Summer 2007 Special Exhibitions
A Compilation of Significant Shows by Stan Parchin,
Senior Correspondent for Museums and Special Exhibitions
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Albertina Museum
Vienna, Austria
Expressive! The Artists of "Die Brücke":The Collection of Hermann Gerlinger
June 1-August 26, 2007
Some 260 works from the collections of Hermann Gerlinger and other institutions describe the world of The Bridge, a group of German Expressionist artists founded in 1905. The exhibition spans from 1913 to the 1920s.
American Museum of Natural History
New York, New York
GoldNovember 18, 2006-August 19, 2007
Explores the art, symbolism and science of Earth's magnificent malleable mineral throughout history and across civilizations. Among the precious objects on display are: ancient Lydian, Byzantine and Spanish coins; rare textiles; and splendid examples of Mesoamerican jewelry.
Mythic Creatures: Dragons,
Unicorns & Mermaids
May 26, 2007-January 6, 2008
Uses the tools of cultural, natural and art historians to trace the roots of various civilizations' mythological creatures in paintings, textiles and other objects. Fossils and preserved specimens of prehistoric animals are included to illustrate how past civilizations mistook them for legendary beasts.
Art and Exhibition Hall
Bonn, Germany
Egypt's Sunken TreasuresApril 5, 2007-January 27, 2008
Some 500 ancient Egyptian works of art and artifacts, previously underwater, are on view. The coins, cult items, jewelry and sculptures describe life in ancient Egypt from the end of the pharaonic age through Roman times.
Art Gallery of Ontario
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Bernini in FocusJune 23-October 7, 2007
Examines Corpus (ca. 1650), a large bronze statue of the dying Christ by Italian Baroque sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1678).
Medieval and Renaissance Treasures
from the Victoria and Albert Museum
June 23-October 7, 2007
Thirty-five works of medieval and Renaissance art produced between 300 and 1600 A.D., including the Codex Forster I (1505) of Italian High Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519).
Art Gallery of South Australia
Adelaide, Australia
Egyptian Antiquities from theLouvre: Journey to the Afterlife
March 21-July 1, 2007
More than 200 objects from the Musée du Louvre, many never before displayed publicly, describe ancient Egyptian art and culture. Organized around themes from the Book of the Dead, the exhibition explores ancient Egyptian funerary practices and the idea of the underworld through works of art dating from the age of the pyramids through that of Cleopatra. Travels next to the Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth (July 21-October 28, 2007).
Art Institute of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
Perpetual Glory: Medieval Islamic Ceramicsfrom the Harvey B. Plotnick Collection
March 31-October 28, 2007
Traces the development of medieval Islamic ceramic art from the Ninth through Fifteenth Centuries.
Baltimore Museum of Art
Baltimore, Maryland
Rodin: Expression & InfluenceAugust 1, 2007-February 10, 2008
Nearly 30 sculptures by artists Auguste Rodin (1840-1917), Edgar Degas (1834-1917), Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) and Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), as well as works on paper, document Rodin's influence on his contemporaries.
Bayerisches Nationalmuseum
Munich, Germany
Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures:Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art
May 10-September 16, 2007
More than 100 examples of decorative art, illuminated manuscripts, metalwork, painting, sculpture and textiles explore the rich artistic output of medieval Europe from Early Christian and Byzantine times through the fifteenth-century Age of Humanism. This splendid exhibition travels next to The Getty Museum, Los Angeles, California (October 20, 2007-January 20, 2008). Additional venues will be announced.
Bowers Museum of Cultural Art
Santa Ana, California
Treasures from Shanghai: 5000Years of Chinese Art and Culture
February 18-August 19, 2007
Seventy-seven objects from the Neolithic period (ca. 3000 B.C.) through the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911 A.D.) on loan from China's Shanghai Museum. Bronze vessels, examples of porcelain and pottery, paintings and lacquerware describe various facets of Chinese culture from ancient times through the beginning of the Twentieth Century.
The British Museum
London, England
New Prehistoric and Roman Britain GalleriesOpened June 21, 2007
Art and artifacts from Britain from Neolithic times through the Iron Age are exhibited in a fresh suite of modern galleries.
The First Emperor:
China's Terracotta Army
September 13, 2007- April 6, 2008
This ticketed special exhibition features more than 120 objects from the Museum of the Terracotta Army and the Shaanxi Cultural Relics Bureau in Xi'an, including 20 complete figures buried with Qin Shihuangdi (r. 221-210 B.C.), China's first emperor. Many will come from the famous retinue of terracotta warriors, China's largest loan abroad of this type of sculpture. Also on view will be examples of more recent and important finds, such as terracotta bureaucrats, acrobats and musicians, lifelike bronze birds and other works. These sculptures were interred with the First Emperor of Qin, in readiness for the afterlife, as he prepared to rule the world even after his earthly demise.
