Summer Guide: Museum Exhibits

UPPER EAST SIDE Bellini, Titian and Lotto Some of the great masters from the Northern Italian Renaissance are taking up residence at The Met this summer while their home, the Accademia Carrara in Bergamo, Italy, undergoes renovations. Works by Bellini, Titian, Lotto and Vincenzo Foppa, who lived and worked between Venice, Milan and Bergamo during the late 15th and early 16th centuries, will be displayed in a room next to the Italian painting galleries. Bellini's "Pietà" and Lotto's "The Entombment" are among several of the masterpieces on display for New Yorkers to awe at and admire. Through Sept. 3, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 5th Ave., metmuseum.org. UPPER EAST SIDE Crossroads of the World You don't have to head south to the Carribean to the beach this summer, just take the subway up to the El Museo del Barrio. It, along with The Studio Museum in Harlem and the Queens Museum of Art, is presenting the culmination of the decade-long collaboration of research and scholarship Caribbean: Crossroads of the World, which includes more than 500 works of art spanning four centuries from the Caribbean islands and coasts. The exhibit covers topics such as politics, pop culture, language, the various cultures and history, among many others. June 12 ? Jan. 6, 2013, El Museo Del Barrio, 1230 5th Ave., elmuseo.org. UPPER EAST SIDE Edouard Vuillard: A Painter and His Muses, 1890-1940 An artist searching for his muse is a theme that reverberates back to Greek mythology. French artist Edouard Vuillard found inspiration in his career stretching from the 1890s to the 1940s in a variety of sources, from experimental theater to urbane domesticity. This exhibit at The Jewish Museum looks at six periods of the artist's career and the impact his friends and patrons had on his work, from his artistic beginnings to his later portraits. Through Sept. 23, The Jewish Museum, 1109 5th Ave., thejewishmuseum.org. UPPER EAST SIDE Women Work With conservative politicians intent on rehashing decades-old debates that everyone thought were long settled, it's fitting that the National Academy Museum & School has chosen now to kick off its new exhibit, Women Work, featuring the artwork of women from the 19th century to present day. The series brings together works by Mary Cassatt, Colleen Browning and May Stevens, as well as female sculptors. Through Aug. 26, The National Academy Museum & School, 1083 5th Ave., nationalacademy.org. UPPER EAST SIDE Activist New York New York City has always been a city that thrived in the midst of social change and progress. Activist New York, the new exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York, brings that history into focus, exploring the history of social activism in the city from the 17th century right up to the Occupy Wall Street movement. From picket lines to civil rights, the exhibition uses artifacts, photographs, audio and video to tell the history of agitation in the city. Through the summer, The Museum of the City of New York, 1220 5th Ave., mcny.org. UPPER EAST SIDE Rineke Dijkstra: A Retrospective The Guggenheim hosts this mid-career retrospective of Dutch photographer Rineke Dijkstra. The artist, best known for her striking portraits of humanity in transition-adolescents and new mothers have been prime subjects for her lens-has been working for more than two decades at her craft. Like all great portraitists, Dijkstra's work captures fleeting moments and fills them with meaning. "I make normal things appear special," she said in an interview for the book Image Makers, Image Takers. That this is not a brag but a statement of successfully fulfilled artistic intent says it all. June 29 ? Oct. 3, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1071 5th Ave., www.guggenheim.org. (http://nypress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/NY-Historical-Society-Repeal18thAmendmentPlate.jpg)UPPER WEST SIDE Beer Here: Brewing New York's History New York has a rich (albeit unheralded) history of brewing that stretches back to colonial times. The New-York Historical Society hopes to rectify this with its new exhibit. With artifacts and documents that showcase the city's long-lived love of suds, Beer Here covers what the soldiers were drinking in the Revolutionary War, famous hometown brewers and the Prohibition era. When you are finished, step on over to the beer hall for a taste of New York City and state's best local brews. May 25 ? Sept. 2, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park W., nyhistory.org. MIDTOWN (http://nypress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Morgan-Josef-Albers-Color-Study-for-White-LineSquare.jpg)Josef Albers in America: Painting on Paper What better way to spend your summer than hanging out in a library, especially if you're going to see the Morgan Library & Museum's Josef Albers exhibit. Albers, the iconic 20th-century artist who died in 1976, is best known for his painting series Homage to the Square, in which he explored color relationships in concentric squares. This exhibit displays the less well-known studies and sketches for these paintings. The materials in this exhibit were never shown during Albers' life and are rarely displayed since his death; The Morgan is the only U.S. stop for this exhibition before it heads back to Europe. July 20 ? Oct. 14, The Morgan Library & Museum, 225 Madison Ave., themorgan.org. MIDTOWN (http://nypress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/moma_quaybrothers2012_quaybrothersinstudio.jpg)Quay Brothers: On Deciphering the Pharmacist's Prescription for Lip-Reading Puppets Filmmaking identical twins the Quay Brothers-or The Brothers Quay, in their preferred nomenclature-end the summer with a major retrospective of their work at the Museum of Modern Art. Born in Philly but developed as European surrealists in the grime of London, the Quays have been conjuring up their creepy-crawly, stop-motion animated work since the late '70s. Featuring repurposed doll heads and other unsettling motifs of mold and decay, the Brothers' oeuvre became a major aesthetic touchstone for the burgeoning industrial goth movement of the late '80s and '90s. This collection promises a rare view inside their work, with never-before-seen images, moving works, installations and artistic output, as well as screening of their best shorts and filmic output. Aug. 12 ? Jan. 8, 2013, The Museum of Modern Art, 11 W. 53rd St., www.moma.org. DOWNTOWN The Parade: Nathalie Djurberg with Music by Hans Berg Bird is the word at the New Museum's Studio 231 space as Swedish artist Nathalie Djurberg, known for her nightmarish animations, and videographer Hans Berg show off five trippy animations and an unnerving menagerie of more than 80 free-standing bird sculptures. These hybrid, sometimes monstrous forms speak to the artist's interest in physical and psychological transformation, as well as pageantry and perversion. Through Aug. 26, The New Museum, 235 Bowery, newmuseum.org.