Combine a tour of nature’s autumn artistry while immersing yourself in the full spectrum of visual and decorative art. Here’s a “to do” list of top places to visit:
Autumn art tour in Lenox
Shutterstock
Ventford Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Museum, Lenox
Built in 1893 for the sister of J.P. Morgan, this mansion makes Downton Abby look shabby. It interprets American society at the height of the Gilded Age. Reserve a spot for the classic Victorian Tea.
The Mount, Lenox
In an age when women were expected to find fulfillment in domestic pursuits, Edith Wharton studied architecture, horticulture, and design, authoring 40 books and picking up a Pulitzer Prize. She designed her 1902 house and gardens.
Frelinghuysen Morris House and Studio, Lenox
George L.K. Morris and Suzy Frelinghuysen pioneered abstract art in the 1930s. Considered a radical design at the time, their two-story stucco-and-glass block house holds a collection of their work, plus other prime examples of American and European cubist art. Cost overruns on the construction forced Morris to sell off a Picasso.
Chesterwood, Stockbridge
You might not know his name, but you know the works of Daniel Chester French. He created the statue of Abraham Lincoln for the memorial in Washington and the Minuteman Statue that guards Concord, Massachusetts. Copies of those pieces and other works, plus sculptures by contemporary artists, are displayed at his studio.
Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge
The world’s largest collection of Rockwell’s art is here, with dozens of pieces you’ve probably never seen, exhibited both chronologically and by theme. The tour demonstrates the process he used to research, stage, design and paint his works. His studio remains much as he left it.
