Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art

Set amid the palatial splendor of the Bellagio Hotel, Las Vegas' premier art exhibition could not be more at home. Boasting prolific works ranging from the great Claude Monet to Dale Chihuly, the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art houses more examples by the great masters than any other museum space in Nevada. Short of the culturally enlightening MoMa (Museum of Modern Art) in New York, it's also one of the most valuable collections in the United States!

Located beside the Bellagio Casino where Flamingo Road meets the Las Vegas Strip, the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art is easily accessed from any point in the uptown area. Confined to a purpose-built forum within the hotel, visitors are surprised to find the art journey actually begins within the hotel lobby. Look up and you'll see the Dale Chihuly hanging sculpture “Fiori di Como” (Flowers of Como) spanning an area of over 2,000 square feet. Specially commissioned for the Bellagio in 1998, the 40,000 lb floral construction features around 2,000 individually blown glass flowers in every color of the spectrum. Due to its monstrous weight, “Fiori di Como” had to be installed piece by piece, with the help nearly 100 personnel. To date, it remains the largest intact glass sculpture in the world!

Before you even reach the entrance for Bellagio's Gallery of Fine Art, you'll also encounter the world-class Picasso Restaurant, famed for its fusion gourmet courtesy of master chef Julian Serrano and a distinctly authentic Mediterranean atmosphere. The food might be sumptuous and the surroundings divine, however the AAA Five Diamond Award restaurant is best known for its décor. Over 20 unique exhibits by Pablo Picasso adorn the walls of this exuberant space, ranging from relatively unknown sketches, to a number of his Cubist works and sculptures. All this before you've even discovered the gallery!

Encompassing an area in excess of 20,000 square feet, the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art houses over 2,000 works of art, ranging from the era of Renaissance to contemporary “pop art” from the likes of Andy Warhol and Robert Thierren. Created by the twinning of enamel and steel, along with five equally spaced brass taps, Thierren's “No Title (Blue Cloud)” sculpture just begs to be played with. David Hockney's oil on canvas “Garrowby Hill” (1998) continues that modern love of sweeping arcs and dimension, within a landscape that seems to draw your soul along its dusty track. Hockney's oil painting is just one of the thirty recent installations for “A Sense of Place”, Bellagio Gallery's newest fixed exhibition that melds the works of Marc Chagall and Hockney, with older contemporary visionaries such as Monet and Alfred Sisley. “The Loing at Saint Mammes” (1882) is one of several Sisley landscapes to be incorporated within the 2012 exhibition, currently on display.

Fine wine, like art, is best appreciated in the presence of learned contemporaries and the Bellagio's latest event “Art and Wine: A Perfect Pairing” guarantees you'll be in the company of true art connoisseurs. If comparing the imaginative palette of an artist to that of a fine wine floats your boat, this perfect pairing is sure to go down a treat!