Nasher Travel: New York, October 7 - 10, 2010
The Duke Alumni Association and the Nasher Museum of Art collaborated to create a unique arts travel experience to New York City in October. See the photo album.
Have an Adventure in Art
"It is a unique travel experience to visit museums and foundations with a curator. You have a chance to hear the insider perspective regarding the relationship of the pieces to other contemporary works. We were allowed extraordinary access to collections."
- Jane Glucksman, participant, Nasher Travel: Los Angeles
"The Duke Alumni/Nasher Museum trip to Spain was the most intellectually rewarding and pleasant
tours of my recent foreign travels. The small group structure, lack of mundane worries, expertise
generously given by Dr. Sarah Schroth, and the natural and manmade beauties of Spain
made the experience exceptional."
- Ruth Cox, participant, Nasher Travel: Spain
We invite you to explore the contemporary art world with exclusive, intimate tours not available
anywhere else. The Nasher Museum of Art and Duke Alumni Association have teamed up to design
a series of trips for museum members, Duke alumni and friends to experience great art in the
most influential cities in the world.
Your expert guides are (depending on the trip) museum director Kimerly Rorschach and museum
curators Trevor Schoonmaker and Sarah Schroth, who open doors to private collections, introduce
you to artists and curators and lead behind-the scenes tours of exhibitions at museums and galleries.
Your trip includes meals, luxurious accommodations and all ground arrangements.
For more information about future trips to Hawaii and Toronto, go to www.dukealumni.com and click
on Education & Travel or call 919-684-5114.
Past Adventures
A magnificent rainbow at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
March 2010
Nasher Museum Travel: Hawaii
By Betsy Bourassa
What is the result of sun, sand, surf and Sarah Schroth? The answer is simple: a vacation that satisfies the palate, mind and artistic soul. This past March, nine Duke Alumni enjoyed the unique opportunity to explore Hawaii with Sarah Schroth, the Nancy Hanks Senior Curator at the Nasher Museum. Accompanied by a kama'aina (local guide), the group was immersed in Hawaiian art and culture. (See pictures here) The week started with a tour of the Bishop Museum.
As the largest museum in the state, its collections rank among the top five in the country and offer artifacts representing the rich history of Hawaii and the Pacific. Mary Jeane Suppiger traveled with the group and even lodged with her former Duke roommate.
"It was beautifully planned and we could not have asked for more," she said. "The museums and private home collections, the Moana Surfrider Hotel, the restaurants, the weather were all excellent choices. We had a most congenial group with Sara Schroth as our capable leader and delightful companion."
(read more)
From visiting the Honolulu Academy of Art to perusing the artifacts and jewelry of the Iolani Palace, the travellers fully immersed themselves in the sights and landmarks of this balmy state. The Twigg-Smith collection was a highlight of the trip, according to Mary Jeane.
"The combination of the beautiful home, the fabulous setting, and the exquisitely displayed art was outstanding," she said. "Mr. and Mrs. Smith were charming hosts and the visit was perfect in every way."
The final day was bittersweet. The Duke alumni reveled in a rare private tour of Doris Duke's Shangri La.
"If I have to choose a favorite, it would be a tie between the Doris Duke Estate and the Twigg Smith home," explained Mary Jeane. "I had heard about the Doris Duke estate from my brother who visits Hawaii often. Though admittedly not an art lover, he was very impressed with the Islamic treasures she acquired."
The home boasts more than 3,500 objects in the collection, a 75-foot saltwater pool and intricately decorated interiors. Overlooking the Pacific Ocean and Diamaond Head, this historic home was built by Doris Duke more than seven decades ago.
As the weeklong vacation came to a close, many visitors promised to return again.
"I very much appreciate the Nasher Museum and Duke Alumni Travel's decision to proceed with the Hawaiian Art Tour," Mary Jeane said. "I would happily do it again next year!"
One of several beautiful entry halls at the Getty Villa.
