1600 21st St at Q St NW; closest Metro stop is Dupont Circle. TuesWed 10am5pm, Thurs 10am8.30pm, FriSat 10am5pm, Sun noon5pm. Admission $7.50. tel 202/387-2151, www.phillipscollection.org
The Phillips Collection , one of the country's most extensive assemblies of modern paintings, starts off with a variety of proto-modern artists such as El Greco and Turner, before hurrying via French Impressionism to the real heart of the show hundreds of works by Picasso, Matisse, Kandinsky, Van Gogh, Rothko, O'Keeffe, Klee and many others. The building adds to the experience: part is displayed in the Phillips family's ornate 1890s mansion, the rest in a 1960s purpose-built gallery space, all of it recently renovated. Popular free concerts take place in the oak-paneled Music Room on Sundays (SeptMay 5pm); reserve in advance for free gallery tours on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2pm and free gallery talks on the first and third Thursdays of the month at 12.30pm.