Upcoming Art Museum Exhibits: Fall 2017 to 2018

There are several fantastic art museum exhibits starting this fall 2017 and also in 2018.  There are so many to choose from, here are five from across the US and Canada to look at.  From a wide range of British Royal Art traveling to Vancouver, to Vermeer at the National Gallery, from the drawings of Michelangelo to the Empire of Rome and Magritte at the SFMOMA, there is something for everyone in these exhibits. You'll find yourself wondering how you can travel around North America within the next few months to see them all.

Artemisia Gentileschi, Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting (La Pittura), c. 1638–39
oil on canvas, Photo: Royal Collection Trust/© Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2017

Portrait of the Artist:

An Exhibition from the Royal Collection

Vancouver Art Gallery
October 28, 2017 to February 4, 2018

Portrait of the Artist: An Exhibition from the Royal Collection presents a remarkable group of more than ninety paintings, drawings, prints, photographs and sculpture highlighting both the enormous richness of the Royal Collection and the complex and deep relationship that the British monarchy has had with artists for the last three and half centuries.

Since the Renaissance, artists have claimed an increasingly central role in visual culture and emerged as individual and identifiable entities. The Royal Collection includes a large group of images of artists–both portraits and self-portraits–that offer keen insights into how artists see themselves and their position in society. Beginning with King Charles I, one of Europe’s greatest art collectors, succeeding British monarchs employed and collected the work of artists, both British and European. The growing respect for artists as creators led to the collecting of artist’s self-portraits and images of artists both at work and playing roles. The exhibition presents a diverse range of works by artist both historical and contemporary artists such as Julia Margaret Cameron, Annibale Carracci, Mary Knowles, Joshua Reynolds and Lucian Freud. Highlights include an extraordinary self-portrait by Sir Edwin Landseer, The Connoisseurs: Portrait of the Artist with Two Dogs, 1865, a sculpture by Sarah Bernhardt presenting herself as a mythological creature, A Self-Portrait as a Chimera, 1880, and one of the most important Italian paintings of the seventeenth century, Artemisia Gentileschi’s iconic, Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting (La Pittura), c. 1638-39. Through these works the exhibition traces the evolving role and importance of artists within society at large.

The Royal Collection is one of most important collections of art in the world. Built over centuries by successive British monarchs and continued today by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the collection includes a remarkable range of objects and works of art. Central to the history of the monarchy has been the role of art, both to define the image of the monarch and to confirm their power, wealth and taste.

This exhibition, which is exclusive to Vancouver, is presented by kind permission of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and helps mark the sesquicentennial of Canada.

Johannes Vermeer, Woman Holding a Balance, c. 1664, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Widener Collection

Vermeer and the Masters of Genre Painting:
Inspiration and Rivalry

National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
October 22, 2017 – January 21, 2018

This landmark exhibition examines the artistic exchanges among Johannes Vermeer and his contemporaries from the mid-1650s to around 1680, when they reached the height of their technical ability and mastery of genre painting, or depictions of daily life. The introduction of quiet scenes unfolding in private household spaces and featuring elegant ladies and gentlemen was among the most striking innovations of Dutch painting of the Golden Age, a time of unparalleled innovation and prosperity. 

The exhibition brings together nearly 70 works by Vermeer and his fellow painters, including Gerard ter Borch, Gerrit Dou, Pieter de Hooch, Gabriel Metsu, Frans van Mieris, Caspar Netscher, and Jan Steen, who lived in various towns throughout the Dutch Republic, from Delft and Deventer to Amsterdam and Leiden. Juxtaposing paintings related by theme, motif, and composition, the exhibition explores how these artists inspired, rivaled, surpassed, and pushed each other to greater artistic achievement. The exhibition features 10 paintings by Vermeer (many of which have not been seen in the United States since the Gallery’s 1995–1996 exhibition Johannes Vermeer), including The Lacemaker (c. 1669–1670, Musée du Louvre, Paris) and The Love Letter (c. 1669–1670, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam). A fully illustrated catalog features essays by the curators and essays and entries by a team of international scholars.

This exhibition is curated by Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., curator of northern baroque paintings, National Gallery of Art, Washington; Dr. Adriaan Waiboer, head of collections and research, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin; and Blaise Ducos, curator of Dutch and Flemish paintings, Musée du Louvre, Paris.

Michelangelo Buonarroti (Italian, 1475–1564). Apollo-David (unfinished), c. 1530. Marble, H. 146 cm (57 1/2 in.). Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence, Soprintendenza Speciale per il Polo Museale Fiorentino (Sculture 1879, no. 121)

Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman and Designer

Metropolitan Museum of Art
November 13, 2017, through February 12, 2018

Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564), a towering genius in the history of Western art, will be the subject of this once-in-a-lifetime exhibition. During his long life, Michelangelo was celebrated for the excellence of his disegno, the power of drawing and invention that provided the foundation for all the arts. For his mastery of drawing, design, sculpture, painting, and architecture, he was called Il Divino ("the divine one") by his contemporaries. His powerful imagery and dazzling technical virtuosity transported viewers and imbued all of his works with a staggering force that continues to enthrall us today.

This exhibition will present a stunning range and number of works by the artist: 133 of his drawings, three of his marble sculptures, his earliest painting, his wood architectural model for a chapel vault, as well as a substantial body of complementary works by other artists for comparison and context. Among the extraordinary international loans are the complete series of masterpiece drawings he created for his friend Tommaso de' Cavalieri and a monumental cartoon for his last fresco in the Vatican Palace. Selected from 50 public and private collections in the United States and Europe, the exhibition will examine Michelangelo's rich legacy as a supreme draftsman and designer.

 

Rome: City and Empire
The Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville
February 23–May 28, 2018

The stories of Rome and its vast empire continue to captivate and intrigue people almost three thousand years after its foundation. Rome: City and Empire brings to Nashville more than two hundred of the British Museum’s most engaging and beautiful Roman objects. They tell the dramatic story of how Rome grew from a cluster of small villages into a mighty empire.

The British Museum’s exceptionally broad collections have enabled the creation of a truly inspiring experience. Visitors will explore how the empire was won and held and learn about the rich diversity of her peoples. The exhibition is an accessible introduction to the Roman imperial period, yet also provides a range and depth of material for those with an existing interest in Roman history.

The Frist Center is the exclusive North American venue.

The presentation of this exhibition is a collaboration between the British Museum and the Frist Center for the Visual Arts.

This exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

RenéMagritte: The Fifth Season

SFMOMA

May 19–October 28, 2018

René Magritte (1898–1967) was one of the most intriguing painters associated with Surrealism, but he did not fully find his voice until after breaking ties with the movement. This exhibition, the first to look exclusively at Magritte’s late career, examines his most important bodies of work from the 1940s through the 1960s, and shows how they marked a fundamental shift in painting from Modernism to our own time. 

Featuring more than 60 artworks in nine immersive, thematic galleries, René Magritte: The Fifth Season explores how Magritte balanced irony and conviction, philosophy and fantasy, to illuminate the gaps between what we see and what we know. Together, the works reveal Magritte as an artist acutely attuned to the paradoxes at work within reality, and an enduring champion of the role of mystery in life and art.

Generous support for René Magritte: The Fifth Season is provided by Jean and James E. Douglas, Jr.

Header image: Header image: René Magritte, Les valeurs personnelles (Personal Values), 1952 (detail); collection SFMOMA, purchase through a gift of Phyllis C. Wattis; © Charly Herscovici, Brussels / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Note- All text has been taken from the museum's websites.