USA TODAY International Edition
Stock cars? Qing art? See them this fall
With summer vacation crowds thinning, fall is a great time to travel, and American museums have a host of special exhibits planned. It’s not just art, though there are great exhibits on American printmakers and French masters. Among them are shows focused on a country music legend, Pixar movies, marine life and Chinese royalty.
‘Keepers of the Flame: Parrish, Wyeth, and Rockwell’
Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, through Oct. 28
The museum dedicated to Norman Rockwell will make the connection between the Americana specialist and two contemporaries, Maxfield Parrish and N.C. Wyeth, to their European influencers. The exhibit features more than 60 works on site and more than 300 digital representations. Don’t miss Rockwell’s 1950 “Shuffleton’s Barbershop,” currently on loan from filmmaker George Lucas.
‘Tracing the Red Thread’
Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, through Nov. 4
South Florida-based abstract expressionist Mira Lehr takes on the region’s endangered marine ecosystem in a multimedia exhibition. Visitors will follow a red thread on the floor through two- and three-dimensional works created using burnt fuse lines, gunpowder, resin, Japanese rice paper, dyes and jewelry. The works depict the coral reef, jellyfish and mangroves – marine life at risk due to climate change.
‘The Orléans Collection’
New Orleans Museum of Art, Oct. 26-Jan. 27
In honor of New Orleans’ tricentennial in 2018, a collection of art that hasn’t been together in centuries is coming to town. The city’s namesake, Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, owned 772 paintings at the time of his death in 1723, but they were sold during the French Revolution. “A unique strength of our subject is the quality and breadth of Philippe II’s collection itself, which will offer visitors an overview of European art, from Venice and Rome to the Netherlands and France,” said Vanessa Schmid, NOMA’s senior research curator for European art.
‘The Science Behind Pixar’
Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, through Jan. 6
Movie lovers of all ages will enjoy the Museum of Science and Industry’s new Pixar exhibit. More than 40 interactive elements take visitors behind the scenes of such favorite films as “Toy Story” and “Incredibles 2.” It’s educational, too: The exhibit highlights the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) concepts employed to create the movies.
‘Yua: Henri Matisse and the Inner Arctic Spirit’
Heard Museum in Phoenix, Oct. 29Feb. 3
Throughout Henri Matisse’s long life, he experimented with a variety of media and 20th-century artistic styles. A little-known project took him to Alaska, where he painted portraits of Inuit people based on the culture’s masks. The Heard Museum will host the first exhibition that joins these rare works with the masks that inspired them. Many of the masks, which were made in pairs, were separated over the years but will be reunited for this exhibit.
‘Graphic Revolution: American Prints 1960 to Now’
Saint Louis Art Museum, Nov. 11Feb. 3
The Saint Louis Art Museum, known for its post-war American print collection, will show more than 110 of the works in a special exhibit this fall. The show features prints by Louise Bourgeois, Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds, Glenn Ligon, Kerry James Marshall, Julie Mehretu, Robert Rauschenberg and Andy Warhol. The printers, publishers and dealers who cultivated and promoted these artists are included.
‘The People. The Place. The Promise’
South Carolina Historical Society Museum in Charleston, opens Sept. 22
This fall, the new South Carolina Historical Society Museum will open in Charleston’s Fireproof Building, designed in 1826 by the architect of the Washington Monument, Robert Mills. After a $6.8 million renovation, the new museum takes on South Carolina’s more than 300-year history. “The museum provides a firsthand glimpse into the lives of South Carolinians throughout history, as told from their own handwritten journals, letters, original maps, photographs and more,” said Faye Jensen, executive director of the South Carolina Historical Society.
‘1948: Proving Grounds’
NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, North Carolina, through 2018 This year marks the 70th anniversary of NASCAR. The first race took place in 1948 at Daytona Beach; now North Carolina’s NASCAR Hall of Fame looks back to the times of dirt tracks and pre-war cars. The exhibit includes historic cars and parts, such as a 1939 Ford Coupe and two Ford flathead V-8 engines, with artifacts and photos from the founding of the organization. It focuses on the 1948 season’s 52-race schedule and championship, a battle between drivers Fonty Flock and Red Byron.
‘Clyde Butcher: Visions of Dali’s Spain’
Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida, through Nov. 25
Salvador Dali’s work may look more like dreamscapes than anything seen on Earth, but photographer Clyde Butcher’s new exhibit makes the connections between Dali’s art and reality. Butcher’s 41 photographs from the Catalonian coast show what the Spanish surrealist may have been inspired by when creating his art. This show is Butcher’s first photographic foray into Spain.
‘Empresses of China’s Forbidden City’
Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, through Feb. 10
To mark the 40th anniversary of the establishment of U.S.-China diplomatic relations, the museum has launched the first exhibit that studies the role of empresses in China’s Qing dynasty from 1644 to 1912. It features imperial portraits, jewelry, garments, Buddhist sculptures and decorative art objects on loan from Beijing’s Palace Museum. The exhibit, which covers women’s influence on court politics, art and religion.
‘American Ballads: The Photographs of Marty Stuart’
Booth Museum in Cartersville, Georgia, through Nov. 18
Marty Stuart is well known in country music circles for his songs, but he’s been taking photographs for nearly as long as he’s played the guitar. His images go behind the scenes with performers and songwriters such as Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash, as well as the Lakota Tribe of North Dakota.