Childs Gallery | Souvenirs of the Grand Tour | Boston
February 17 – April 2, 2022
Souvenirs of the Grand Tour
Childs Gallery
In-Person Viewing:
168 Newbury Street, Boston, MA 02116
BOSTON, MA – From the 17th to 19th century, wealthy young European men embarked on lengthy travels around the Continent to round out their education. These travels, known as the Grand Tour, emphasized Classical arts and architecture, languages, history, literature, and philosophy, through trips that could last anywhere from several months to several years. Grand tourists were typically upper-class Englishmen, and though there was no set itinerary, treks usually involved sojourns throughout France, Switzerland, and Italy, but could also include locations further afield.
During their journeys tourists would buy souvenirs, often art depicting local sights and wonders as well as object d’art – bronze, alabaster, or marble reproductions of buildings and ruins by native craftsmen. Souvenirs of the Grand Tour brings together art and objects collected during these educational travels, as well as more modern and contemporary scenes of locations and monuments that would have been typical stops along the way.
The exhibition journeys from the temples of Ancient Egypt to the ruins of the Roman forum, treating viewers to their own version of the Grand Tour through prints, watercolors, drawings, and small sculptures.
Souvenirs of the Grand Tour will be on view in our upstairs Print Department February 17 through April 2, 2022.
About Childs Gallery: Established in 1937 on Newbury Street in Boston’s Back Bay, Childs Gallery holds one of the largest inventories of oil paintings, drawings, watercolors, prints and sculpture in the United States. We actively service collectors, artists, estates and corporate clients throughout the country in the buying and selling of fine art, and have placed exceptional works in major museums nationwide. Our extensive holdings – including prints and drawings that range from Old Masters to 20th century notables to 21st century contemporaries, along with superb paintings and sculpture from the past 200 years – are particularly appealing to the eclectic tastes of today’s art lovers, as it’s the collector’s eye, not the historic period or medium, that makes for a cohesive and personally satisfying collection.
