I learned about the National Museum of American Illustration prior to our Newport, Rhode Island visit and made plans to visit it. By “plans to visit it” I imagined walking up to the Museum, buying tickets and then exploring the artwork. When we walked up to the Museum gate, once in Newport, we learned that it was a private museum, and that it was open only by previous appointment. Otherwise, there was no way to get in. I suppose we should have researched this in advance. We made calls to the reservations number and left a message asking for a tour. This was just before the weekend. On the following Monday morning we were called back but we already had plans on that day. We were told that something might be organized on Tuesday. Since it was not a sure thing we gave up on our plans to visit this museum … I know it is a private museum and they can do as they wish, but this seemed a bit inconvenient for the unassuming visitor … If you would like to visit this Museum (judging by their site and by the names of the artists it is quite significant) please do so well in advance. Call them, reserve some time for a tour of the premises and for art viewing. We missed out because we did not plan way in advance …

The grounds maintenance person that we talked to mentioned that hundreds of people come to the gate every day only to be turned back not knowing that the visits are by reservations only - so be wise and contact the owners to open it up for regular visits at least a few days per week.

Here are a few notes about the museum from their official web site:

“The National Museum of American Illustration exhibits original artworks from the ‘Golden Age of American Illustration’ (1870-1965) featuring the greatest illustration artists such as: Maxfield Parrish, J.C. Leyendecker, N.C. Wyeth, J.M. Flagg, Norman Rockwell, Charles D. Gibson, Howard Pyle, Jessie Willcox Smith, H.C Christy and Harrison Fisher.

The museum is located at Vernon Court, designed by the noted architects John Merven Carrere and Thomas Hastings of Carrére & Hastings who designed the New York Public Library, the US Senate Office Building in Washington, DC and other nationally recognized architectural monuments.”

The National Museum of American Illustration
Vernon Court
492 Bellevue Avenue
Newport Rhode Island 02840 USA
T: 401.851.8949
http://www.americanillustration.org