Brooklyn Museum
Brooklyn, New York
Kindred Spirits: Asher B. Durandand the American Landscape
March 30-July 29, 2007
Reassesses the career of American landscape painter Asher Brown Durand (1796-1886) through nearly 60 of his paintings, including newly discovered works. Travels next to the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C. (September 14, 2007-January 6, 2008) and the San Diego Museum of Art, California (February 2-April 27, 2008).
Canadian Museum of Civilization
Gatineau, Quebec, Canada
Masters of the Plains: AncientNomads of Russia and Canada
December 1, 2006-September 3, 2007
More than 400 works of art and artifacts reveal remarkable cultural similarities between the ancient bison-hunting peoples of North America's Great Plains and the livestock-herding nomads of the Eurasian Steppes.
Michael C. Carlos Museum
Atlanta, Georgia
Cradle of Christianity: Jewish andChristian Treasures from the Holy Land
June 16-October 14, 2007
Describes the common roots of early Jewish and Christian life and beliefs through marvelous objects from the First through Seventh Centuries A.D., drawn entirely from the Israel Museum, Jerusalem.
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute
Williamstown, Massachusetts
The Unknown Monet:Pastels and Drawings
June 24-September 16, 2007
Drawings, pastels and paintings by French Impressionist Claude Monet (1840-1926) help to freshly examine the largely unexplored role of draftsmanship in the artist's works.
The Cleveland Institute of Art
Cleveland, Ohio
Ansel Adams: A LegacyMay 20-August 19, 2007
More than 100 images by American photographer Ansel Adams (1902-1984), captured mostly between the 1960s and early 1980s, illustrate the artist's career through his studies of architecture, landscape, portraiture and textiles.
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, Ohio
Icons of American PhotographyJune 24-September 16, 2007
Traces the development of photography in the United States from 1850 to 1960. Includes works by Alfred Stieglitz (1864-1946), Edward Steichen (1879-1973), Edward Weston (1886-1958), Dorothea Lange (1895-1965), Ansel Adams (1902-1984), Walker Evans (1903-1975) and Weegee (1899-1968), among others.
Courtauld Institute of Art
London, England
Temptation in Eden: LucasCranach's "Adam and Eve"
June 21-September 23, 2007
Explores the interpretation of Eve's role in the Fall of Man by German Renaissance artist Lucas Cranach the Elder (ca. 1472-1553) through drawings, engravings, paintings and woodcuts.
Special Display of German Drawings
June 21-September 23, 2007
Complements the institute's exhibition on Lucas Cranach the Elder and includes One of the Wise Virgins (1493) and The Emperors Charlemagne and Sigismund (ca. 1510) by German Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528).
Salvador Dalí Museum
St. Petersburg, Florida
Dalí in FocusJuly 13, 2007-January 2008
Examines hidden details in a number of the Spanish Surrealist's paintings, emphasizing the artist's desires, dreams and memories.
Dallas Museum of Art
Dallas, Texas
In Stabiano: Exploring the AncientSeaside Villas of the Roman Elite
July 8-October 7, 2007
A complete three-wall triclinium room fresco, 24 wall paintings, stucco fragments and sculptures are among the 70 masterpieces on display from four ancient Roman villas recently discovered near Italy's Bay of Naples and the modern city of Castelammare di Stabiae. The exhibition describes the luxurious art and culture of the structures' occupants. Travels next to the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens, Jacksonville, Florida (November 7, 2007-February 3, 2008).
Read a review of the exhibition.
Denver Art Museum
Denver, Colorado
Clyfford Still Unveiled:Selections from the Estate
July 14-September 30, 2007
Thirteen significant works by American Abstract Expressionist Clyfford Still (1904-1980) are on view in anticipation of a new museum named after him that will open next-door to the Denver Art Museum in 2010.
Baroque Masterpieces on Loan
Beginning August 18, 2007
Three marvelous paintings by artists who worked in Rome during the first half of the Seventeenth Century are on loan to the DAM from private collections: Still Life with Fruit on a Stone Ledge (1603) by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610), Midas Washing at the Source of the Pactolus (ca. 1626) by Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665) and Landscape with Cowherd Piping (1649-50) by Claude Lorrain (1604/5?-1682).
Dulwich Picture Gallery
London, England
Artists' Self-Portraits from the Uffizi:Masterpieces from Velázquez to Chagall
May 22-July 15, 2007
Fifty self-portraits of artists from Florence's Galleria degli Uffizi, including those of Filippino Lippi (1456/57-1504), Diego Velázquez (1599-1660), Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680), Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) and Marc Chagall (1887-1985).
