Norman Rockwell Museum

[Lulu-in-Ny]

Instead of just doing the usual dinner and flowers, my boyfriend took me to The Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts today. Very cool. They have all 323 Saturday Evening Post covers, and full sized paintings upstairs. It was a very strange thing to stand in front of the actual paintings that I have seen so many times in print. His studio was also moved there from downtown Stockbridge, and it remains exactly as it was when he passed away. A very interesting peek into his work process. Not to mention that the whole thing is set on an absolutely lovely piece of land, which is landscaped and kept up beautifully.
They also have other exhibits; this time it was The Art of the Graphic Novel.
I highly recommend checking it out if you're anywhere nearby.
edit: At second glance, this should probably have gone into The Steamer Trunk. Please move if necessary.

 

[dhermann1]

Stockbridge

Stockbridge is one of the coolest small towns in America. I first visited there in the fall of 1969, right after "Alice's Restaurant" came out. It was indeed "around the back", but unfortunately it was closed. Very special visit worthy town, tho.

 

[Lulu-in-Ny]

Stockbridge is one of the coolest small towns in America. I first visited there in the fall of 1969, right after "Alice's Restaurant" came out. It was indeed "around the back", but unfortunately it was closed. Very special visit worthy town, tho.

It was absolutely charming. Rockwell said it was "the best of America". We ate lunch at a restaurant in a nearby town called Lee, and I actually preferred it to Stockbridge, which now has quite the tourist-friendly feel. By the end of lunch, I was ready to pack up and move...

 

[PhilS]

Check out Manchester VT too...

Lots of Rockwell-ania in Manchester Vermont, one of the great towns of the Nor'east.

 

[Lulu-in-Ny]

Lots of Rockwell-ania in Manchester Vermont, one of the great towns of the Nor'east.

Nice. It's only about an hour and a half from me, and I hear tell of superior Antiquing in VT. Thanks!

 

[Doctor Strange]

Oh, I love that part of the world. The Berkshires and Southern Vermont offer endless beautiful views and charming little towns. Not to mention, photo ops galore. Great inns and motels, good food, pleasant hiking/boating/camping in the beautiful and very well run (and usually uncrowded) VT state parks.

I find Manchester, VT is actually a bit too built-up and touristy for me, but its surroundings are amazingly gorgeous. E.g., looking down on the town from the top of Mt. Equinox:

The Bennington Museum is a fascinating place, both its general regional history collection and many Grandma Moses paintings. And Bennington itself is very charming.

The Clark Institute is an outstanding art musuem with an amazing collection of Renoirs and other Impressionists - the most I've ever seen in one place (and I've been to NYC's Met, DC's National Gallery, Boston's MFA, Philly's Art Museum, SF's Palace of the Legion of Honor, etc.) It's in lovely Williamstown, at the northern edge of MA. (There's great summer theater there too.)

Another fascinating place, though quite a bit further north (but wow, it's a beautiful drive up the Champlain Valley!), is the Shelburne Museum, about a half-hour south of Burlington, VT. My kids and I spent a whole day there a couple of years ago. Folk art, fine art, interesting moved-and-rebuilt buildings (train station, lighthouse, tavern, meeting house, barns, furnished 1950s suburban home), circus stuff, and a huge, wonderful old steamboat (on land). Outstanding!

I've been vacationing in VT and the Berkshires for many years, and it never fails to delight...

 

[Lulu-in-Ny]

The Clark Institute is an outstanding art musuem with an amazing collection of Renoirs and other Impressionists - the most I've ever seen in one place (and I've been to NYC's Met, DC's National Gallery, Boston's MFA, Philly's Art Museum, SF's Palace of the Legion of Honor, etc.) It's in lovely Williamstown, at the northern edge of MA. (There's great summer theater there too.)

I saw a brochure for the Clark while we were up there; it's next on the list. Since I moved up from Central Jersey, I miss the museums in the city like mad...

 

[olive bleu]

i visited the museum about 13 years ago. I travelled to Connecticut with my American born-and-raised-husband to visit his hometown of Naugatuck, then took a little new England tour which included Stockbridge.I loved the Norman Rockwell Museum. I especially enjoyed the little cabin/shack where he actually did a lot of his work. A beautiful part of the world for sure. We came back to spend the next 7-8 years plotting how we were going to move there..which obviously never happened.