Museum of Fine Arts

With Jack Levine and Karl Zerbe the artist Hyman Bloom, who was born in Latvia in 1913, was a founding member of the Boston Expressionists. He recently passed away at 96. Yeshiva University a memorial exhibition, through January 24, 2010, is traveling from the Danforth Museum curated by Katherine French.

Located between the larger and better known artist communities of Pittsfield and North Adams it is easy to overlook the vibrant Adams art scene. We visited and interviewed eight artists in their studios. They are all well established with an intriguing variety of work.

There were books strewn about in the libarary, ice on the floors and broken shutters when Tina Packer and Shakespeare & Company moved into Edith Wharton's The Mount 32 years ago. There was an increasingly contentious relationship with Edith Wharton Restoration Inc. In 2000 S&Co purchased and moved to its current Lenox campus.

During this rainy and mostly miserable summer the exhibition "Dove/O'Keeffe Circles of Influence" at the Clark Art Institute has provided shelter from the storm. Visitors have flocked to this populat exhibition which ends on September 7.

The theatrical lighting designer, Julie Seitel, has curated the exhiition "Illuminati" at the Eclipse Mill Gallery in North Adams, Mass. The switched on theme includes the light artists: Brian Jewett, Marjorie Minkin, John Powell and Richard Harrington as well as Seitel's pieces. It is one of the best shows of the Berkshire summer season.

Greene & Greene, Charles Sumner and Henry Mather, California-based architects/designers whose work became the "gold standard" for Arts and Crafts Style. Their elegant collaboration lasted only a short period, but their design legacy is celebrated by Boston's Museum of Fine Arts in a beautifully presented and thoughtfully produced exhibition.

When Igor Stavinsky's ballet "Le Sacre du Printemps," with choreography by Vaslav Nijinski, premiered in Paris with the Ballets Russes on May 29, 1913 it provoked a riot. A light attendance for James Levine conducting at Tanglewood indicates that after almost a century it is still a hard sell. Judging by a standing ovation and encore it was clear that much of the audience had come to hear violinist Christian Tarzlaff perform Brahms.

Remembering two of the great 20th Century Avant-Garde Artists, now deceased, and Yoko Ono, very much alive, and presenting important work in the 21st Century.

From May 26 through June 2, 1969, the newlyweds, John Lennon and Yoko Ono staged a Bed-in for Peace at the Saint Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal. Now 40 years on the occasion is celebrated with an amazing free exhibition at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Visitors are invited to bring cameras and pose playing John's famous white piano. The lively special exhibition will not travel. Understandably it is drawing mobs on a daily basis. Don't miss this incredible celebration.

The Boston Independent Film Festival has developed into a serious film celebration. Closing night of the seventh year of the Boston Independent Film Festival took place at the Coolidge Corner Theatre. The film was World's Greatest Dad directed by Bobcat Goldwait and starring Robin Williams. Yes, that Bobcat Goldwait of intellectually unmemorable films like Police Academy and quirky standup routines. The crowd loved it at the Coolidge with Robin Williams on the screen and Goldwait in person.

The Venice Biennale is the oldest having been founded in 1895. That was followed by the Sao Paulo Biennale in 1951 and Documenta in 1955. Today there are some 200 global biennials. As the art world gets beaten back by a sour economy it is time to reevaluate the proliferation of international exhibitions. This was the topic of a lively panel that was mostly sabotaged by an unruly participant.

Drawing on great depth in its collection the Williams College Museum of Art, from July 18 through September 20, will present "Prendergast in Italy." The exhibition features works by Maurice Prendergast (American, 1858–1924). The exhibition will be accompanied by a major catalogue and will travel internationally.

In a story suitable for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum was robbed by thieves pretending to be Boston Police Officers on March 18, 1990. The robbers took 13 art objects that ranged from priceless to relatively little value. The case has gone unsolved for 19 years. There is a $5 million reward. Do you know who done it and where the art is? No one else seems to, either.

During the mix of several recent New York art fairs, Volta represented national and international galleries featuring the work of a single artist. The Cologne, Germany based Brigitte Schenk Gallerie exhibited the expressionist watercolor of Goth rock star, Marilyn Manson.

While teaching at the Metropolitan College of Boston University, where he chairs the Arts Administration program, Daniel Ranalli became intrigued by the palimpsests left on blackboards by professors. He began to photograph these serendipitous texts. Later they were manipulated to form the Chalkboard Series which is on view at Gallery Kayafas in Boston. He also shows with artSTRAND Gallery in Provincetown.

Following a retrospective featuring Jo Sandman at the Danforth Museum last fall Susan Schwalb visited the artist in her studio. They discussed a distinguished career that included study with Hans Hofmann and Robert Motherwell as well as working on design projects under Walter Gropius. Sandman has worked with experimental materials to create installations such as those on view at the Danforth Museum.

With the unanimous decision of the Board of Trustees, Jehuda Reinharz, the President of Brandeis University has decided to close the Rose Art Museum and sell its collection appraised at $350 million but worth about half of that estimate in the current art market. It is a desperate measure to stabalize the cash strapped university whose donors have been hit hard by the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scandal.

In 2005, after some 38 years in the small, cramped,studio which he called "The Boston Visionary Cell" Paul Laffoley was evicted. During the move several paintings from the 1960s were discovered. They have been cleaned, restored and shown for the first time since they were created by Kent Gallery in New York.

The Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Mass. is one the best endowed small museums in the U.S. Through its association with Williams College the Clark offers a wide range of lectures and symposia that are available to the general public.

For some 40 years Cornelius Vermeule was the Curator of Classical Art of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. In addition to being a distinguised scholar he was a renowned wit and merry prankster.

Sally Mann is a unique figure in the world of photography. She developed her technique and style in an artistic backwater, Lexington, Virginia, with virtually no conversation or mentoring. After nearly twenty years of solitary work, she became a leading narrative and expressionistic artistic photographer without the normal contacts, relationships and networking. Her work is provocative and evocative.

From the lights on the Boston Common, to the lights on the marquees, Boston knows how to celebrate the Holidays. Their traditions have long histories and deep roots, from the Holiday Pops and Handel & Haydn Messiah to the Christmas Revels and The Nutcracker. To help you plan your holiday entertainment, here is a preview and guide for Boston Holiday Events 2008.

This is the first major exhibition of the art of the Ancient Near East at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston since 1965. Short of a visit to the British Museum this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to view treasures of Anicent Assyrian art with 250 objects including 30 monumental wall reliefs.

Between now and 2010 the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston is under construction with a massive renovation and additions designed by Lord Norman Foster. But for visitors it's business as usual with and enticing schedule of special exhibitions.

Whiteread's "Place (Village)" shows a suburban maze collected dollhouses, but rather than cheerful, the mood is of a grim settlement gone bust.