Reed Travel Features
NEW YORK -- This year's European art happenings are an
understated collection of subtle talents and low-key debuts.
The lack of blockbusters might actually make museum going this
season a more pleasurable experience for tour-ists, considering the
number of sold-out shows and crowded venues that overtook the
Continent in 1996.
The quirky surprises of the season, such as an exhibition
exploring "The Nude" in Am-sterdam and Brussels and the Grimaldi
family memorabilia in Monte Carlo, will be especially appealing to
visitors who already have viewed some of the capital cities'
best-known treasures.
Other highlights follow:
Austria
This year marks the 200th anniversary of Franz Schubert's birth,
and towns and cities throughout Austria are planning musical
celebrations and exhibitions in the composer's honor.
In addition to the main celebration, the Schubertiade music
festival in Feldkirch, the entire Vorarlberg province is creating a
three-country exhibition titled "Schubert 200."
The exhibition will take place at venues in Feldkirch and
Schwarzenberg in Vorarlberg, Austria; Schaan in the principality of
Liechtenstein, and at Achberg Palace and in Lindau, both in
Germany.
"Schubert 200" will illustrate Schubert's life, work and
creations and document his role as a trailblazer for contemporary
music.
In addition to public collections from Europe and overseas, the
presentations will display rare items on loan from private
collectors.
Belgium
In Brussels, the Royal Museum of Fine Arts is holding the first
retrospective on the works of Belgian surrealist Paul Delvaux, born
100 years ago.
The exhibition, running from March 21 through July 27, will
include 250 paintings and drawings.
Czech Republic
This summer's "Prague in the Time of Rudolf II" is one of the
most extensive exhibitions to have been planned for the Czech
capital in decades (See related story, Page E2.)
After being closed for many years, Prague Castle's picture
gallery will reopen in May, as will the Art Nouveau Municipal
House.
Denmark
Never without a big spring show, the Louisiana Museum, about 30
minutes outside Copenhagen, in Humlebaek, will show "Men and Gods:
New Discoveries From Ancient China" through May 19.
Archaeological discoveries in China during the past decade will
be on display.
France
The Museum of Fashion and Textiles is the newest addition to the
Louvre, having opened at the great Paris landmark earlier this
month.
The collection deals with the evolution of dress, including
16,000 costumes from the 16th century until today, as well as
35,000 fashion accessories and 30,000 fabric samples.
Garments from such grandes dames as Madame Recamier and the
Empress Josephine are shown in the collection, and viewers can
follow the chic histories of the houses of Dior and Chanel and see
original clothing models of Paco Rabanne and Issey Miyake.
The collection at the Louvre takes its place among such
important fashion and costume exhibitions as those at the Victoria
& Albert Museum in London and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in
New York.
Ireland
Valentine's Day marked the official opening of the Hunt Museum's
new home in the refurbished 18th century Customs Building in the
heart of Limerick City.
On display are antiquities from pre-dynastic Egypt, items of
Irish archaeology and 20th century art.
Monaco
There are a number of special exhibitions planned in Monaco this
year, some of which are timed to coincide with the 700th
anniversary of the Grimaldi dynasty.
From March 29 to Sept. 30, the sixth Contemporary Sculpture
Biennial will take place at the Casino Garden and Atrium.
A Grimaldi memorabilia exhibit will be on display from Sept. 5
to Oct. 30 at the Salle Polyvalente on the Terrace de
Fontvieille.
A weeklong 700th Nautiques celebration will kick off Sept. 14 at
the Port of Monaco and will include a display of Tall Ships from
around the world as well as vintage hydroplanes.
An exhibit called "The Grimaldis and the Sea" will be on display
at the port concurrently.
The Netherlands
The Rijksmuseum is mounting a major print exhibition on "The
Nude," with works by internationally famous artists spanning the
last five centuries.
In the museum's print room from May 10 through Aug. 3, visitors
will be able to see works by Rembrandt, Durer, Mantegna, Matisse,
Gauguin, Degas, Picasso and others.
This view of unclothed humanity will consist of prints, drawings
and photographs.
