2005 Ad

Art in America, August, 2005

Summer

Tutankhamun

A gathering of some 130 works from the Egyptian Museum, Cairo, "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs" features 50 celebrated objects found in the tomb of the young king. A collaborative curatorial effort by a number of institutions, including National Geographic magazine, the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the exhibition debuts at LACMA, through Nov. 15, 2005. Subsequent venues: Museum of Art, Ft. Lauderdale, Dec. 15, 2005-Apr. 23, 2006; Field Museum, Chicago, May 26, 2006-Jan. 1, 2007; Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, Feb. 3-Sept. 30, 2007.

Matisse: The fabric of Dreams

Matisse's lifelong interest in textiles is explored in this exhibition juxtaposing some 75 paintings, drawings, prints and paper cutouts with examples from the artist's collection of textiles originating in such diverse places as his hometown of Bohain (a major French silk-weaving center), the Congo and Romania. Organized by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Royal Academy of Arts in London and the Musee Matisse in Le Cateau-Cumbresis, the show makes its sole U.S. appearance at the Met, through Sept. 25, 2005.

Frederic Edwin Church

"Treasures from Olana" features a small group of landscapes by the Hudson River School artist, all of which were painted at his studio in upstate New York in the late 1800s and have remained at his estate ever since. These 18 interpretations of the spectacular terrain in and around Olana are on view at the Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, N.Y., to Sept. 19, 2005. Subsequent itinerary.' MFA, Houston, Oct. 9, 2005-Jan. 8, 2006; National Academy Museum, New York, Feb. 0-Apr. 30, 2006; Portland Museum of Art, Maine, May 20-Sept. 10, 2006; Huntington Library, San Marino, Calif., Oct. 14, 2006-Jan. 3, 2007; Princeton University Art Museum, Jan. 27-June 10, 2007.

Qes Adamu Tesfaw

The first U.S. museum show of the Addis Ababa-based artist and former priest gathers 35 paintings, supplemented with documentary videos and photographs of Tesfaw at work in his studio. Covering themes as varied as Christianity, urban life and the Ethiopian military, this exhibition emphasizes Tesfaw's unique perspective as an artist trained in the Orthodox church. On view at the UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, Los Angeles, to Sept. 18, 2005, it travels to the Birmingham Museum of Art, Feb. 5-Apr. 23, 2006; additional venues to be announced.

Southworth & Hawes

"Young America: The Daguerreotypes of Southworth & Hawes" brings together 150 mid-19th century works by the Boston partnets known for their refined images, including portraits of many leading figures of the day. Co-organized by Grant Romer of the George Eastman House in Rochester, N.Y., and Brian Wallis of the International Center of Photography in New York City, the sho w debuts at the ICP, through Sept. 4, and travels to Rochester, Oct. 1, 2005-Jan. 8, 2006, and the Addison Gallery of Art, Andover, Mass., Jan. 28-Apr. 9, 2006.

Adrian Paci

Two consecutive exhibitions in different cities mark the first U.S. museum solos for Albanian-born Paci, who has lived in Italy since 1997. The Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, premieres Pilgrimage, a video about an icon of the Virgin that mysteriously migrated from the artist's home town to a church outside Rome. Also on view, through Oct. 2, 2005, are watercolor drawings based on films by Pier Paolo Pasolini, two large photographs and an earlier video. Thereafter, two Paci videos dating from 2000 and 2004, likewise tied to his Albanian roots, and a new one produced for the occasion, go on view at P.S.1 in New York, Oct. 23, 2005-Jan. 23, 2006.

O. Winston Link

From 1955 to 1960, O. Winston Link photographed the increasingly obsolescent steam locomotives of the Norfolk and Western Railway, often as they powered trains through starkly lit provincial locales at night. Over 100 of these dramatic black-and-white pictures constitute a premised gift to the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk, on view there through Dec. 31, 2005.

Fred Wilson

Moving away from his well-known institutional and historical critiques, Wilson presents "Black Like Me." After a residency at the Pilchuk Glass School in Washington State in 2002, Wilson created a series of glass-based installations that incorporate video and sound. The works are on view at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, Conn., July 10, 2005-Jan. 8, 2006.

Jean Helion

The Centre Georges Pompidou-organized retrospective of the French painter Jean Helion (1904-1987) travels to New York, where Helion lived on and off in the 1930s and '40s. Thirty-five paintings that chart the artist's evolution from geometric abstraction to a figurative style depicting daily life are on view in New York at the National Academy Museum, to Oct. 9, 2005, along with a small concurrent show, "Helion and American Art," which examines his influence on New York painters.

Kingdom of Siam

The first U.S. museum exhibition focusing on art from Ayutthaya, "The Kingdom of Siam: The Art of Central Thailand" contains 80 major works, including Buddhist and Hindu stone and bronze statues from 1350-1700 A.D. Organized by Forrest McGill and M.L. Pattaratorn, the show debuted at the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, and is on view at the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Mass., through Oct. 16, 2005.