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Cambridge, England
A Passport to the Egyptian After-life:The Book of the Dead of Ramose
June 19-September 16, 2007
A major conservation effort has allowed the sheets of this rare collection of spells, intended to ensure its deceased owner's safe passage through the afterlife, are on view. Created in the 13th Century B.C., one can now see beautiful images of everyday life as well as the flora and fauna of ancient Egypt.
Franklin Institute
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the PharaohsFebruary 3-September 30, 2007
This ticketed special exhibition features objects from the boy-king Tutankhamun's tomb (some of which were previously seen in the United States, minus the pharaoh's iconic Gold Mask) and other works of art from his predecessors' reigns. Included this time is the gilded gold coffin of the lady Tjuya. Tutankhamun is properly placed historically within the monotheistic maelstrom of his father, Akhenaten, by works of art that describe the "heretic" pharaoh's religious revolution. Objects specific to Tutankhamun's burial include the pharaoh's delicate royal diadem, discovered encircling the mummified king's head, and one of the four miniature canopic coffins that contained some of the young ruler's internal organs. The show climaxes with the recent forensic reconstruction of what Tutankhamun was supposed to have looked like. Travels next to London, England in November 2007. Additional venues may be announced.
Frist Center for the Visual Arts
Nashville, Tennessee
Brushed with Light: Masters of AmericanWatercolor from the Brooklyn Museum
May 4-July 22, 2007
A survey of American watercolor landscapes from late eighteenth-century New England through the early years of the Twentieth Century. Travels next to the Brooklyn Museum, New York (September 14, 2007-January 13, 2008).
J. Paul Getty Museum
Los Angeles, California
Radiant Darkness: TheArt of Nocturnal Light
April 24-July 22, 2007
Explores the symbolism of light in darkness through works by artists from the Fifteenth to the Seventeenth Century.
Medieval Beasts
May 1-July 29, 2007
Explores the everyday and symbolic roles of actual animals and their imaginary counterparts in medieval art and society through illuminated manuscripts, especially as they appear in two bestiaries.
Oudry's Painted Menagerie
May 1-September 2, 2007
Twelve works by French artist Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686-1755), court painter to France's King Louis XV (r. 1715-1744), describe some of the Rococo ruler's exotic animals. Drawings by Oudry and examples of decorative art help to explain the French royalty's fascination with rare and unusual creatures during the Ancien Régime.
Defining Modernity:
European Drawings, 1800-1900
June 5-September 9, 2007
Inaugurating its new drawings galleries, masterworks from The Getty Museum, along with loans from London's Courtauld Institute of Art, explore the use of new materials and expansion of subject matter by Edgar Degas (1834-1917), Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) and Georges Seurat (1859-1891).
Manet's Bar at the Folies-Bergère
June 5-September 9, 2007
Thoroughly analyzes A Bar at the Folies-Bergère (1882) by French Impressionist painter Édouard Manet (1832-1883) in light of recent fascinating scholarship.
Edward Weston: Enduring Vision
July 31-November 25, 2007
Describes the accomplishments of Edward Weston (1886-1958), a pioneer in American photography, in California, other regions of the United States and Mexico. Includes works by his colleagues and students.
Music for the Masses: Illuminated Choir Books
August 14-October 28, 2007
More than 40 exquisite manuscripts and leaves from The Getty Museum's collection describe the types of medieval and Renaissance books that contained Christian liturgical music, who used them and the artists who painted their illuminations. Accompanied by recorded versions of the many chants on display.
The Getty Villa
Malibu, California
Greeks on the Black Sea:Ancient Art from the Hermitage
June 14-September 3, 2007
Some 175 objects, produced largely in the northern Black Sea region where Greeks as early as the Seventh Century B.C. interacted with the indigenous Scythians, illustrate the cross-fertilization of ancient artistic traditions through the Roman period.
The Herculaneum Women
and the Origins of Archaeology
July 12-November 5, 2007
Examines two Roman female sculptures from Herculaneum's theater, buried in the ashes of Mount Vesuvius' eruption in 79 A.D. and discovered around 1710.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
New York, New York
Divisionism/Neo-Impressionism:Arcadia and Anarchy
April 27-August 6, 2007
Works by French Neo-Impressionists Georges Seurat (1859-1891), Paul Signac (1863-1935) and Camille Pissarro (1830-1903), masters of color theory and optics, help to describe the influence of their Pointillist painting technique on Italian Divisionists Giovanni Segantini (1858-1899), Angelo Morbelli (1853-1919) and Guiseppe Pellizza (1868-1907), among others, through five themes: light, landscape, rural life, social problems and symbolism.
