Museum of Fine Arts

Ed Pincus films at the Harvard Archives while the Turkish film festival continues at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. The American Repertory Theater showcases Futurity: A Musical by the Lisps and the Boston Symphony Orchestra presents Brahms: A German Requiem. Leon Kirchner’s opera, Lily (a musical adaptation of Saul Bellow’s novel Henderson, the Rain King) will be performed at the New England Conservatory First Monday at Jordan Hall. Happy Passover and Happy Easter.

The Danforth Museum in Framingham, Mass. is accepting on line applications for it's annual juried exhibition through April 4. There are links in this letter that will take interested artists to the museum's website.

The American Repertory Theater presents Futurity: A Musical by The Lisps while the Huntington Theatre Company features Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and The Luck of the Irish. The Boston Turkish Film Festival continues at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. The Harvard Film Archives presents a retrospective on Carmelo Bene. The Coolidge Corner Theater features “She Stoops to Conquer” a play from the National Theater in London. The Boston Symphony Orchestra welcomes Orchestra Greek violinist and conductor Leonidas Kavados.

If you missed their now legendary gig at Mass MoCA in January there is another opportunity for the senior set to cheer on the antique rockers Jane and Jeff Hudson in a rave-up at the Williams Inn on April 21. Don't miss this vintage, synth/ pop rock, dance music.

Adding to the world class film banquet of greater Boston, the Goethe-Institut Boston and the Coolidge Corner Theatre have partnered to present provocative new films from Germany highlighting young directors who, with their first or second features, demonstrate that there is more to New German Cinema than just the Oscar-winning The Lives of Others. Monthly Sunday Matinees showcase a sampling of new and award-winning German films rarely shown outside Europe.

Claude Gosselin has been the artistic director for La Biennale de Montreal. His recent projects have focused on new and digital media attracting a younger audience. As an authority on contemporary Canadian art he is skeptical about the survey of 65 Canadian artists planned for Mass MoCA this summer. He also sees paradigm shifts for museums scrambling to attract declining audiences for the visual arts.

This summer Mass MoCA will present a survey of 65 Canadian artists curated by Denise Markonish. Recently we spoke at length with the leading Canadian curator Claude Gosselin who has organized major thematic exhibitions combining Canadian and international artists since 1985. His 2011 La Biennale de Montréal may have been his last. He plans to continue Centre international d'art contemporain de Montréal (CIAC) with a refocused program.

“We have been delighted, and a bit overwhelmed, by the tremendous reception the Clark’s paintings have received at each of our European venues,” said Michael Conforti, director of the Clark. “The notion of one million people viewing these paintings over the last 14 months is truly rewarding. The tour has allowed us to share our collection with an audience that may not have the opportunity to visit the Berkshires, and it has allowed us to share the Berkshires with the world.”

It is where the Boston Pops play on July 4th each year. The 101 year old beautiful 2.5 mile linear waterside park hugging the Charles River has been in part loved, if not to death, then to decrepitude. It needs to be enhanced-- refreshed, refurbished and restored. With this in mind, a number of like-minded designers led by The Esplanade Association decided to do something about it. After 25 months and countless hours of research, design and meetings, the Esplanade 20/20 vision is finally unveiled.

Many wonderful things to do during a cold winter week: The Goethe Institute launches a primary source concert series: between house and stage – public and private music making in the 18th century. The Boston Symphony Orchestra proposes a special Valentine evening of Gastronomy and Music and free chorale masterpieces. The Boston Celebrity Series presents Soweto Gospel Choir. The American Repertory Theatre premieres “Wild Swans,” a journey from the early days of Communist hope and struggle in China, through the chaos and confusion of Mao’s Cultural Revolution. and much more to warm your heart and mind.

Not to be missed Stephen Petronio’s Boston Premiere: performance of dance, music and visual imagery at the Institute of Contemporary Art; Emanuel Ax at Boston Symphony Orchestra; Sérgio and Odair Assad, duo guirtarits and Soweto Gospel Choir presented by Boston Celebrity Series. The Harvard Film Archives features live Director David Gatten in conversation with Curator Mark McElhatten. The Museum of Fine Arts presents a film on Boston College. The Boston Ballet showcases three ballets: Les Sylphides by Fokine, Polyphonia by Wheeldon and Symphony in Three Movements by Balanchine.

The Boston Symphony Orchestra features the cellist Gautier Capuçon while the Boston Conservatory Theatre presents The child Spells by Ravel. The Harvard Film Archives showcases Robert Fenz films with the director in person while the Museum of Fine Arts presents animation by Castles in the Sky: Miyazaki, Takahata, and the Masters of Studio Ghibli.

Some 200 senior citizens stayed up late last night at Mass MoCA to cheer on their peers Jane and Jeff Hudson. They were cool to the point of stoic performing loud synthrock with pulsing, robotic, rhythm tracks. The occasion marked the re-release of their 30-year-old indy album Flesh. It was a fun night.

