Gallery Listings

George Deem, “Quotations: The Early Work.” Deem paints—and visually thinks through—old master images, rather than merely appropriating them in the postmodernist manner. Through February 21, 2009.

George Billis Gallery, New York City

Ephraim Rubenstein— A series of still life paintings incorporating used and discarded books. Through February 28, 2009.

Spanierman Modern, New York City

Twenty-four paintings by Clifford Smith, who seeks “to parallel rather than imitate nature.” Slightly out-of-focus woodland scenes suggest the influence of photography, while seascapes in layers of vivid color refer to abstraction. January 29–February 28, 2009.

Atlanta Art Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia

The gallery’s winter group show is uneven, but there are lively still lifes by Debra Teare and Susan Bari Price, handsome paintings by Juliette Aristides (best known for her drawings) and accomplished landscapes and city scenes by Russian-born Daud and Timur Akhriev, who studied at the Repin Institute in Saint Petersburg and now live in Chattanooga. February 2009.

David Klein Gallery, Birmingham, Michigan

George Deem, “Quotations: The Early Work.” Deem paints—and visually thinks through—old master images, rather than merely appropriating them in the postmodernist manner. Through February 21, 2009.

Florence Academy of Art, Florence, Italy

The fourth Alumni Exhibition, with the work of seventy young artists (average age, 30) who have studied traditional techniques at the school. Founded in 1991 by American Daniel Graves, the academy is one of the most successful ateliers for new realism. February 21–28, 2009.

John Pence Gallery, San Francisco

An excellent show of trompe l’oeil paintings, with fifty works demonstrating how contemporary realists are expanding the definition of the genre. Artists include Andrea Smith, Sarah Lamb, Jacob A. Pfeiffer, Anthony Waichulus, Russell Harris and Juliette Aristides. February 12–March 21, 2009.

Weatherburn Gallery, Naples, Florida

Fourth annual juried exhibition of the International Guild of Realism. For too many of the artists here, representationalism seems an end in itself, and the results are unexciting. Among the best works are Ning Lee’s cool, elegant still lifes, Nick Long’s colorful close-ups defamiliarizing common objects and Ryan Janque’s refined pencil drawings. February 18–March 2, 2009.

William Baczek Fine Art, Northampton, Massachusetts

“Still-Life Exhibition” featuring work by Barbara Groff, Mark Zunino and Denise Mickilowski. The decorative, symmetrical nature studies of Rick Pas stand out. Through February 28, 2009.

Museums

“The Third Mind: American Artists Contemplate Asia: 1860–1989,” a sprawling exhibition of 250 objects, including literature as well as the visual arts. Works by Whistler, Cassatt and La Farge highlight the section on Aestheticism and Japan, while Dove, O’Keeffe and Noguchi illustrate the Asian cross-currents of early modernism. January 30–April 19, 2009.

Morgan Library and Museum, New York City

“The Thaw Collection of Master Drawings: Acquisitions since 2002,” another installment in a series featuring promised gifts by collector Eugene V. Thaw. This group of eighty works includes sheets by Gauguin, Matisse, Monet, the talented amateur artist Goethe and the Nazarenes. Through May 3, 2009.

“Studying Nature: Oil Sketches from the Thaw Collection,” more promised gifts, concentrating on the nineteenth-century heyday of the genre. Through August 30, 2009.

National Academy Museum, New York City

“American Waters: Celebrating the 400th Anniversary of Hudson, Fulton and Champlain,” a collection show with fifty works, from 1850 to 2000, depicting the nation’s vital waterways. Artists include Albert Bierstadt, Asher B. Durand, Daniel Garber, Wolf Kahn, John F. Kensett, William Trost Richards and N.C. Wyeth. February 4–April 5, 2009.

Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

“Grand Scale: Monumental Prints in the Age of Dürer and Titian,” forty oversize and multipart woodcuts and engravings from a golden age of graphic art, suggesting the epic pictorial ambition of Northern and Italian Renaissance masters. January 31–April 26, 2009.

Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland

“Saint John’s Bible,” featuring pages from a project undertaken by Saint John’s University in Minnesota, a handwritten and illustrated manuscript Bible by contemporary scribe-artist Donald Jackson. Supplemented by a demonstration of scriptorium practice. February 15–May 24, 2009.

“The Romance of the Rose: Visions of Love in Illuminated Medieval Manuscripts.” The thirteenth-century Old French allegorical poem, immensely popular and lavishly illustrated in its own time, became one of the seminal influences in the evolution of the Western notion of romantic love. January 24–April 19, 2009.