On our recent trip to DC to visit the in-laws, we spent a day exploring Baltimore. I had been there several times in the before times for work. As a result, we opted to skip the National Aquarium and visit the Baltimore Museum of Art instead.

The BMA is currently running the exhibition, A Modern Influence: Henri Matisse, Etta Cone, and Baltimore, until January 2, 2022. The exhibition explores the 43-year friendship between artist Henri Matisse and Baltimore collector Etta Cone and features over 160 paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, and illustrated books.

The exhibit contains some of Matisse’s classic works.

Woman Sitting in a Chair

Interior: Flowers and Parakeets

If you can’t make the exhibit before it closes, the BMA’s permanent exhibits include Matisse’s Blue Nude.

Other permanent exhibits include one of my favorite Van Gogh’s, A Pair of Boots.

And no art museum is complete without a Degas. Check out Little Dancer, Aged Fourteen in the museum’s Impressionist wing.

After visiting the BMA, have a delicious lunch in Baltimore’s Little Italy. The in-laws took us to La Tavola, where we had some of the best Italian food I have ever had – and I was raised in Brooklyn!

Finish your day with a nice stroll to the harbor, something that I always did every time I visited Baltimore.