INTERNATIONAL TOURS

Private Villas, Gardens, and Art Collections of LAKE COMO

April 22 – 29, 2012

On this custom-designed exploration of one of Italy’s most ravishing regions, expert local guides will join Art Institute study leader BARBARA GEIGER to share their knowledge of northern Italy’s art and culture. Enjoy an insider’s view of Lake Como’s villas, gardens, and art collections.

Itinerary highlights include lunch with a count in his historic home surrounded by stunning Baroque gardens; an exclusive launch to Tremezzo’s Villa Carlotta; a visit to the expansive gardens and lovely interiors of Villa Balbianello; an excursion to Isola Bella on nearby Lake Maggiore; a wine tasting at a private home in the mountains above Bellagio; and a specially arranged visit to Italy’s finest collection of contemporary art, featuring installations by Dan Flavin and James Turrell.

Our home for the week will be the four-star Grand Hotel Menaggio, with unforgettable views of lakefront villages and towering mountains.

A Springtime Voyage from New England to Montreal: Discovering Historic Towns and Scenic Waterways

Aboard the 138-guest Yorktown

May 24 – June 5, 2012

Setting forth from the quintessential Massachusetts fishing town of Gloucester, sail northward to discover the majestic and historical lands of Maine. From there, our itinerary includes stops at Boothbay Harbor; Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park; Yarmouth, Nova Scotia; Halifax; Port Hawkesbury and Baddeck, Cape Breton Island; Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island; Shippagan, New Brunswick; Gaspé and Ile Bonaventure, Quebec; Quebec City and Montreal. The Yorktown serves as our luxury hotel as we cruise the coastline. Art Institute study leader BARBARA GEIGER accompanies the tour.

Coming Fall 2012

Fall Foliage Voyage to the New England Islands & the Hudson River

Aboard the 138-Guest Yorktown

Late-September & October 2012

Art Institute of Chicago Members Travel

Barbara Geiger, Study Leader

Details to follow

DAY TOURS

Inside The Devil in the White City

Saturday, May 12 or Wednesday, May 16 or Friday, May 18

9 am to 3:30 pm

Walk in the footsteps of the heroes and villain of The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson’s best-selling story of good and evil at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, with BARBARA GEIGER. Explore the fair stories of Daniel Burnham. Frederick Law Olmsted, and H.H. Holmes as you walk the exposition grounds—present-day Jackson Park—and drive past other remarkable points of interest. Lunch is included at Cedars Mediterranean Kitchen in Hyde Park

Mid-Century Prairie Style: John Van Bergen and Edward Humrich

Saturday, June 9 or Tuesday, June 12

9 am to 4 pm

Join BARBARA GEIGER in visiting homes designed by John Van Bergen (1885-1969) and Edward Humrich (1902-1991), architects who continued the evolution of residential design in the Chicago area initiated by the earlier Prairie School architects. Begin with tours of two Humrich homes in Riverwoods, elegant yet simple structures that perfectly fit their wooded settings. After lunch at City Park Grill, visit two very different homes by Oak Park native Van Bergen, who knew Frank Lloyd Wright’s family and later worked in Wright’s office. The houses show Wright’s influence in design and materials but highlight Van Bergen’s distinctive approach. Conclude with a driving tour of other unique Van Bergen residences.

Gentleman Farms and Country Estates: Historic Homes of Libertyville

Thursday, June 14 or Saturday, June 16

9 am to 4:30 pm

Visit the Libertyville-area homes of three successful yet distinctly different businessmen in the Libertyville area with BARBARA GEIGER. Begin at the Ansel B. Cook house, built in 1878 in high Victorian style by this state representative and flagstone magnate, an associate of water tower architect William Boyington. Then, tour the Mediterranean-style country home that architect Benjamin Marshall designed 1917 for utilities tycoon Samuel Insull, now the Cuneo Mansion. After a private luncheon here, visit the Adlai E. Stevenson Historic Home in nearby Mettawa, built in 1938, and the simplest and most modern of the three.