High Museum of Art
Atlanta, Georgia
Kings as CollectorsOctober 14, 2006-September 2, 2007
The first installment of a three-year collaboration between the High Museum of Art and Paris' Musée du Louvre, this exhibition features 32 world-renowned paintings, complemented by sculptures and antiquities collected during the reigns of Louis XIV (r. 1643-1715) and Louis XVI (r. 1774-1793). Et in Arcadia Ego by Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665) is a highlight of the show. Recently added to the exhibition are five masterworks by painters of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries.
Decorative Arts of the Kings
Through September 2, 2007
Displays 53 decorative works of art (ceramics, furniture, silver and tapestry) commissioned by Louis XIV (r. 1643-1715), Louis XV (r. 1715-1774) and Louis XVI (r. 1774-1793). All have never before traveled to the United States.
Faces of History and Myth:
Busts from the Musée du Louvre
Through September 2, 2007
Some bronze and marble busts from the Musée du Louvre's earliest holdings recall the grandeur of imperial Rome. Others are portraits of artists, including Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1649), Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665) and Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669).
The Gates of Paradise: Lorenzo
Ghiberti's Renaissance Masterpiece
April 28-July 15, 2007
Three Old Testament narrative panels, two prophets and two decorative heads set in roundels, all from the doors of Florence's Baptistery and created by Italian Renaissance artist Lorenzo Ghiberti (1378-1455), are on view after having been diligently conserved. They represent the sculptor's 27-year involvement with this major project from 1425 to 1452. The show travels next to the Art Institute of Chicago (July 28-October 14, 2007) and The Metropolitan Museum of Art (October 30, 2007-January 14, 2008).
Read a preview of the exhibition.
Annie Leibovitz:
A Photographer's Life, 1990-2005
May 12-September 9, 2007
Some 100 images by American photographer Annie Leibovitz (b. 1949) cover a number of her recent professional assignments. Included are images that document facets of her personal life and Leibovitz's landscapes of the American West. Travels next to the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (October 13, 2007-January 13, 2008) and the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, California (March 3-May 25, 2008).
Houston Museum of Natural Science
Houston, Texas
Imperial RomeFebruary 23-July 29, 2007
More than 400 objects from the National Archaeological Museum of Florence and elsewhere in Italy, many recently discovered, describe Roman art, history and culture from 27 B.C. through the middle of the Third Century A.D. Portrait busts of the Roman Empire's rulers, funerary works and sculptures that describe classical Roman deities and religious beliefs are the hallmarks of this presentation.
Of Gold and Grass:
Nomads of Kazakhstan
June 15-September 9, 2007
Some 180 artworks and artifacts describe the ancient nomadic culture of Kazakhstan in Central Asia, including Scythian gold ornaments crafted in the "animal style" as well as objects unearthed from tumuli or burial mounds dating to 2300 years ago.
The Jewish Museum
New York, New York
The Sculpture of Louise Nevelson:Constructing a Legend
May 5-September 16, 2007
Surveys the career of American artist Louise Nevelson (1899-1988) through 66 works, including sculptures, room-size installations, self-portraits and rare works on paper. Travels next to the M.H. de Young Museum, San Francisco, California (October 27, 2007-January 13, 2008).
Kimbell Art Museum
Fort Worth, Texas
The Mirror and the Mask:Portraiture in the Age of Picasso
June 17-September 16, 2007
More than 80 paintings and a number of sculptures describe the development of modern portraiture from 1890 to 1990.
Martin-Gropius-Bau Museum
Berlin, Germany
Under the Sign of the Golden Griffin:The Royal Tombs of the Scythians
July 6-October 1, 2007
Seven countries have contributed scintillating objects to this in-depth examination of the Scythians, a people who dominated the Eurasian Steppes from the Eighth to Third Centuries B.C. Emphasis is placed on recent archaeological finds.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
New York, New York
Coaxing the Spirits to Dance:Art of the Papuan Gulf
October 24, 2006-September 2, 2007
Late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century sculptures from the Papuan Gulf of New Guinea represent supernatural entities that Oceanic peoples placated for the needs of their daily existence.
Read a review of the exhibition.
Venice and the Islamic
World, 828-1797
March 27-July 8, 2007
Explains why Venetian decorative artworks, drawings, paintings and printed books from the Middle Ages through the Baroque period were influenced by Islam. Unique to the Metropolitan Museum's presentation is the Bodleian Library's Travels (ca. 1400), an oversized illustrated account in French of the journey to Asia by medieval Venetian merchant Marco Polo (1254-1342). Venice, Italy's Palazzo Ducale will be the exhibition's last stop (July 28-November 25, 2007).
New Greek and Roman Galleries
Opened April 20, 2007
The new Hellenistic, Etruscan and Roman art galleries surrounding the Leon Levy and Shelby White Court complete The Metropolitan Museum of Art's reinstallation of its world-class holdings in Classical art.
