Bernarducci Meisel Gallery, New York City

Luigi Benedicenti, “La Dolce Vita,” hypnotically glossy, uncanny, hyper-realist depictions of deserts by an Italian painter. November 6–December 6, 2008.

DC Moore Gallery, New York City

Studies for paintings by George Tooker, supplementing the retrospective at the National Academy Museum. Also “Eye to Eye,” playful paintings by Alexi Worth, who de-familiarizes images of apples, books eyes and hands by filling the foreground with their simple graphic shapes. Both shows November 13, 2008–January 3, 2009.

Forum Gallery, Los Angeles

Holly Lane, acrylic paintings mounted in elaborate carved wood constructions that suggest both altar-pieces and Victorian curio cabinets. November 7, 2008–January 3, 2009.

Forum Gallery, New York City

“Linden Frederick, “American Studies,” fifty 12 1/4 -inch-square oils with vignettes of small-town buildings under moody skies, evoking a kind of heartland existentialism. November 13, 2008–January 3, 2009.

John Pence Gallery, San Francisco

Recent oil paintings by David Larned, who studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Florence Academy of Art. Straightforward, tightly rendered still lifes show respect for Chardin, The Artist’s Model brings a strong compositional sense to a deglamourized subject, recalling Eakins. November 13–December 13, 2008.

Recent oil paintings and drawings by Peter Van Dyck. Van Dyck uses framing devices—windows, doorways, mirrors—in interesting ways; his tactile paint handling captures melancholy light. November 13–December 13, 2008.

Marlborough Chelsea, New York City

Recent paintings, including dramatic nudes, by Vincent Desiderio, a bold contemporary realist who works on an epic scale with strong content. November 20, 2008–January 3, 2009.

Marlborough Gallery, New York City

Richard Estes, one of the founders of Photorealism, tackles New England, New York and—in some remarkably painterly images— Antarctica. October 14–November 15, 2008.

Scandinavia House, New York City

“Sublime Nature: Romantic Paintings of the Nineteenth Century.” Through January 10, 2009.

Museum Exhibitions

“From Michelangelo to Annibale Carracci: A Century of Italian Drawings from the Prado,” seventy sixteenth-century drawings, with sheets by Giulio Romano, Paolo Veronese and Andrea del Sarto. The catalogue, written by Nicholas Turner (published in English by Art Services International), reproduces nearly 600 drawings in color. October 25, 2008–January 4, 2009. Travels to the Mary and Leigh Black Museum of Art, Northwestern University (January 24–April 5, 2009) and the Philbrook Museum of Art (April 25–July 5, 2009).

Frick Collection, New York City

“Andrea Riccio: Renaissance Master of Bronze,” the first monographic exhibition for an interesting artist, with thirty-five works. October 15, 2008–January 18, 2009.

Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, California

“In Nature’s Temple: The Life and Art of William Wendt,” a full-scale retrospective of the colorful, spiritual work of the early-twentieth-century California Impressionist. November 9, 2008–February 8, 2009.

Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, New Jersey

“Philip Pearlstein: Objectifications,” a retrospective covering six decades of figurative paintings. October 18, 2008–February 9, 2009.

Museum of Russian Icons, Clinton, Massachusetts

“Two Museums/One Culture,” sixteen rare icons from the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow alongside 105 from the American museum, from the fifteenth century to the present. A fascinating opportunity to see a substantial body of work from a great tradition. Through May 1, 2009.

National Academy Museum, New York City

“George Tooker: A Retrospective,” an important show on a pre-eminent post-World War II realist, noted both for his skill in the egg tempera medium and his exploration of alienation and spirituality, with sixty-six paintings and drawings. Through January 4, 2009. Travels to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (January 30–April 5, 2009) and the Columbus Museum of Art (June 5–September 6, 2009).

“The Unknown Blakelock,” with forty-one works by this eccentric artist, famous for his scenes of Indian encampments and moonlight. Blakelock had considerable influence on later artists through his sense of fantasy and expressionistic paint-handling. Through January 4, 2009.

National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

“Pompeii and the Roman Villa: Art and Culture around the Bay of Naples,” 150 works of sculpture, painting, mosaic and luxury arts from the miraculously preserved resort cities of late antiquity. October 19, 2008–March 22, 2009. Travels to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (May 3–October 4, 2009).

“Jan Lievens: A.D.tch Master Rediscovered,” paintings, prints and drawings by a little-known seventeenth-century master. Through January 11, 2009. Travels to the Milwaukee Art Museum (February 7–April 28, 2009).

New-York Historical Society, New York City

“Drawn by New York”: Six Centuries of Watercolors and Drawings at the New-York Historical Society.” The most interesting material in this good-size show documents the growth of the city and includes a 360-degree panorama executed from the top of a lower-Manhattan church; drawings by Asher B. Durand and sketchbooks by other Hudson River School artists are aesthetic highlights. Through January 7, 2009. Travels to Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York (August 14–November 1, 2009) and the Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, Ohio (November 20, 2009–January 17, 2010).

Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts

“To the Ends of the Earth, Painting the Polar Landscape,” fifty paintings of the Arctic and Antarctic by nineteenth-and early twentieth-century artists, including Frederic Edwin Church’s spectacular Aurora Borealis. November 8, 2008–March 1, 2009.

Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, Oklahoma

“Paintings from the Reign of Victoria: The Royal Holloway Collection, London,” including works by Sir Edwin Landseer, David Roberts, William Powell Firth and Sir John Everett Millais. October 12, 2008–January 4, 2009. Travels to the Delaware Museum of Art (January 31–April 12, 2009), the Yale Center for British Art (June 11–July 26, 2009), Brigham Young University Museum of Art (August 15–October 25, 2009), and the Huntsville Museum of Art (November 21, 2009–January 31, 2010).

Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts

“Drawn to Drama: Italian Works on Paper, 1500–1800,” an exhibition of old master works from the Clark’s own holdings and the private collection of Robert Loper. Drawings by Guercino, Salvator Rosa, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Albrecht Dürer and Peter Paul Rubens, among others. October 12, 2008–January 4, 2009.