TRAVEL LOG

Season of art exhibits

It’s spring rush for art shows in several U.S. cities. Among major exhibits:

Boston: “Gauguin Tahiti” offers more than 125 paintings, prints, drawings, illustrated manuscripts and carvings by French master Paul Gauguin (1848-1903), plus documentary photos of Tahiti and objects that may have inspired the artist. A highlight is “D’ou venons-nous? Que sommes-nous? Ou allons-nous?” which Gauguin painted after his failed suicide attempt in 1897. Boston is the exhibit’s only U.S. venue, through June 20. Adult tickets, $7 plus $15 general admission. Museum of Fine Arts, (617) 542-4632, www.mfa.org.

Chicago: Hundreds of objects from the reign of 18th century Emperor Qianlong, who brought the Chinese empire to a peak of power, will be shown Friday to Sept. 12. In the making for five years, the show is drawn from Beijing’s Palace Museum. Many objects are traveling for the first time. Included are Qianlong’s memorial throne with a “spirit tablet,” his suit of armor made from 600,000 pieces of steel, and paintings by court artists. Adult tickets, $17. The Field Museum, (866) 343-5303, www.fieldmuseum.org.

Detroit: The iconic painting popularly known as “Whistler’s Mother” is being shown in the U.S. for the first time in nearly a decade. The artwork, “Arrangement in Grey and Black, No. 1: Portrait of the Artist’s Mother,” by James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), usually at Paris’ Musee d’Orsay, will be displayed March 14 to June 6 in an exhibit on Whistler and his followers. Adult tickets, $12.50. Detroit Institute of the Arts, (877) 342-8497, www.dia.org.

New York: More than 150 artworks by Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, Jose Clemente Orozco and other masters of Latin and Caribbean art from the late 1930s to today are being shown through July 25. Drawn from New York’s Museum of Modern Art, the show is at El Museo del Barrio, accompanied by lectures, concerts, dance and film screenings. Adult tickets, $7. (212) 831-7272, www.elmuseo.org.

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Airline shuts

ticket offices

If you’re looking for a Northwest Airlines ticket office, your search will soon be fruitless.

The airline will close all 25 of its U.S. ticket offices by the end of this month. That includes two in California: one in the Beverly Hilton Hotel, 9876 Wilshire Blvd., and the other in Palo Alto.

The Internet and airline reservations call centers have sounded the death knell for more than 160 airline ticket offices since 2001.

Lease and financial problems, for instance, have led to the closure of 17 of 47 Continental ticket offices.

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New tour

to Libya

Travcoa, a 50-year-old luxury tour operator based in Newport Beach, will offer a 10-day tour of Libya in May featuring Greek and Roman ruins, President Tom Stanley said. Details, including prices, were pending at the Travel Section’s deadline Tuesday. (800) 992-2003, www.travcoa.com.

The announcement came after the U.S. last month lifted a long-standing ban on travel to Libya. The U.S. acted after Moammar Kadafi’s government confirmed that it was responsible for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.

“What this means in practical terms is that American citizens, for the first time in 23 years, will be able to travel to Libya, including for tourism, academic research and family visits,” the White House said.

Times staff and wires

-- Compiled by

Jane Engle