Group Tours

The Delaware Art Museum welcomes groups from around the region, across the country, and around the world to enjoy our internationally-acclaimed collection.  The following information is designed to assist group leaders, tour operators and receptive operators plan group visits to the Museum. If you have any questions, please contact Cynthia Smith, Group Tour Coordinator, at 302.351.8514 or via e-mail at csmith@delart.org

Guided group tours of the Museum’s permanent collection and special exhibitions are offered to groups of 20 or more by reservation. These tours are led by trained Docents and are available Tuesday through Saturday, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., and on Sunday, between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Groups may also schedule a curator talk and/or an on-site lunch prepared by our renowned catering service. Due to the high demand for guided tours, it is suggested that reservations be made at least four weeks in advance.

British Pre-Raphaelites
The Delaware Art Museum’s collection of Pre-Raphaelite art is the largest outside the United Kingdom and is comprised of paintings, drawings, photographs, decorative arts, and illustrated books.  The Pre-Raphaelites first gathered in London in 1848. They rejected the conventions of their day and focused on the past, particularly the Middle Ages—the time “before Raphael.” Their subjects were drawn primarily from literature, including Shakespeare, the Bible, and Arthurian legend.

Howard Pyle & American Illustration
The Delaware Art Museum was founded in 1912 to preserve and exhibit the works of Wilmington-native Howard Pyle. Pyle filled his riveting illustrations with drama and emotion, and his iconic pirates serve as the inspiration for pirates in popular culture to this day. The Museum also displays a number of works by Pyle’s students, including N. C. Wyeth and Maxfield Parrish, and other famous illustrators.

Contemporary Painting & Sculpture
From the American Scene to Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art to Postmodernism, the trends of the past several decades of American art up to the present are on display in masterpieces by a number of major artists, including Edward Hopper, Jacob Lawrence, Robert Motherwell, Louis Nevelson, and Dale Chihuly. Outside, the region’s first Sculpture Garden takes visitors beside the works of important contemporary sculptors such as Tom Otterness and George Rickey.

Collection Highlights
View a selection of masterpieces from the Delaware Art Museum’s permanent collection, which includes American art and illustration from the 19th century to the present and the British Pre-Raphaelite movement of the mid-19th century.

Special Exhibitions
The Delaware Art Museum presents three to four major traveling exhibitions each year for a limited time.  Please click here for our schedule of upcoming exhibitions.

Enhance your group’s experience with an exclusive presentation by one of the Museum’s resident experts.  You can match the presentation to the theme of your group’s tour, or explore another area of the Museum’s collections.  Presentations include detailed information and stories about specific works of art and artists that are not available on standard tours.  Curator Conversations are available exclusively to groups, must be scheduled at least four weeks in advance, and are based on the curator’s availability.

Curator Conversation topics include:

The Bancroft Collection of Pre-Raphaelite Art,
with Margaretta Frederick, Curator of the Bancroft Collection

Howard Pyle: The Artist and His Legacy,
with Joyce Schiller, Curator of American Art

The History of the Delaware Art Museum,
with Mary Holahan, Curator of Collections and Exhibitions

John Sloan and His Circle,
with Heather Campbell Coyle, Associate Curator

Information coming soon!

The Museum will be happy to work with your schedule and welcome your group during pre-opening hours (before 10:00 a.m.) by special appointment. Also, the Museum is open until 9:00 p.m. on the first Friday of the month as part of Wilmington’s Art on the Town program, and groups have the option of reserving an evening tour on these nights. There is a flat fee of an additional $100 for group tours during special hours.

See more of the beautiful Brandywine Valley by scheduling a package visit to multiple attractions.

Master Artists of the Brandywine Valley

Enjoy the world-renowned art work of native Brandywine Valley artists—specifically Howard Pyle and the Wyeth family—while spending a day at the Delaware Art Museum and the Brandywine River Museum

Pirates, mermaids, and ghosts come alive in the otherworldly paintings of Brandywine School founder and artist Howard Pyle. Enjoy a guided tour of Pyle’s paintings as well as those of his students, including N. C. Wyeth, at the Delaware Art Museum. Relax with an upscale lunch in the Museum’s contemporary East Court. Afterwards, tour the Brandywine River Museum, a refurbished gristmill and the home to an unparalleled collection of works by the Wyeth Family, as well as works by Howard Pyle. Stroll through the glass-walled hallways and enjoy the magnificent views of the Brandywine River.

Art and Gunpowder!

Spend the day exploring the Delaware Art Museum, home to a world-renowned collection of art, and the Hagley Museum, the original DuPont family home and gunpowder works.

Begin your day with a tour of the captivating collection of the Delaware Art Museum.  Explore the Museum’s collection of 19th-century British Pre-Raphaelite art—the largest in the country—as well as an extensive collection of American art and illustration.  Afterwards, enjoy a delicious lunch. Then you will travel to the Hagley Museum, where in 1802 E. I. du Pont founded the family’s black powder mills on the Brandywine River. You will visit the original home of the du Pont family nestled along the river. 

Fine Art and High Tea

Tour the Delaware Art Museum and then enjoy tea at the Hotel du Pont.

In the morning, explore the Delaware Art Museum’s collection, including 19th-century British Pre-Raphaelite art as well as an extensive collection of American art and illustration. Then, head to the Hotel du Pont, an elegant hotel designed by Pierre S. du Pont in the early 20th century. After an introductory tour, you will enjoy an elegant traditional tea in the Brandywine Room, home to over a dozen paintings by members of the Wyeth Family.

To schedule a Guided Group Tour, click here, or contact Cynthia Smith, Group Tour Coordinator, at 302.351.8514 or via e-mail at csmith@delart.org.

If you would like to be added to the Museum’s group tour mailing list, click here.