Frank Stella: Painting into Architecture
May 1-July 29, 2007
Architectural works, paintings, sculptures and wall reliefs by Frank Stella (b. 1936).
Frank Stella on the Roof
May 1-October 28, 2007
Recent works in stainless steel and carbon fiber by American artist Frank Stella (b. 1936) occupy The Met's famous Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden overlooking scenic Central Park.
View a gallery of images from the exhibition.
Impressionist and Early Modern
Paintings: The Clark Brothers Collect
May 22-August 19, 2007
More than 65 works of art from the collections of rival brothers Robert Sterling Clark (1877-1956) and Stephen Carlton Clark (1882-1960) are on view, including paintings by Edgar Degas (1834-1917), Winslow Homer (1836-1910), Paul Cézanne (1839-1906), Claude Monet (1840-1926), Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), Henri Matisse (1869-1954), Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) and Thomas Eakins (1884-1916).
Neo Rauch at the Met: para
May 22-September 23, 2007
Made specifically for this installation, eleven paintings by New Leipzig School artist Neo Rauch (b. 1960) detail the painter's Surrealist and popular imagery in works dealing with historical figures and failed utopias, among other subjects.
Reinstallation of the South Asia Galleries:
Gandhara, Mathura, Andhra and Gupta Sculpture
Opens August 3, 2007
More than 160 works created between the Second Century B.C. and Eighth Century A.D. illustrate Buddhist and Hindu sculptural traditions in South Asia, with particular attention paid to regional influences from Afghanistan, India and Pakistan.
Excellence and Elegance: Decorative
Arts of the Eighteenth-Century Qing Court
August 25, 2007-November 25, 2007
Superb works of jade, lacquer, metal, porcelain and textile demonstrate the type of artistic refinement demanded by China's Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
Milwaukee Art Museum
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Pissarro: Creating theImpressionist Landscape
June 9-September 9, 2007
Museums worldwide have lent the Milwaukee Art Museum 45 works by French Impressionist Camille Pissarro (1830-1903), painted between 1864 and 1874, a period of great visual experimentation for the artist. This selection of Pissarro's vibrant landscapes travels next to the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art (October 7, 2007-January 6, 2008).
Mississippi Museum of Art
Jackson, Mississippi
Between God and Man:Angels in Italian Art
June 9-December 30, 2007
Through more than 150 examples of Western European art, this exhibition introduces viewers to the concept of angels and their hierarchy.
Morgan Library & Museum
New York, New York
Federico da Montefeltro and His LibraryJune 8-September 30, 2007
This extraordinary exhibition evokes the grandeur and intellectual interests of a prominent Italian Renaissance prince through illuminated manuscripts and wall reproductions of one of his studies.
Mount Holyoke College Art Museum
South Hadley, Massachusetts
Excavating Egypt: Great Discoveriesfrom the Petrie Museum of Egyptian
Archaeology, University College London
February 17-July 22, 2007
More than 220 works of art and artifacts from London's Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology document the history and culture of ancient Egypt from predynastic through Roman times. Objects from the reign of the "heretic pharaoh" Akhenaten (r. 1353-1336 B.C.) are a highlight of the exhibition. Travels next to the Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe (August 24, 2007-January 6, 2008) and the Columbia Museum of Art, South Carolina (January 24-June 8, 2008).
Read a review of the exhibition catalogue.
Musée d'Orsay
Paris, France
Cézanne to Picasso: AmbroiseVollard, Patron of the Avant-Garde
June 19-September 16, 2007
The career of Parisian art dealer Ambroise Vollard (1866-1939) as seen through paintings by the artists whom he represented: Edgar Degas (1834-1917), Paul Cézanne (1839-1906), Paul Gauguin (1848-1903), Henri Matisse (1869-1954), Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), Édouard Vuillard (1868-1940) and others.
Read a review of the exhibition.
View a gallery of images from the exhibition.
Musée du Louvre
Paris, France
The Golden Age—the Age of EnlightenmentJuly 12-October 15, 2007
Sixty works on paper by seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Spanish artists Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617-1682), Jusepe de Ribera (1591-1652), Francisco de Goya (1746-1828) and their contemporaries.
Museo Arqueologico Provincial de Alicante
Alicante, Spain
Art and Empire: Treasures fromAssyria in the British Museum
April 2-September 30, 2007
Thirty-four carved stone reliefs from palaces, precious ivories, bronze, ceramic and glass vessels, clay cuneiform tablets and cylinder seals describe life, culture and art in the Assyrian Empire of ancient Mesopotamia from the Ninth through Seventh Centuries B.C.
