Museum of Fine Arts

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.

Where Cecily Brown earned a bad girl reputation by combining erotic images with gestural paintings that is now all behind her. Sad to say in this new overblown exhibition by an artist who has been pushed for a bridge too far.

In the last decade, museums have had star architects design their renovations and new buildings. Massachusetts is blessed to have an abundance of museums. Several prominent projects are now underway with high expectations. Stretching from Boston to the Berkshires, art and architecture intertwine. This makes sense as architectural stars create buildings as art objects. Part II.

In the last decade, universities and museums have had star architects create and renovate. Several prominent projects are now underway with high expectations. They stretch from Boston to the Berkshires. Like the Field of Dreams film axiom, "if you build it, they will come," apparently, museums feel the same way. Part I of three parts.

Since opening in 1955, The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute has been distinguished by its quality collections, the depth of its research programs, and the natural beauty of its rustic setting. Working with Pritzker Prize–winning architect Tadao Ando to develop a campus plan that enhances the Institute's setting, expands facilities and reconfigures its galleries, the Clark has recently introduced a star museum building by a star architect.

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston is currently celebrating masterpieces of Spanish Art. In addition to a survey of Old Masters there is a reprospective of the major living Spanish realist Antonio Lopez Garcia. It is the first such survey by a major American museum. Nine of the 55 works by this artists are drawn from the permanent collection of the MFA.

In July it will be 20 years since Tom Krens left the Williams College Museum of Art to become director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. His resignation was announced today. He has changed forever the mandate for major museums and how they are managed.

All Shook Up is an exhibition of photographs deconstructing the Boston Athenaeum by German artist in residence Thomas Kellner known for photographing the world's monuments.