Toledo Art Museum, Toledo, OH:
What the Toledo Museum may lack in quantity, it makes up in quality. This museum is filled with many fabulous, seminal paintings, including Pierre Bonnard's mythological painting "Abduction of Europa," George Bellows´ "The Bridge,"Thomas Cole´s "Architect's Dream," Van Gogh's "Wheat Field," and some superb classical Greek vase paintings. While in the area, you can also make the grand tour of nearby major museums, including the Detroit Art Institute, Cleveland Art Museum, and Chicago Art Institute.

Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.:
Housed in an old mansion, this collection has a visionary quality about it that you don't always see elsewhere. The Phillips may have the best collection in the United States of Bonnard's paintings, which are my favorite paintings there. The museum also includes many great American paintings, including Thomas Eakins' portraits and Albert Pinkham Ryder's moonlit landscapes.

National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.:
The National Gallery has a vast, high quality collection, which will take you at least 2 days to cover comfortably. Don't miss a rare chance to see 4 jewel-like Vermeer paintings (only 30-some Vermeers exist). There is also an exceptional collection of Edouard Manet paintings, and a special gallery recently opened for "small paintings," which features many intimate and warm 19th century French still lifes and plein air landscapes.

Rodin Museum, Paris:
In many ways, this museum offers the most complete museum package in Paris: a beautiful old mansion with open windows, extensive gardens, powerful Rodin sculptures inside the museum and throughout the gardens, a special gallery of Rodin´s drawings and watercolors, and a good outdoor cafè. You can spend a lot of time loitering here.

Musee D'Orsay, Paris:
Clearly one of the best museums in the world, the building is a gargantuan old train station with a giant wall clock which houses an incredible collection of 19th century French art, with entire rooms devoted to individual artists like Manet, Gaugin, and Cezanne. The Degas pastel room is a religious experience, but go to view it as soon as the museum doors open to avoid the crowds. Good restaurant inside the museum too.

Irvine Museum, Irvine, CA:
The Irvine is a real labor of love, and is perhaps the only museum devoted exclusively to California impressionist art; it has amassed a large collection of paintings by interesting artists like William Wendt, Edgar Payne, and Guy Rose, whose work is not often seen in other museums. Located on the ground floor of an office high rise, the museum is also unusual in that it does not display a permanent collection, but instead shows carefully chosen rotating exhibits, and presents much of its art in traveling exhibits around the country. The Irvine has a small bookstore stocked with books, catalogs, and dvd´s featuring California impressionism, which again are not found elsewhere.

Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI:
Another Midwestern gem of a museum. Recently expanded and upgraded, the DIA houses a large and unique collection (too much to see in one day). The centerpiece of the museum is an enormous Diego Rivera mural, "Detroit Industry," which was commissioned by Ford in the 1930's and fills an entire 2-3 storey hall with a surreal collage of machinery, workers, earth mothers, and life symbols. Other renowned works include Bruegel's "Wedding Dance," a crowded, colorful scene of peasants dancing and carousing; John Singer Sargent's "Mosquito Nets;" and Henry Fuseli's "Nightmare." The DIA has an entire gallery devoted to 19th-century American landscape with high-end works by Thomas Cole, Albert Bierstadt, Frederick Church, and others, in a fascinating presentation which intersperses these large landscapes with clusters of 4 or 5 or more small plein air landscapes by these same artists (which are often more interesting and approachable than the more finished works). For portrait lovers, there are numerous great portraits scattered throughout the collection, including Renoir's "Woman in an Armchair," Titian's portrait of a man, and two 18th century male portraits by John Singleton Copley, notably the startling "Head of a Negro," which looks like it could have been painted yesterday. For refreshment, the DIA has one of the best museum food selections, with at least a half-dozen excellent cafes and restaurants serving a wide range of eatables from organic salads to Indian food to fancy seafood.

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Books

Rembrandt's Eyes (Simon Schama, 1999):
A deep, dense, complex biography (about the size of a phone book) of Rembrandt, with an excellent choice of quality reproductions. Be sure to see pages 298/299, which are a collection of 5 self-portraits where Rembrandt makes faces at the viewer. As an added bonus, the first 200 pages consist of a terrific biography of Rubens, who was the godfather/mentor to Rembrandt's generation. This book will open your eyes to the power of Rembrandt and Rubens like no other books I've read.

N.C. Wyeth (David Michaelis, 1999):
A fascinating and tragic biography of America's foremost illustrator. Wyeth was an eccentric man-child in knickers, whose classic illustrations to books like Treasure Island and Robin Hood are unforgettable. His wild and wacky family included later famous artists Andrew Wyeth and Jamie Wyeth.