Museo del Prado
Madrid, Spain
Patinir and the Invention of LandscapeJuly 3-October 7, 2007
This international loan exhibition celebrates the invention of landscape painting by the enigmatic Flemish artist Joachim Patinir (1475/85-1524) through 22 of the master's works and 26 by his predecessors and followers.
Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza
Madrid, Spain
Van Gogh: The Last LandscapesJune 6-September 16, 2007
Landscapes painted by Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) during the last three months of his life in Auvers, France.
Museum für Völkerkunde
Vienna, Austria
Benin—Kings and Rituals,Court Arts from Nigeria
May 9-September 3, 2007
More than 300 sculptures describe royal art, culture and ritual in the West African Kingdom of Benin from the Fourteenth through Twenty-first Centuries. Travels next to the Musée du quai Branly, Paris, France (October 2, 2007-January 6, 2008), the Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Germany (February 7-May 25, 2008) and the Art Institute of Chicago (June 27-September 21, 2008).
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Boston, Massachusetts
Donatello to Giambologna: Italian RenaissanceSculpture at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
January 24-July 8, 2007
The MFA, Boston's superb collection of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Italian Renaissance sculpture, largely unknown to both the public and scholars. Includes works by Donatello (ca. 1386-1466) and Luca della Robbia (1399-1482). Issues of preservation and conservation are addressed.
Edward Hopper
May 8-August 19, 2007
Fifty luminous oil paintings, 12 prints and 30 watercolors by American artist Edward Hopper (1882-1967), created from around 1925 to 1950, feature many of his iconic images. Chop Suey (1929) and Nighthawks (1942) are included in this presentation. Travels next to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (September 16, 2007-January 21, 2008).
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Houston, Texas
Arms and Armor from the Ancient WorldThrough July 29, 2007
How arms and armor from classical Greece and Rome transcended their roles as weaponry and became regarded as art.
Museum of Modern Art
New York, New York
Picasso's "Demoiselles d'Avignon" at 100May 9-August 27, 2007
New York's Museum of Modern Art presents Picasso's "Demoiselles d'Avignon" at 100 in its fifth-floor Estée and Joseph H. Lauder Painting and Sculpture Gallery. This focus exhibition celebrates the one-hundredth anniversary of the iconic Cubist masterpiece by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso (1881-1973). MoMA's special display reunites preparatory sketches and studies for Les Demoiselles d' Avignon (1906-07) with the recently conserved painting, accompanied by works created immediately before and after its completion.
Richard Serra Sculpture: Forty Years
June 3-September 10, 2007
A three-floor retrospective spanning the career of American sculptor Richard Serra (b. 1939).
Nassau County Museum of Art
Roslyn Harbor, New York
Dreams on Canvas: Surrealismin Europe and America
May 26-August 12, 2007
Explores the personalities, subject matter and inventive techniques of the European and American Surrealists through works by André Breton (1896-1966), Salvador Dalí (1904-1989), René Magritte (1898-1967), Max Ernst (1891-1976), Jackson Pollock (1912-1956), Willem de Kooning (1904-1997) and others. Surrealism's influence on fashion, film and theatre is also examined.
National Art Center
Tokyo, Japan
Claude Monet and His PosterityApril 6-July 2, 2007
This international loan exhibition includes nearly 100 works by French Impressionist Claude Monet (1840-1926) and approximately 20 more by artists influenced by him, among them Georges Seurat (1859-1891), André Derain (1880-1954) and Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997).
National Gallery
London, England
Dutch Portraits: The Ageof Rembrandt and Frans Hals
June 27-September 16, 2007
This ticketed special exhibition examines Dutch "Golden Age" portraiture through some 60 works painted between 1600 and 1680. Travels next to the Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis, The Hague, The Netherlands (October 13, 2007-January 13, 2008).
National Gallery of Art
Washington, D.C.
Fabulous Journeys and FarawayPlaces: Travels on Paper 1450-1700
May 6-September 16, 2007
Some 75 works on paper document European ideas about exotic lands and foreign peoples (both real and imaginary) from the Fifteenth to the Eighteenth Century.
Claude Lorrain—The Painter as Draftsman:
Drawings from the British Museum
May 27-August 12, 2007
French Baroque artist Claude Lorrain (1604/5?-1682) is represented by 85 works on paper, a selection of oil paintings and several original etchings, culled from the British Museum.
Desiderio da Settignano: Sculptor
of Renaissance Florence
July 1-October 8, 2007
Describes the artistic vocabulary of Italian Renaissance sculptor Desiderio da Settignano (1429-1464) largely through his stiacciato or flattened reliefs that exude both grace and power. Marble masterpieces by this distinguished pupil of Donatello (1386/87-1466) include portrait busts as well as works of religious, decorative and heraldic natures.
