This article is part of the Fine Arts & Exhibits special section on the art world stretching boundaries with new artists, new audiences and new technology.
This fall, museums and galleries across the country are exploring how art forms and styles have evolved at pivotal points in history. They are also celebrating the people who ushered in these changes, such as artists from the early to mid-1300s — at the dawn of the Italian Renaissance and the Black Death — and the 1970s — in the midst of the Watergate scandal and the Vietnam War. As history repeats itself, modern pioneers, too, reinvent and influence art in response to evolving societal and political issues, like threats to democracy and climate change.
New York
NEW YORK CITY
A Legacy of Beauty: The Collection of Sydell Miller
About 90 pieces from the extensive fine arts collection of Sydell Miller, a beauty industry mogul, will be up for auction next month. Sotheby’s estimates that the evening and day sales will bring in around $200 million, and the star lot is one of Claude Monet’s “Nymphéas” paintings, which is making its auction debut. The sale will also feature works by other well-known artists, including Wassily Kandinsky, Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse. Nov. 18 and 19; Sotheby’s, sothebys.com
“Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson: Character Studies”
When she died in 2015, Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson left her artwork and personal effects to the Columbus Museum of Art in Ohio, and it established the Aminah Robinson Legacy Project, which funds fellowships for African American artists and the conservation of her home and studio. Fort Gansevoort aims to support these endeavors through the sale of pieces from the estate in collaboration with the museum. This exhibition will feature her drawings and sculptures with an emphasis on portraiture. Nov. 14 through Jan. 25; Fort Gansevoort, fortgansevoort.com
“Egon Schiele: Living Landscapes”
The Austrian artist Egon Schiele was best known for his portraits, but he was also a skilled landscape painter. Schiele used his landscapes to symbolize the human experience, and he often painted plants with allegorical meaning. This exhibition examines the significance of landscapes in Schiele’s work, as well as how he used plants, natural environments and townscapes to reflect the cycle of life and the human condition. Through Jan. 13; Neue Galerie New York, neuegalerie.org
“Francis Alÿs: The Gibraltar Projects”
In Francis Alÿs’s first show in New York in over 10 years, the artist is presenting his series titled “Don’t Cross the Bridge Before You Get to the River.” Shown via a two-channel video is a performance piece from 2008 when children on either side of the Strait of Gibraltar, between Spain and Morocco, waded into the narrows and tried to move toward each other with boats crafted from shoes in their hands. Paintings, sculptures and drawings connected to this moment are also presented here. Nov. 7 through Dec. 14; David Zwirner Gallery, davidzwirner.com
