What's On at Europe's Museums

Modern Americans in Munich

The artists Robert Gober, Mike Kelley and Christopher Wool represent the generation in American contemporary art that is rooted in Pop and Minimal Art, albeit associated with a more political-sociological slant. Together, the three depict a cruel reality. Paintings, sculptures, drawings and installations from all three artists, shown at the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich, illustrate the damage that a standardized world imposes upon its inhabitants.The works on view are from the Udo and Anette Brandhorst Collection and from the Museum moderner Kunst | Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna.

American Art of the 1990s: Robert Gober - Mike Kelley - Christopher Wool is on view until October 24, 2004

The Pinakothek der Moderne Kunst is open from Tuesday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday and Friday from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m.

Sound and Light Show at Beaubourg

The relationship between music and art is the central theme of the "Sound and Light. The History of Music in 20th Century Art," currently on view in the Pompidou Center (Centre Beaubourg) in Paris. Over 400 works, including installations, paintings and videos, explore the influence of music and musicians on artists such as Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Piet Mondriaan, Jackson Pollock, Hans Richter and Bill Viola. The exhibit is the largest ever on this topic to be shown in France.

"Son et Lumiere" runs until January 3, 2005

The Pompidou Center is open daily except Tuesdays, from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m. Thursdays until 11 p.m.

Rotterdam Hosts a Swiss Jewel

Starting October 2, the Kunsthal in Rotterdam will show works from the collection of the Swiss industrialist Oscar Ghez. The exhibit, entitled "Paris Painters, from Renoir to Picasso" comprises more than 100 works by artists who lived in Paris at the beginning of the 20th century, from Impressionists to Surrealists. Included are works from Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Kees van Dongen, Claude Monet, Eduouard Vuillard and Giorgio de Chirico. Among the best pieces are the large painting "Le pont de l'Europe" by Gustave Caillebotte, 70 bronze sculptures by André Derain, and Vuillard's tea salon paintings. The works can otherwise only be seen on an appointment basis in Geneva’s Musée du Petit Palais.

Paris Painters, from Renoir to Picasso: The Oscar Ghez collection will be on view from October 2

to January 23.

The Museum Kunsthal Rotterdam is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

European Masters, from Dürer to Rubens

The word "Transalpinum" is an ancient term referring to pilgrimages by artists crossing the Alps from northern Europe to Italy and vice versa. Now, "Transalpinum" is the title of a current exhibit at the Polish National Museum in Warsaw, comprising highlights of the collection of the Museum of Art History in Vienna. The show focuses on Northern European and Italian painters such as Dürer, Rubens and Titian, and aims to show how these painters from north and south came to influence one another.

Transalpinum: Masters of European Painting is open through December 10, 2004

The National Museum of Warsaw is open Tuesdays through Sundays, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m; Wednesdays until 8 p.m.

Hans Hartung retrospective in The Netherlands

Directly following the end of the exhibit on Hans Hartung in Cologne’s Museum Ludwig, the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague is dedicating an exhibit to him for his 100th birthday. The first show in the Netherlands featuring the Leipzig-born artist contains 70 works, among them architectural drawings, photographs and large format acrylic paintings. The exhibit traces Hartung’s development as one of the founding fathers of French Lyric Abstractionism, the European counterpart of Abstract Expressionism. His paintings displayed a plain ground covered with rough and apparently spontaneous brushwork. After his death, people were astounded when the study of unfinished pictures revealed that his paintings had not in fact been created in a wild and spontaneous way, but by carefully filling in predetermined outlines based in every detail, right down to the smallest flecks of paint, on sketches prepared in advance. Had the term existed during his lifetime, Hartung would have been considered a conceptual artist.

Hans Hartung: Conceptualism avant la lettre, runs through November 21.

The Gemeentemuseum, The Hague, is opn Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.