State of the arts - calendar of California events

Sunset, Sept, 2001 by Justin Ewers

This fall, California's museums, symphony halls, and theaters have something for everyone

Forget autumn in New York. This fall, with California's cultural season swinging into high gear, there's no better place to be than the Golden State. Theaters from San Diego to the Bay Area will be opening their first plays of the season. The art season kicks off in September as well, with museum exhibits on everything from Armenian illuminated manuscript to photographs of Hollywood in the 1930s. Operas and symphonies open their doors in the fall, too, offering music aficionados a range of melodious treats. So check your local listings, pull that tux out of the mothballs, and get ready to head out for a fall night on the town.

Below we list highlights in art, classical music, and theater across the state.

ART

Fresno. Fresno Art Museum. Ruth Asawa: Distinguished Woman Artist, 2001 displays work from the San Francisco-based sculptor (Sep 11- Nov 25). Joyce Aiken: Honoring Death, An Artist's Last Performance (Sep 11-Nov 25); Latin American Master Prints (Sep 11-Dec 12). 2233 N First St.; (559) 441-4221.

Fresno Metropolitan Museum of Art, History, and Science. Norman Rockwell Lithographs from the Powers Collection showcases 50 rarely seen hand-signed Rockwell lithographs (Sep 21-Nov 11). Magnum Cinema exhibits photos of Hollywood stars off guard and offscreen (Oct 4-Nov 18). Camera Over Holly-wood: Photographs by John Swope, 1936-1938 brings together one photographer's collection of behind-the-scenes Hollywood photos (Oct 4-Nov 18). 1515 Van Ness Ave.; (559) 441-1444.

Irvine. Irvine Museum. California, This Golden Land of Promise pays homage to California history covering the era before the Gold Rush (Sep 22-Jan 13). 18881 Von Karman Ave., 12th floor; (949) 476-2565.

Los Angeles. Getty Center. Armenian Gospels of Gladzor displays 14th-century Armenian illuminated manuscripts (Sep 11-Dec 2). Posing for Posterity: Portrait Drawing showcases 19th-century European portraits (Oct 30-Jan 20). Manuel Alvarez Bravo: Optical Parables honors a legendary Mexican modernist photographer (Nov 13-Feb 17). 1200 Getty Center Dr.; (310) 440-7300.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Color Myth, and Music: Stanton Macdonald-Wright and Synchromism celebrates work of the founder of the color abstraction movement known as synchromism (Aug 5--Oct 28). Paintings, sculptures, and photographs that exemplify important artistic trends of the last 40 years are on view in Jasper Johns to Jeff Koons: Four Decades of Art from the Broad Collections (Oct 7-Jan 6). 5905 Wilshire Blvd.; (323) 857-6000.

Modesto. McHenry Museum. Audubon of the West: Andrew Jackson Grayson exhibits paintings of one of the 19th century's most accomplished bird painters (Aug 13--Oct 8). The Greek Experience (Oct 14--Nov 17); Antique Christmas Exhibit: Victorian Toys and Ornaments (Nov 19--Jan 15). 1402 1St.; (209) 577-5366

Oakland. Oakland Museum of California. Dias de los Muertos: Days of the Dead (Oct 13--Nov 25); Wrapped in Pride: Ghanian Kente and African American Identity (Oct 13--Jan 13). Native Grandeur: Preserving California's Vanishing Landscapes offers about 50 evocative 19th- and early-2Oth-century landscape paintings (Nov 17--Apr 14). 1000 Oak St.; (888) 625-6873.

Pasadena. Norton Simon Museum. The Art of Play: Games and Amusements provides a whimsical look at game playing--chess, cards, and dice--in secular and religious works of art (Aug 3-Dec 3). Pop Culture! showcases pop art's depictions of common objects, with some pieces by Andy Warhol (Nov 16-Feb 11). Lewis Baltz: Tract House Photographs, 1969-1971 (Nov 16-Feb 11). 411 W Colorado Blvd.; (626) 449-6840.

Sacramento. Crocker Art Museum. Almost Warm and Fuzzy: Childhood and Contemporary Art (Aug 31-Nov 4); Victorian Christmas (Nov 11-Jan 6). 216 O St.; (916) 264-5423.

San Diego. Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego. Lateral Thinking: Art of the 1990s (Sep 16-Jan 13); Cross References: Celebrating the Stuart Collection (Sep 16-Jan 13); Alexis Smith and Amy Gerstler: The Sorcerer's Apprentice (Oct 6-Jan 15). 700 Prospect St.; (858) 454-3541.

San Francisco. California Palace of the Legion of Honor. In Focus: Photographically Illustrated Books 1857-1930 from the Reva and David Logan Collection of Illustrated Books (Sep 15-Jan 6); Artists' Books in the Modern Era, 1870-2000: The Reva and David Logan Collection of Illustrated Books (Oct 6-Jan 6). 100 34th Ave.; (415) 863-3330.

San Marino. Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Lure of the West: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum displays paintings and sculptures from the 1820s to the 1940s that pay tribute to Native American cultures (Oct 2-Dec 16). Eye of the Storm: The Civil War Drawings of Robert Knox Sneden (Oct 23-Jan 27). 1151 Oxford Rd.; (626) 405-2100.

Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara Museum of Art. Destined for Hollywood: The Art of Dan Sayre Groesbeck brings together 100 paintings, drawings, prints, and film visualizations by Cecil B. DeMille's sketch artist (Aug 25-Nov 25). 1130 State St.; (805) 963-4364.