Fall Art

STATE OF THE ART
CRYSTAL BRIDGES MUSEUM, BENTONVILLE, ARK.

Look out, Whitney Biennial–you’ve got competition. Determined to go beyond the NYC/L.A. art scenes, the museum founded by Walmart heiress Alice Walton is mounting a survey show based on a yearlong hunt for underappreciated artists across the U.S. Out of nearly 1,000 studios visited, 102 made the cut. How many will make the grade? Opens Sept. 13

DAVID BOWIE IS
MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART, CHICAGO

Everybody’s favorite shape-shifter has been lots of things: industrial-strength provocateur, one-man avant-garde and state-of-the-art Other. How many other rock stars would be plausible subjects for a show–costumes, photos, album art and so on–at an art museum? Opens Sept. 23

GOYA: ORDER AND DISORDER
MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON

A full-career survey of work by Francisco Goya (1746–1828), one of the most mordant, acute, psychologically penetrating and occasionally terrifying of all European painters. Opens Oct. 12

CHRIS OFILI
THE NEW MUSEUM, NEW YORK CITY

A midcareer retrospective for the British painter best known in the U.S. for his portrait of the Virgin Mary with elephant dung, which sent New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani on a rampage when it was exhibited 15 years ago. Opens Oct. 29

STORYTELLER: THE PHOTOGRAPHS OF DUANE MICHALS
CARNEGIE MUSEUM OF ART, PITTSBURGH

As you can see from Primavera (left), Michals doesn’t care much for “straight photography.” What he likes are dream sequences, altered states (and altered prints), surreal narratives and hybrid fantasias. The Carnegie show is the largest retrospective in Michals’ six-decade career. Opens Nov. 1

MONET AND THE SEINE: IMPRESSIONS OF A RIVER
MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, HOUSTON

Monet is famous for returning again and again to the same motifs: haystacks, Rouen Cathedral, water lilies. But perhaps his greatest obsession was the Seine. He even built a floating-barge studio to capture it all along its voluptuous length. Fifty canvases show why that was such a good idea. Opens Oct. 26

KILLER HEELS: THE ART OF THE HIGH-HEELED SHOE
BROOKLYN MUSEUM

Vertiginous footwear is nothing new. Renaissance Italy, which gave us the actual stiletto–the knife, not the heel–gave us the high footwear platform too. This survey of shoes with altitude proceeds from the elevated fashion statements of the 16th century to the deadly weapons that puncture red carpets today. Opens Sept. 10

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Three European exhibitions worth a trip
Late Turner: Painting Set Free
TATE BRITAIN, LONDON

In the 16 years before his death in 1851, Turner’s churning foams of atmospheric light were more radical–and ravishing–than ever. Opens Sept. 10

Rembrandt: The Late Works
NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON

Rembrandt’s last years were marked by bankruptcy and personal tragedy, which may be why they include so many of his most profound and moving pictures. Opens Oct. 15

Sade. Attacking the Sun
MUSÉE D’ORSAY, PARIS

Works by artists–including Goya, Ingres and Picasso–that reflect themes of the Marquis de Sade. Madness, anyone? Opens Oct. 14