Directly across the street from the Farmers’ Museum [1] is the third of Cooperstown [2]’s museum triumvirate (Lake Rd./Rte. 80, 607/547-1400, www.fenimoreartmuseum.org [3], 10 a.m.–5 p.m. daily June–Sept., 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Tues.–Sat. Apr.–May and Oct.–Nov., adults $11, seniors $9.50, children 7–12 $5). Also run by the New York State Historical Association, the Fenimore house holds the state’s premier collection of folk art, fine art, and Native American art.
Highlights include Thomas Cole’s Last of the Mohicans, Gilbert Stuart’s Joseph Brandt, a version of Edward Hicks’ Peaceable Kingdom, and an eclectic collection of weathervanes, trade signs, cigar-store Indians, and decoys.
One wing of the museum houses the Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art. Perhaps the most important privately owned collection of its kind, the collection includes about 700 works spanning 2,500 years of native North American culture. Among the many stunning items on display are a flowing Blackfoot headdress, a Lakota painted horsehide, and a brilliant blue Heiltsuk moon mask.
On-site is a first-rate book store. Combination tickets with the National Baseball Hall of Fame [4] and Farmers’ Museum [1] are available.
Links:
[1] http://www.moon.com/destinations/new-york-state/the-hudson-valley/excursions-albany/cooperstown/farmers-museum
[2] http://www.moon.com/destinations/new-york-state/the-hudson-valley/excursions-albany/cooperstown
[3] http://www.fenimoreartmuseum.org
[4] http://www.moon.com/destinations/new-york-state/the-hudson-valley/excursions-albany/cooperstown/national-baseball-hall-fame