Chase Gallery, Boston

George Gabin, stylized, bird’s-eye views of rolling countryside with a muted blue-grey palette. December 2–27, 2008.

DC Moore Gallery, New York City

Studies for paintings by George Tooker, supplementing the retrospective at the National Academy Museum. Also “Eye to Eye,” playful paintings by Alexi Worth, who de-familiarizes images of apples, books eyes and hands by filling the foreground with their simple graphic shapes. Both shows November 13, 2008–January 3, 2009.

Eleanor Ettinger Gallery, New York City

Gregory Calibey, naturalistic figures against flattened decorative backdrops reminiscent of Klimt and Japanese screens. Calibey successfully unites these disparate elements through emphatic paint-handling. December 11, 2008– January 4, 2009.

Forum Gallery, Los Angeles

Holly Lane, acrylic paintings mounted in elaborate carved wood constructions that suggest both altar-pieces and Victorian curio cabinets. November 7, 2008–January 3, 2009.

Forum Gallery, New York City

“Linden Frederick, “American Studies,” fifty 12 1/4 -inch-square oils with vignettes of small-town buildings under moody skies, evoking a kind of heartland existentialism. November 13, 2008–January 3, 2009.

Hirschl & Adler Modern, , New York City

Frederick Brosen, “Coney Island,” watercolors documenting the century-old, endangered amusement park. Brosen contrasts the proletarian energy of frenetic signage with melancholy and soft light. November 20, 2008– January 3, 2009.

J. Cacciola Gallery, New York City

Koo Schadler, “Illuminated,” Renaissance-style nature studies, combined with texts that demonstrate technical sophistication and thematic innocence. Schadler’s use of unusual mediums—graphite, egg tempera and gold—is deft and intriguing. December 6–31, 2008.

Marlborough Chelsea, New York City

Recent paintings, including dramatic nudes, by Vincent Desiderio, a bold contemporary realist who works on an epic scale with strong content. November 20, 2008–January 3, 2009.

Klaudia Marr Gallery, Santa Fe

David Bowers, small-scale, meticulously painted images of young women in surreal, gothic or off-kilter fairy tale situations, and a few Arcimboldi-inspired fantasies. The artist is also a successful illustrator. December 5, 2008– January 5, 2009.

Marlborough Gallery, New York City

Richard Estes, one of the founders of Photorealism, tackles New England, New York and—in some remarkably painterly images— Antarctica. October 14–November 15, 2008.

Meredith Ward Fine Art, New York City

“John Marin: Ten Masterworks in Watercolor.” One of the best practioners in the medium in the twentieth century, Marin balances modernist concerns about flat shape and color with convincing representation in his breezy seascapes. November 20– December 20, 2008.

Scandinavia House, New York City

“Sublime Nature: Romantic Paintings of the Nineteenth Century.” Through January 10, 2009.

Museum Exhibitions

“That Liberty Shall Not Perish: World War I Posters,” featuring colorful, dynamic designs by well-known illustrators such as Howard Chandler Christy and Joseph Pennell. Through February 1, 2009.

Frick Art & Historical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

“From Michelangelo to Annibale Carracci: A Century of Italian Drawings from the Prado,” seventy sixteenth-century drawings, with sheets by Giulio Romano, Paolo Veronese and Andrea del Sarto. The catalogue, written by Nicholas Turner (published in English by Art Services International), reproduces nearly 600 drawings in color. October 25, 2008–January 4, 2009. Travels to the Mary and Leigh Black Museum of Art, Northwestern University (January 24–April 5, 2009) and the Philbrook Museum of Art (April 25–July 5, 2009).

Frick Collection, New York City

“Andrea Riccio: Renaissance Master of Bronze,” the first monographic exhibition for an interesting artist, with thirty-five works. October 15, 2008–January 18, 2009.

Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, California

“In Nature’s Temple: The Life and Art of William Wendt,” a full-scale retrospective of the colorful, spiritual work of the early-twentieth-century California Impressionist. November 9, 2008–February 8, 2009.