The ICA has two extraordinary programs not to be missed: Dance/Draw exhibition and Trisha Brown Floor to Forrest performance final week as well as Andy’s Warhol: God Squad’s Kitchen that showed to sold-out performance in New York. The Harvard Film Archives presents three films by directors Dominik Graf, Christian Petzold and Christoph Hochhäusler the result of their correspondence on the subjects of film aesthetics, the Berlin School, Germany and the film genre. Music can be heard at the MFA: J.S. Bach: The Six Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord and at the venerable Symphony Orchestra with excerpts of Weber, Beethoven, Harbison & Strauss.

A short week with few events but still worth enjoying art, music, film and culture in Beantown.

In 1952 a remarkable painting "Mountains and Sea" placed a recent Bennington College graduate, Helen Frankenthaler, in a position of innovator of what critic/ boyfriend, Clement Greenberg, dubbed Post-Painterly Abstraction. The movement is more widely known as Color Field Painting. We discussed her work in 1981 during an exhibition at the Rose Art Museum. At 83 she died on December 27.

Greatly strengthening an extremely thin area of its American collection, the Boston MFA acquisition of works by major African-American artists includes 67 works from collector John Axelrod. Now the Boston institution holds one of the major groupings of African-American Art anywhere. Axelrod is selling the works to the MFA at below market values, between $5 million and $10 million.

Happy Hanukah. This is the last week of 2011, a heavy year by many accounts. Boston will have several exciting events with first night please check http://www.firstnight.org. The American Repertory Theater showcases two productions The Snow Queen and Three Pianos. The Museum of Fine Arts presents two films on the art of cooking:Three Stars and the famous restaurant El Bulli: Cooking in Progress. Happy New Year 2012....

Alas, few cultural events are taking place this week. The Food Bank has a great concert at New England Conservatory while the American Repertory Theater showcases two productions The Snow Queen and Three Pianos. The Museum of Fine Arts presents two films: Unfinished Spaces and Three Stars featuring the Michelin Chef Stars: Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Jean-Georges (New York), Yannick Alléno, Le Meurice (France), Juan Mari & Elena Arzack, Arzack (Spain), Sven Elverfeld, Aqua (Germany), Sergio Herman, Oud Sluis (The Netherlands), Hideki Ishikawa, Ishikawa (Japan), René Redzepi, Noma (Denmark), Olivier Roellinger, Le Coquillage (France), Nadia Santini, Dal Pescatore (Italy). Merry Christmas!!!!

For the past three years Mass MoCA curator, Denise Markonish, has trekked across Canada making hundreds of studio visits. When not on the road she has researched exhibitions and catalogues. Few American curators and critics are as broadly informed on the vast and complex topic of contemporary art in Canada. It is a project she took on almost by default given the general lack of interest and commitment. In June the museum will exhibit the work of 64 artists in what should prove to be an eye opening and ground breaking overview. This is the third and final segment of a critical dialogue.

A rich week of Christmas Music: Bach at the Jordan Hall with the Handel & Haydn Society; Medieval Music with the Boston Camerata; Celtic Music at the Cutler Majestic & NEC Millennium Gospel Choir at the MFA. Longy School of Music presents Antonio Cesti’s opera Orontea. The Harvard Film Archives continues Henri-George Clouzot’s retrospective while the MFA has a series of films dedicated to Architecture (Foster, Eames and Portman); Arts Emerson presents the great Katherine Hepburn. Dance is featured through Diplomacy Through Dance: 
Bringing American Modern Dance to Kazakhstan. Enjoy!

James Aponovich is regarded as among the foremost American realist painters. He is in the midst of a conceptual project to finish a painting a week for a year. It was the subject of a broadcast on Chronicle this past week. In May the entire series of 52 paintings will be shown at Clark Gallery in Lincoln, Mass. This was an occasion to catch up with a superb artist and old friend.

A series of four films about contemporary architecture and design is now being shown at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Including in the program are an interesting range of design, architectural practice and national attitudes. Beginning with a film about multidimensional designers Charles and Ray Eames, the next three films focus upon more architecturally-oriented subjects, the UK's Lord Norman Foster, Atlanta-based John Portman and the story of the on/off architecture for the Cuban National School of the Arts.

American Repertory Theatre presents Three Pianos – A Toast to Shubert’s Winterreise. The Goethe Institute showcases the Nobel Prize Screening. Two films retrospectives continue: The Greek Cinema at the Museum of Fine Arts and Henri-Georges Clouzot at the Harvard Film Archives. Boston Symphony Orchestra is on tour in San Francisco.

The Museum of Fine Arts presents a retrospective of Greek Cinema while the Harvard Film Archives continues Henri-Georges Clouzot retrospective. Boston Symphony Orchestra debut of Czech conductor Jiří Bělohlávek with Mahler and Harbison. WGBH proposes an evening with Rick Steves while the Boston Symphony Orchestra hosts a book signing for Ron Della Chiesa, Radio My Way.