October 30 - Nov 3, 2008
Nasher Museum Travel: Los Angeles
By Teka Selman
Museum director Kimerly Rorschach and curator of contemporary art Trevor Schoonmaker led a group of art lovers through L.A. for four days in late October 2008. We started with a whirlwind tour of the Broad Art Foundation in Santa Monica, where associate curator Ed Schad led us through the remarkable collection. By far, the best thing for me at the foundation was Pierre Huyghe's breathtaking 2004 video "A Journey that Wasn't". All of us were sad that we didn't have 22 minutes to sit and watch the whole thing; maybe the Nasher will show it one day (hint, hint!). I also loved the way that one of my fellow travellers used the word "geeky" to describe pretty much any art work that was a conceptual maze. Mark Tansey certainly earned the epithet and there were some beautiful works of his on view, too.
(read more)
Then it was off to Culver City (a section of LA that reminds me of Chelsea in the mid 90s before it was the center of the New York art world) and wandered around the galleries. We saw a fantastic show of work on paper by Amy Sillman at Susanne Vielmetter Gallery, though my heart was stolen by the lone painting in the show, which I would buy in a heartbeat if I could. We capped off the visit with a tour of LAXART, the sole not-for-profit space in Culver City, founded a few years ago by curator Lauri Firstenberg.
I could go on and on - we had a chance to view two fantastic if very different private collections. We meandered through the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art where the work of Louise Bourgeois and Martin Kippenberger was on view and we had the honor of having lunch with museum director Jeremy Strick. We explored the new Broad Contemporary Art Museum and the Los Angeles County Museum (LACMA), where work by artists like Jeff Koons and Ed Ruscha were on display. I loved the Vanity Fair Portraits exhibition at LACMA, not only because it was fun to look at all the beautiful photographs of cultural icons, but also because of the remarkable number of vintage photos going back to the turn of the 20th century. We finished up the trip at the Getty Villa in Malibu, and the Getty Center in LA; both museums were amazing, and there more than anywhere the landscape and outdoor views were in serious competition with the art.
I can't begin to describe all that we saw, but click here to see my photos on the Nasher Flickr site.
May 2008
Nasher Museum Travel: Spain
By Wendy Hower Livingston
Everyone at the Nasher Museum loves the story of how Sarah Schroth, the Nancy Hanks Senior Curator, rewrote a chapter of art history, leading to the Nasher Museum's creation of the popular exhibition "El Greco to Velazquez: Art during the Reign of Philip III." She spent a year poring over 17th-century Spanish archives all around the country before she discovered 13 household inventories proving that the Duke of Lerma was the first "mega collector of art" in Europe. In May 2008, she took a group of us to Spain for 10 days to visit some of the places she got to know during her research 20 years ago. My favorite stop was Lerma, a charming Medieval village on a steep hill some 190 kilometers north of Madrid.
(read more)
WUNC-TV videographer Will Mikes captures a winding street of Lerma for a documentary about "El Greco to Velázquez."
Lerma is the ancestral home of the Duke of Lerma, who was King Philip III's "favorite," and whose generous art patronage inspired "El Greco to Velázquez." Lerma's beloved duke built a palace, seven convents and monasteries and the Plaza Mayor, where the locals watched religious festivals and bullfights. Now Plaza Mayor is a big parking lot. But back then, thanks to the duke, Lerma was "the first urban complex in all of Spain," according to Schroth.
Sarah obtained special permission for the group to tour San Pedro, a church that the duke had re-built during his time in power. The visiting Philip III and his queen would attend mass here with the duke, sitting in hidden balcony seats far above the altar. After the service, the royals would exit in little human-powered carriages through "passidizos," narrow passageways that connected the main buildings. This helped strengthen the reputation of the royals and the duke as mysterious, inaccessible and powerful rulers.
Chef Diego, a former mayor of Lerma, Spain, shows off his oven with Sarah Schroth, senior curator at the Nasher Museum.
Then Sarah took us to eat some horse meat. It was sliced so thin it melted in our mouths and we cried "Muy rico!" even after we found out it was horse and not pork. This rare delicacy was prepared by chef Diego (pictured to the right), a former mayor of Lerma, who also roasts a mean lamb. We topped off this sumptuous feast with "quadrata," which Sarah describes as sheep's milk made into yogurt, "but not," topped with sugar, and various kinds of flan. Oh, and four frosty shots of some very strong liqueur. "Incatada!"
Read more about the trip to Spain on the Nasher Museum Blog.
