Currier Museum of Art

Description:

• One of northern New England's premier art museums is made all the more magical by its location in a weary industrial city. Housed in an elegant, classical 1932 Beaux Arts building a few blocks from downtown's main drag, the Currier benefited from a major renovation in the late 1990s, and another one is now underway. The permanent collections include some 12,000 works of European and American art, with fine pieces by Degas, Picasso, Monet, and John Singer Sargent. Look for the haunting Edward Hopper work The Bootleggers. In addition to its extensive holdings of paintings and sculpture, the museum also possesses fine exhibits of silver, glass, furniture, and pewter. This museum is making a serious push to join the ranks of the region's very finest. An annex property, the Zimmerman House, was designed by the famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright . Note: While I was researching this guide, the bulk of the museum was closed for a major expansion that will rework the look and experience of the place. It reopened in spring 2008, but call ahead to verify new hours and admission prices. This expansion does not affect the Zimmerman House.

• © Frommer's 2012

Awards:

Frommer's

•  Very Highly Recommended 2010