Mathieu Rabeau © RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resource, NY, © 2017 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society, NY
Pablo Picasso’s “Portrait of Dora Maar” (1937)
THE PHILOSOPHY CHAMBER: ART AND SCIENCE IN HARVARD’S TEACHING CABINET, 1766-1820
The Philosophy Chamber, a proto-museum and laboratory, housed art, artifacts, scientific instruments, and more. Curators have reassembled a portion of the dispersed collection, investigating how knowledge was shaped in early America. May 19-Dec. 31. Harvard Art Museums, 32 Quincy St., Cambridge. 617-495-9400, www.harvardart
museums.org
OCEAN LINERS: GLAMOUR, SPEED, AND STYLE Ocean liners were symbols of progress and modernity: ever bigger, sleeker, and audaciously luxurious. Art, models, furniture, and ephemera explore the designs of these floating palaces and the culture that fostered them. May 20-Oct. 9. Peabody Essex Museum, 161 Essex St., Salem. 978-745-9500, www.pem.org
A NEW AMERICAN SCULPTURE, 1914-1945: LACHAISE,
LAURENT, NADELMAN, AND
ZORACH
Before World War I, these four artists lived in Paris, influenced by classicism, new technologies, and globalism. Then they came to the United States and became pioneers of American modernism. May 26-Sept. 8. Portland Museum of Art, 7 Congress Square, Portland. 207-775-6148, www.port
landmuseum.org
MASS MOCA BUILDING 6 The mammoth museum doubles its exhibition space, with the opening of another renovated factory building, and inaugurates the new galleries with a James Turrell retrospective, a Laurie Anderson exhibition, giant sculptures by Louise Bourgeois, and more. Opens May 28. MASS MoCA, 1040 MASS MoCA Way, North Adams. 413-662-2111, www.massmoca.org
PICASSO: ENCOUNTERS In 35 large-scale prints and three paintings, including the sharp, stunning “Portrait of Dora Maar,” this show charts Picasso’s career through his collaborations with printmakers and muses, and his imaginative engagements with works by old masters. June 4-Aug. 27. Clark Art Institute, 225 South St., Williamstown. 413-458-2303, www.clarkart.edu
INVENTING AMERICA: ROCKWELL AND WARHOL Two of the 20th century’s most celebrated artists made work that reflected on society and popular culture, and indeed shaped it. Rockwell leaned toward the best of America; Warhol went for the glitz and shadows. June 10-Oct. 29. Norman Rockwell Museum, 9 Glendale Road, Stockbridge. 413-298-4100, www.nrm.org
WILLIAM WEGMAN/REEL TO REAL Best known for deadpan photographs of Weimaraners, Wegman was an early creator of performance videos. Some featured his dog Man Ray, and many were marked by Wegman’s dry humor. June 10-Oct. 22. Center for Maine Contemporary Art, 21 Winter St., Rockland, Maine. 207-701-5005, www.cmcanow.org
CHINA’S 8 BROKENS: PUZZLES OF THE TREASURED PAST The bapo paintings here, depicting torn, ragged book pages, calligraphies, and more, were trendy among the Chinese middle class starting in the mid-19th century. The show also spotlights contemporary work by Geng Xuezhi. June 17-Oct. 29. Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Ave. 617-267-9300, www.mfa.org
THE IVORY MIRROR: THE ART OF MORTALITY IN RENAISSANCE EUROPE
Centering on a group of exquisitely carved ivory skulls, “The Ivory Mirror” plunges into the late-medieval and early-Renaissance obsession with the macabre. June 24-Nov. 26. Bowdoin College Museum of Art, 245 Maine St., Brunswick, Maine. 207-725-3275, www.bowdoin
.edu/art-museum
DANA SCHUTZ In March, the painter became a lightning rod for her depiction of the murdered Emmett Till’s body in the Whitney Biennial. Her lusciously painterly, expressive canvases often feature mangled figures and brooding stories. July 26-Nov. 26. Institute of Contemporary Art, 25 Harbor Shore Drive. 617-478-3100, www.icaboston.org
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