Opening at the Rijksmuseum at the end of the year, Nov. 28
through March 3, 1998, is the exhibition "On Country Roads and
Fields," a collection of 18th and 19th century landscapes.
Featured will be painters from the Romantic and Hague schools
such as Koekkoek, Schelfhout and Bilders.
Through mid-April, clients can see "Peter the Great and
Holland," the czar's collection of art and curiosities at the
Amsterdam Historical Museum, and "Catherina the Empress and the
Arts from Russia's Golden Age" in the New Church on Dam Square.
The Willet-Holthuysen Mu-seum is the only fully furnished canal
house in Amsterdam.
The recently re-opened canal house, at 605 Herengracht, was
built between 1685 and 1690 as part of the ring of central canals
in Amsterdam.
On view as they were a century ago, the ballroom and dining room
and some rooms have been transferred from other canal houses.
The museum contains a collection of fine and applied art,
including glass, ceramics and silver, belonging to the last owner,
Abraham Willet.
Recorded tours with headphone sets are available for
English-speaking visitors.
Norway
Tourists who make it to Kirkenes by coastal steamer, can visit a
new museum this summer that details the history of the Sor-Varanger
district all the way back to the Stone Age.
The museum will have exhibits on Norway's relationship with
Russia, the Sami culture and natural history.
Portugal
Several new exhibitions will be on display at the Museum
Calouste Gulbenkian, one of Lisbon's finest museums, which houses
the treasures collected by Armenian oil magnate Calouste
Gulbenkian.
The exhibits include "British Contemporary Art" through April
30; the work of Portuguese sculptor Alberto Carneiro, May 1 through
July 31, and "Portuguese Comics," May 1 through July 31.
The museum also houses an eclectic collection of Egyptian,
Greek, Roman, Islamic, Oriental and European acquisitions.
Spain
In Barcelona, admirers of modern German painter Oskar Schlemmer
can take in an exhibit through April 4 at La Caixa Foundation
Cultural Center.
More than 200 of the artist's works will be on hand from all
phases of his career.
Also in Catalonia province, in La Pera, Pubol Castle, which was
a 1970 gift from Salvador Dali to his wife, Gala, has undergone
extensive renovations and opened to the public as a museum.
The castle is not far from the Dali Museum in Figueras and the
artist's home in Port Lligat.
In Madrid, the Reina Sofia Modern Art Museum is in the process
of acquiring four paintings in Picasso's "Guernica" series as well
as one of his sculptures, "Man with Lamb."
Perhaps the most anticipated event of the summer for art lovers
is the opening in Bilbao, on the north coast, of the Guggenheim
Museum, designed by Frank Gehry.
The modern architectural marvel has been described by some
critics as one of the greatest achievements of Gehry's career.
The museum will feature a collection of 20th century Masters and
contemporary art.
The newly opened Fine Arts Museum in La Coruna, on the northwest
coast, displays works by Picasso, Goya, Sorolla and Rubens.
Also new is the Ruiz de Luna Ceramics Museum in Talavera, which
recently reopened in a new building.
Permanent exhibits include ceramics dating from the early 20th
century.
Switzerland
Already home to 30 museums, Basel added the Jean Tinguely Museum
to its impressive list of venues.
The facility, which opened on Oct. 3, is dedicated to the work
of Jean Tinguely, one of Switzerland's greatest sculptors, who died
in 1991.
The four floors of the museum feature 70 mechanical sculptures
that span four decades of his work, including reliefs and printing
machines from the 1950s and mechanical works and machine
sculptures.
Later pieces in the collection include the "Mengele-Totentanz"
cycle.
Further insight into the artist's life comes from the many
drawings and writings that document his projects.
The museum is located in Solitude Park, on the right bank of the
Rhine.
The village of Tolochenaz built a pavilion to honor one of its
most distinguished and beloved residents, Audrey Hepburn.
Tolochenaz, located about 10 minutes from Lausanne, on Lake
Geneva, was home to the actress for 30 years before her death in
1993.
Items on display at the Audrey Hepburn Pavilion include family
photographs, original film posters, Oscars and other awards she
received.
Reed Travel Features editors Caroline Scutt, Felicity Long and
Carla Hunt contributed to this report.