The Journal of Eugene Delacroix (Phaidon Publishers, 1995):
Delacroix was one of the great intellects of art, as well as a fantastic painter and draftsman. The journal captures the intense energy and depth of Delacroix's mind. I can picture Delacroix now walking the streets of Paris with his best friend Chopin discussing art and music.

Wayne Thiebaud:A Painting Retrospective (Steven Nash and Adam Gopnik, 2000):
This exhibition catalogue accompanied a career retrospective that stopped at the San Francisco Legion of Honor Museum a few years ago. I admit I never read the text, but I really enjoy looking at these rich, entertaining paintings, from the abstracted street scenes of San Francisco to the Sacramento Delta landscapes which perfectly capture the spirits of those places. Nobody ever painted more delicious cakes and pies than Thiebaud.

Pierre Bonnard: Early and Late (Elizabeth Turner, 2002):
Another exhibition catalogue to a blockbuster exhibit. I can't recall many other exhibits I enjoyed more than this one. Bonnard's rich use of color and imagery make the paintings look like they are vibrating on the museum walls. His odd waif of a wife appears in many of the paintings. Bonnard's portraits of himself as a frail old man at the end of his life rival the power of Rembrandt's self-portraits.

The Art Spirit (Robert Henri, 1923):
A compilation of Robert Henri's comments on the theory and practice of art. Henri is often regarded as America's foremost art teacher, and he mentored such artists as Edward Hopper and George Bellows. I generally don't find this type of book interesting, but this opinionated book is the exception. I can open to almost any page, and find some intriguing and provoking thought. This book is not meant to be read in one sitting, but to be read in small bits and savored over time. Incidentally, Henri is overlooked today as an artist, but he was a great portrait and plein air cityscape painter. His portraits of children are some of the best in art history.

Impressionist Still Life (Eliza Rathbone and George Shackelford, 2001):
The title is misleading, because this lavish exhibit catalogue is a broad survey of the history of the still life from the 1700's to the early 20th century, with many high quality color illustrations. The catalogue includes several excellent essays on Chardin, Manet, Cezanne, and others. The catalogue also contains many interesting mini-disucssions and comparisons of small groups of 2 or 3 paintings, which elevates this catalogue beyond many others I have seen.

The Revenge of Thomas Eakins (Sidney Kirkpatrick, 2006):
A great biography of a great artist, who has now come to be regarded as America's foremost portrait/figure painter. Eakins was maligned and rejected in his own time for his controversial use of nude models and unconventional personal life. Kirkpatrick interweaves historical documents and a newly discovered cache of Eakins-related documents to set the record straight about the artist's troubles, and provide a detailed, fascinating picture of Eakins' world, including his student studies in 1860's France; his role and method as an art teacher in America; the development of photography in the 19th century, and artists' depiction of sports. Most of all, Kirkpatrick delves into the psychology and intent behind Eakins' many portraits. Eakins was uncompromising in his portraits, and frequently offended his subjects by literally depicting them warts and all. At the same time, Eakins also painted stunning portraits that showed great empathy with his subjects in a quiet, contemplative way. The only downside of the Kirkpatrick book is its small, murky illustrations, so you may want to consult another Eakins book with better illustrations while you read this book.

The Unknown Night-The Genius and Madness of R.A. Blakelock—An American Painter(Glyn Vincent, 2003):

Genius or madman? This biography creates a rich picture of the life and world of Ralph Blakelock, whose dense, moody moonlit landscapes made him one of the most famous painters in late 19th century America. After many twists and turns, Blakelock eventually had a breakdown and was committed to a mental asylum for the last 16 years of his life, where he painted landscapes on cigar box lids and was held hostage by a scheming socialite, who squeezed him and his art for money. If this book was a novel instead of a biography, you probably wouldn’t believe it. You may want to consult another book to view a better selection of his artworks.

Impressionism: Painting Quickly in France, 1860-1890(Richard Brettell, 2000):

This great exhibit catalog should interest both the active artist and the casual observer. The author convincingly shows how the Impressionists did not dash off their art in a burst of passion, but carefully composed and reworked their paintings to create an impression of freshness, immediacy, and of being painted on the spot in one sitting. They sought to capture the gesture or emotion of the subject, and painted different "finished" artworks for different audiences. Bretell knows his stuff, and focuses on the major Impressionists Manet, Monet, Renoir, Morisot, and Sisley. This well-illustrated book offers many fascinating discussions and comparisons of artists and their works. Incidentally, Brettell did a series of video lectures (From Monet to Van Gogh: A History of Impressionism, The Teaching Company), which dovetails much of the information in this book, and is interesting in its own right.