrewery that uses local Berkshire grains and hops.
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Norman Rockwell Museum
The Museum houses the world’s largest and most significant collection of Rockwell’s work, including 998 original paintings and drawings. Rockwell lived in Stockbridge for the last 25 years of his life. Rockwell’s Stockbridge studio, moved to the Museum site, is open to the public from May through October, and features original art materials, his library, furnishings, and personal items. It also hosts some impressive collections of illustration art.
Insider's Tip: Plan a picnic here as the the grounds are spectacular.
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Ventfort Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Museum
104 Walker St, Lenox, Massachusetts 01240Ventfort Hall is an imposing Jacobean Revival-style mansion built in 1893 for Sarah Morgan, the sister of J. P. Morgan. Designed by the architects Rotch & Tilden, it is located in Lenox, Massachusetts. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places.Ventfort Hall was one of the approximately seventy-five so-called “Cottages” built in Lenox in the late 19th century when the village became a popular Gilded Age resort.
Insider's Tip: This is a great stop if you are headed to Tanglewood as it is in the heart of downtown Lenox.
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Williams College Museum of Art
15 Lawrence Hall Dr. Ste. 2, Williamstown, Massachusetts 01267Encompassing over 14,000 works of art, this college museum is best known for its contemporary art, photography, prints, and Indian painting. Located near Mass MoCA and The Clark, this museum makes as a good addition to a North County art tour. The museum is also home to the world's largest assembly of works by the artist brothers Maurice and Charles Prendergast.
Insider's Tip: Be sure to check out Eyes (Nine Elements) by Louise Bourgeois which is located just outside the museum
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