Everyone (ourselves not nearly least among them) scoffed when then-Bellagio owner Steve Wynn opened an art gallery on his fabulous property. Sure, Wynn's been a serious and respected fine-arts collector for years, and consequently there was good stuff on display (though there are no masterpieces, there certainly are serious works by masters), but who would go see art in Las Vegas? Tons of tourists, as it happens, so many that they had to almost immediately relocate the gallery to a larger space. When the MGM MIRAGE company bought Wynn's empire, the future of the gallery, which did rely on his collection (he took most of it with him), was in doubt. Surprise again, you scoffers (and that again includes us). The gallery is not only open again, it's also getting written up by real art critics, thanks in part to such well-chosen shows as Warhol, Monet, and Ansel Adams retrospectives, and an exhibit from the collection of none other than Steve Martin -- yes, we mean the stand-up-comedian-turned-actor-turned-playwright/author. See, he's a longtime well-respected collector, too, and, consequently, there were real-life reviewers, hushed with happy reverence, who took the entire show seriously indeed. Now, will there be as interesting a show when you go? Beats us. (When we wrote this, it was a collection of Picasso's ceramics.) Then there's that ticket price. Do let us point out that the Louvre and the Vatican art collections -- both are, needless to say, quite a bit larger and both of which, one can safely say, do have some notable works -- cost only about $2 more than the entrance fee to this museum.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Las Vegas 2008, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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