National Gallery of Canada
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Renoir Landscapes 1865-1885June 8-September 9, 2007
Seventy landscapes by French Impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) from 1860 through 1883 demonstrate how the artist experimented with composition, the handling of paint and structure in his early works.
National Museum
Stockholm, Sweden
The Art of Transformation:Ovid's "Metamorphoses" in Art
May 24, 2007-January 6, 2008
Prints and drawings illustrate stories about Greek and Roman deities in the epic poem Metamorphoses by the Roman author Ovid (43 B.C.-17 A.D.).
Neue Galerie
New York, New York
Vincent van Gogh and ExpressionismMarch 23-July 2, 2007
Explains the influence of Dutch Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) on Expressionist artists Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-1938) and Oskar Kokoschka (1886-1980). Unique to the American version of the show is van Gogh's The Wheat Field Behind St. Paul's Hospital (1889).
Neue Nationalgalerie
Berlin, Germany
The Masterpieces of French Painting fromThe Metropolitan Museum of Art: 1800-1920
June 1-October 7, 2007
A selection of 135 French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings from New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, along with 15 sculptures, are currently on view.
View a gallery of images from the exhibition.
New Orleans Museum of Art
New Orleans, Louisiana
Albrecht Dürer: RenaissanceEngravings and Woodcuts
June 23-August 19, 2007
More than 70 works on paper by the Northern Renaissance artist, including his complete series The Apocalypse (1498) and etchings such as Knight, Death and the Devil (1512) and Melancholia I (1514). Travels next to the Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, Texas (September 8-November 25, 2007).
Windows of Heaven: Russian Icons
from the Collection of Daniel R. Bibb
and the New Orleans Museum of Art
June 23-August 26, 2007
Religious icons from the Seventeenth through Twentieth Centuries. Explains their artistic production and religious meaning in Russian society.
North Carolina Museum of Art
Raleigh, North Carolina
Temples and Tombs: Treasures ofEgyptian Art from The British Museum
April 15-July 8, 2007
Eighty-five objects from The British Museum (cosmetic and funerary items, jewelry, papyri, reliefs and sculptures) document the development of art and culture in ancient Egypt from shortly before the Third Dynasty (ca. 2686 B.C.) to the Roman occupation of the Fourth Century A.D. The exhibition is divided into four sections: the pharaoh and the temple; artists and nobles; Egyptians as portrayed in temple and tomb sculpture; and the role of the tomb in death and the afterlife. Travels next to the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History, New Mexico (November 18, 2007-February 10, 2008).
Onderdonk House
Ridgewood, New York
"De Boerderij"June 30-September 30, 2007
Exciting paintings and outdoor sculptures by more than a dozen contemporary artists comprise De Boerderij (the Dutch word for farm), a truly special exhibition inspired by aspects of agrarian life and the Onderdonk House, a remarkably well-preserved seventeenth-century landmark in New York City.
Portland Art Museum
Portland, Oregon
Rembrandt and the Golden Age:Masterpieces from the Rijksmuseum
May 26-September 16, 2007
Landscapes, portraits, self-portraits, still-life paintings, Delftware, sculptures and objects of silver and glass describe the artists, working environments, living conditions and techniques of Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) and other seventeenth-century Dutch artists. Works by Jan Steen (1626-1679), Gerard Dou (1613-1675), Pieter Claesz (1597/98-1660), Rachel Ruysch (1664-1750), Jacob van Ruisdael (1628/29-1682) and Hendrick Ter Brugghen (1588-1629) complement Rembrandt's masterpieces. The influence of Roman Baroque artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1573-1610) is examined.
Royal Ontario Museum
Toronto, Ontario Canada
Drama and Desire: Japanese Paintingsfrom the Floating World, 1690-1850
Until August 12, 2007 More than 80 ukiyo-e or "floating world" paintings from the Seventeenth through Nineteenth Centuries A.D. illustrate the rich symbolism of the "two places of iniquity," namely the theater and the brothel. Returns to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (August 28-December 16, 2007).
Ancient Peru Unearthed: Golden
Treasures of a Lost Civilization
March 10-September 3, 2007
More than 120 gold and ceramic works of art (900-1300 A.D.) describe the pre-Inca Sicán culture of northern Peru.
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
Washington, D.C.
Encompassing the Globe: Portugal andthe World in the 16th and 17th Centuries
June 24-September 16, 2007
Some 250 exquisite objects illustrate Portugal's cultural and commercial contacts with Africa, Brazil, China, India, Japan and Southeast Asia during the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Age of Exploration.
