Top 5 Museum Exhibits You Shouldn't Miss
By Natalia Lauricella, published May 24, 2011

   

New York City

The Neue Galerie
Vienna 1900: Style and Identity
Through June 27, 2011
Photo Credit

A small gem of a museum located between the Guggenheim and the Met on Fifth Avenue, the Neue Galerie has a fine permanent collection of Austrian and German works, including the breathtaking Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer by Gustave Klimt.  This temporary exhibit examines new ideas of sexuality and gender that were the focus of Viennese psychology and literature at the turn of the century.  The show displays important works by Klimt, Oscar Kokoschka, and Egon Schiele, as well as architectural works, decorative arts, and fashion.  Be sure to pop by the Café Sabarsky for chocolate cake and coffee on your way out!

Link to exhibit info

 

The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty
Through July 31, 2011
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Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty is an exhibit organized by the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  The show is certainly an experience, featuring over one hundred fabulous and outrageous garments from the designer’s 1992 graduate school collection to his final collection before his death in February of 2010.  Without feeling confined by the physical constraints of the female body, McQueen pushed the boundaries of fashion far beyond the realm of practicality.  Instead, fashion was his artistic medium to boldly comment on culture and politics and to express his identity.  With a backdrop that is as theatrical as the garments themselves, this exhibit is most worthy of a morning visit.  And a morning visit is essential given the lines that form around noon. 

Link to exhibit info

 

The Jewish Museum
Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore
Through September 25, 2011
Photo Credit

This exhibit at the Jewish Museum features works from the collection of the Cone sisters, who purchased art directly from the Parisian studios of avant-garde artists in the early 20th century.  Collecting pieces that were considered unusual at the time, from Henri Matisse, who was then heavily criticized, and Pablo Picasso, who was practically unknown, the Cone sisters amassed a spectacular array of modern art.  In Paris, through their friendship with Gertrude Stein and her brother Leo, they became acquainted with many of these modern artists, and their collection eventually reached over three thousand works.  This exhibit consists of about fifty paintings, sculptures, and works on paper that are on loan to the Jewish Museum from the Baltimore Museum of Art, where the collection resides. 

Link to exhibit info

 

Washington DC

The National Portrait Gallery
Calder’s Portraits: A New Language
Through August 14, 2011
Photo Credit

While Alexander Calder is best known for his mobiles and stabiles, he also used his preferred medium of wire to make delightful and memorable portraits.  Using this flexible material, the artist produced countless 3-D portraits of famous athletes, entertainers, and artists, such as Babe Ruth, Josephine Baker, and Fernand Léger.  In the National Portrait Gallery’s exhibition, these portraits hang on the walls or suspended from the ceiling, and their movements bring them to life.  The exhibit presents these wire portraits along with photos, drawings, and caricatures, calling into question the relationship between formal portraiture and caricature.

Link to exhibit info

 

San Francisco

The de Young Museum
Balenciaga and Spain
July 4, 2011
Photo Credit

The de Young’s exhibit, Balenciaga and Spain, is guest curated by Hamish Bowles, the European editor at large for Vogue.  The show examines the deep influence that Spain had on the career of haute couture designer, Cristóbal Balenciaga.  Spanish culture, history, and tradition had an enduring impact on the designer’s creations, which are organized into six different themes: Spanish Art, Regional Dress, the Spanish Court, Religious Life and Ceremony, the Bullfight, and Dance.  This exhibit is yet another example of San Francisco’s excellent temporary exhibitions, which make up for its museums’ sometimes lacking permanent collections.  Definitely don’t miss it! 

Link to exhibit info