In late December, Mark Smith, Owner of Private Italy Tours, was invited to an interview on a national travel show, Speaking of Travel. Marilyn Ball, who is the creator of the show, was the host. Marilyn Ball - Speaking of Travel The interview (link below) covers some current topics of interest to travelers [...]
It was in 1950 that then director of NBC's opera programming, Peter Herman Adler, commissioned composer Gian-Carlo Menotti (1911 - 2007) to compose the first ever opera for the American television audience. This was no easy task and it is one of the many credits due to the exceptional talent of Menotti that he made [...]
Join Road Scholar and Mark Gordon Smith, Instructor in Italian Renaissance Art History, Conversational Italian and Travels Across Italy, in a five day program entitled, "The Beautiful and the Powerful of the Italian Renaissance". The program begins on 22 April 2018 and concludes on 27 April 2018. The program is based on the beautiful campus [...]
During some recent research on the background of Doménikos Theotokópoulos, called El Greco in his most productive years, I came across a rather startling similarity in Pontormo's Visitation and that of El Greco. Take a look: El Greco 1610 - Dumbarton Oaks Pontormo 1529- San Michele in Carmignano Note the position [...]
At a time when we are driven by an unfounded need to have everything 'now', artists like Marco Caratelli, their work and their passionate commitment to cultural memory are reminders of how we arrived to today and how we must keep the past alive.
National League of American Pen Women JOIN US IN ITALY October 23 - November 2, 2015 A Unique Exploration of the Arts in Tuscany Italy has been an epicenter of the arts for centuries. Our explorations, exclusively created for us by Private Italy Tours LTD, will provide three unique itineraries with focus on artists, [...]
From the first rays of rising sun which strike the bell tower on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore to the sunset shadows in St. Mark's Square, Venice is light itself and a photographers dream.
Our photography workshop in Greece begins in Athens where, for a few days, participants will capture scenes of Athenian’s streets, of markets and of ancient temples. One day trip to the seaside village of Nafplio and time to photograph in Athens’ textural and complex neighborhoods supplement the time we work in the capital city of this incredible country.
We have been privileged to lead, or coordinate for other organizations, several art workshops in Italy. These workshops have taken place on the Amalfi Coast, across the provinces of both Tuscany and Umbria and in the city of Florence.