J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

““Captured Emotions: Baroque Painting in Bologna, 1575–1725,” twenty-seven works from the Dresden State Art Collection and an equal number from California collections, showcasing the full-bodied Bolognese style. December 16, 2008– May 3, 2009.

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

“The Philippe de Montebello Years: Curators Celebrate Three Decades of Acquisitions,” 160 works from seventeen curatorial departments demonstrate the retiring director’s strength as steward and expander of one of world’s great encyclopedic museums. Through February 1, 2009.

Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, New Jersey

“Philip Pearlstein: Objectifications,” a retrospective covering six decades of figurative paintings. October 18, 2008–February 9, 2009.

Museum of the City of New York, New York City

“Growing and Greening New York: PLANYC2030 and the Future of the City,” proposals by architects, designers and urban planners to improve civic space. December 4, 2008– April 5, 2009.

Museum of Russian Icons, Clinton, Massachusetts

“Two Museums/One Culture,” sixteen rare icons from the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow alongside 105 from the American museum, from the fifteenth century to the present. A fascinating opportunity to see a substantial body of work from a great tradition. Through May 1, 2009.

National Academy Museum, New York City

“George Tooker: A Retrospective,” an important show on a pre-eminent post-World War II realist, noted both for his skill in the egg tempera medium and his exploration of alienation and spirituality, with sixty-six paintings and drawings. Through January 4, 2009. Travels to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (January 30–April 5, 2009) and the Columbus Museum of Art (June 5–September 6, 2009).

“The Unknown Blakelock,” with forty-one works by this eccentric artist, famous for his scenes of Indian encampments and moonlight. Blakelock had considerable influence on later artists through his sense of fantasy and expressionistic paint-handling. Through January 4, 2009.

National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

“Pompeii and the Roman Villa: Art and Culture around the Bay of Naples,” 150 works of sculpture, painting, mosaic and luxury arts from the miraculously preserved resort cities of late antiquity. October 19, 2008–March 22, 2009. Travels to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (May 3–October 4, 2009).

“Jan Lievens: A.D.tch Master Rediscovered,” paintings, prints and drawings by a little-known seventeenth-century master. Through January 11, 2009. Travels to the Milwaukee Art Museum (February 7–April 28, 2009).

New-York Historical Society, New York City

“Drawn by New York”: Six Centuries of Watercolors and Drawings at the New-York Historical Society.” The most interesting material in this good-size show documents the growth of the city and includes a 360-degree panorama executed from the top of a lower-Manhattan church; drawings by Asher B. Durand and sketchbooks by other Hudson River School artists are aesthetic highlights. Through January 7, 2009. Travels to Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York (August 14–November 1, 2009) and the Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, Ohio (November 20, 2009–January 17, 2010).

Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts

“To the Ends of the Earth, Painting the Polar Landscape,” fifty paintings of the Arctic and Antarctic by nineteenth-and early twentieth-century artists, including Frederic Edwin Church’s spectacular Aurora Borealis. November 8, 2008–March 1, 2009.

Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, Oklahoma

“Paintings from the Reign of Victoria: The Royal Holloway Collection, London,” including works by Sir Edwin Landseer, David Roberts, William Powell Firth and Sir John Everett Millais. October 12, 2008–January 4, 2009. Travels to the Delaware Museum of Art (January 31–April 12, 2009), the Yale Center for British Art (June 11–July 26, 2009), Brigham Young University Museum of Art (August 15–October 25, 2009), and the Huntsville Museum of Art (November 21, 2009–January 31, 2010).

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.

““Graphic Masters I: Highlights from the Smithsonian American Art Museum,” a works-on-paper show featuring the exuberant watercolors of Winslow Homer, John La Farge and John Marin. Through May 25, 2009.

Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts

“Drawn to Drama: Italian Works on Paper, 1500–1800,” an exhibition of old master works from the Clark’s own holdings and the private collection of Robert Loper. Drawings by Guercino, Salvator Rosa, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Albrecht Dürer and Peter Paul Rubens, among others. October 12, 2008–January 4, 2009.