Saint Louis Art Museum
St. Louis, Missouri
Symbols of Power: Napoleon andthe Art of the Empire Style, 1800-1815
June 17-September 16, 2007
More than 250 objects (architectural studies, bronzes, clothing, furniture, jewelry, porcelain, scenic wallpapers, silverware, statues and textiles) from Paris' Musée des Arts décoratifs and French public and private collections document the development of the Empire Style of early nineteenth-century French art during the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821). Travels next to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts (October 21, 2007-January 27, 2008) and the Musée des Arts décoratifs in Paris, France (April 2-October 5, 2008).
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
San Francisco, California
Matisse: Painter as SculptorJune 9-September 16, 2007
More than 150 drawings, paintings and sculptures by French Fauvist Henri Matisse (1869-1954) illustrate the interrelationships among the three media as interpreted through the artist's oeuvres. Travels next to The Baltimore Museum of Art from October 28, 2007 to February 3, 2008.
Städel Museum
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
The Changing Face of Childhood: BritishChildren's Portraits and Their Influence in Europe
April 20-July 15, 2007
Examines children's portraiture in England and its influence on the European continent from the 1630s through the eighteenth-century Age of Enlightenment and beyond. Travels next to the Dulwich Picture Gallery in London, England (August 1-November 4, 2007).
State Hermitage Museum
St. Petersburg, Russia
Era of the Merovingians:Europe Without Borders
June 19-September 16, 2007
More than 1200 intricately designed brooches, collars, pendants and small-scale statues, made of metal and stone, describe European art and culture in the Early Middle Ages. They were created during the reign of the Merovingians, the dynasty that ruled parts of modern-day France, Belgium, Germany and Austria from 482 to 751 A.D.
Tate Modern
London, England
Dalí & FilmJune 1-September 9, 2007
More than 100 drawings, films, paintings and photographs by Spanish Surrealist Salvador Dalí (1904-1989) describe how cinema inspired him. The exhibition includes an examination of Dalí's collaborations with such filmmakers as Luis Buñuel, Alfred Hitchcock, the Marx Brothers and Walt Disney.
University of Pennsylvania Museum
of Archaeology and Anthropology
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Amarna: Ancient Egypt's Place in the SunNovember 12, 2006-October 2007
More than 100 works of art and other objects present a vivid description of life, religion and art during ancient Egypt's Amarna Period (ca. 1353-1336), the age of Pharaoh Akhenaten and his son, Tutankhamun. This state-of-the art presentation coincides with the institution's refurbishment of its Upper and Lower Egyptian galleries. Visitors to Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs at the nearby Franklin Institute should definitely see this special exhibition.
Read a preview of the exhibition.
Van Gogh Museum
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Max Beckmann in Amsterdam, 1937-1947April 6-August 19, 2007
More than 100 paintings and works on paper by German Expressionist Max Beckmann (1884-1950), drawn from international public and private collections, describe the decade of his residence in Amsterdam.
Victoria & Albert Museum
London, England
Surreal Things: Surrealism and DesignMarch 29-July 22, 2007
Documents the influence of Surrealism on architecture, the decorative arts and design from the 1920s through after World War II.
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Richmond, Virginia
Rule Britannia!April 28-August 12, 2007
Shown exclusively at the VMFA, an unprecedented loan of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century portraits and maritime paintings from the Royal Collection of Queen Elizabeth II and other British sources explores art, power and royalty at the time of the founding of Jamestown, England's first permanent settlement in the New World. A significant loan on view is Queen Elizabeth I: The Armada Portrait (late Sixteenth Century), never before exhibited in the United States.
Géricault to Bonnard: Recent Gifts
from the Paul Mellon Collection
Opened June 13, 2007
Twenty French drawings, paintings and watercolors from the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries grace the fourth-floor Mellon Galleries. Artists represented include Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863), Theodore Géricault (1791-1824), Odilon Redon (1840-1916) and Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947). A complementary selection of sculptures and decorative objects are also on display.
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art
Hartford, Connecticut
Faith and Fortune: Five Centuriesof European Masterworks
March 2-December 9, 2007
Five-hundred treasures from the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art's permanent collection, ranging in date from the Renaissance through the Neoclassical and Romantic periods, are on display. Arranged chronologically, geographically and thematically, they include: more than 125 paintings; bronze, ceramic, glass, ivory and silver objects; and a selection of sculptures.
Whitney Museum of American Art
New York, New York
Summer of Love: Artof the Psychedelic Era
May 24-September 16, 2007
Contemporary art and culture of the 1960s and early 1970s as seen through album covers, paintings, photographs, posters, sculptures and underground magazines. Films of performances and light shows are included.
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From your Guide: Stan Parchin, Senior Correspondent for Museums and Special Exhibitions, is a specialist in ancient, late-medieval and Renaissance art and history, and a regular contributor to About Art History. You may read all of his Special Exhibition and Catalogue Reviews here.