on and off the wall in sin city elvis-a-rama 3401 industrial rd. 702-309-7200 ... 702-414-2440 ...

[MUS EUM -O -MAT I C ]

On and Off the Wall in Sin City

MUSEUM

Bellagio Gallery of Fine ArtsBellagio, 3600 S. Las Vegas Blvd.877-957-9777www.bgfa.biz

Elvis-a-Rama3401 Industrial Rd. 702-309-7200www.elvisarama.com

Guggenheim Hermitage MuseumVenetian, 3355 S. Las Vegas Blvd.702-414-2440www.guggenheimlasvegas.org

King Tut MuseumLuxor, 3900 S. Las Vegas Blvd.702-262-4400www.luxor.com

Liberace Museum1775 E. Tropicana Ave.702-798-5595www.liberace.org

Wynn CollectionIn the former Desert Inn3145 S. Las Vegas Blvd.702-733-4100

WHAT’S THERE

Touring exhibitions from major muse-ums. Currently, Monets from theBoston Museum of Fine Arts, throughSept. 13.

$3.5 million of Elvisabilia, includingthree cars, his Sun Records jacket, awhole lotta jumpsuits and (hold on,mama) the blue suede shoes.

Rotating exhibits from New York’sGuggenheim, St. Petersburg’sHermitage and Vienna’s Kunsthis-torisches. Currently: “A Century ofPainting: From Renoir to Rothko,”through July 5.

Life-size replica of Egyptian king’sburial chamber, reproduced by arti-sans using 3,300-year-old methods.

Everything you ever wanted to knowabout the king of glitz, including hispianos, cars, costumes and the world’slargest rhinestone (50 pounds!).

Ten masterpieces from the collectionof entrepreneur Steve Wynn, includ-ing Picasso’s “Le Reve” and works byMonet, Matisse, Cezanne, van Gogh.

WORTH THE PRICE?

A little bit of elegance amid theneon. Recent Chatsworth Estateshow equalled anything in theNational Gallery.

If Graceland is the Smithsonian, thisis its storage room. A trove of cos-tumes, vehicles and artifacts, evenlysplit between the Young and Fateras.

One of the best small art museumsanywhere. Stimulating exhibits,knowledgeable docents and anexquisitely designed space make fora memorable visit.

Tut, tut . . . you have to ask? Thispainstakingly rendered (and bargain-priced) display skillfully evokes aworld of pharaohs and fantasy.

Sure, if you’ve been jonesing to see a50-pound rhinestone and a “westernart deco costume with lighted flamecape.”

For the price of a bad buffet, you getan unforgettable primer on art histo-ry.

NICE TOUCH

Well-stocked museum shopranks with the best, witheverything from notecardsto Goebel porcelain.

Free shuttle pickup fromStrip hotels. Live tributes at11, noon and 1 p.m., freewith admission (othertimes there’s a charge).

Artfully rusted and var-nished steel walls aremeant to evoke the red vel-vet walls of the Hermitage.

Film with vintage footage ofarchaeologist HowardCarter, who discovered thetomb in 1922.

Musical tributes to Liberace($10) are performed threetimes a week.

Admission includes anaudio tour with surprisinglyastute and entertainingobservations by Wynn.

ADMISSION

$15 (includes audioguide)

$9.95

$15 (includes audioguide)

$5 (includes audioguide)

$12

$10 (includes audioguide)

When the Strip begins to pall, consider Vegas’s museums. Yes, museums. Sin City has asurprisingly diverse assortment of cultural way stations, showcasing everything frombeaux arts to blue suede shoes. Here are a few of the best. —John Deiner and K.C. Summers

PHOTO OF GUGGENHEIM HERMITAGE MUSEUM BY DAVID HELD