Museum Roundup

Busch-Reisinger Museum



Light Display Machines: Two Works by László Moholy-Nagy

Through Nov. 4, 2007



Beige curtains shield the two unusual pieces in question from the outside world. The first is a constantly rotating replica of “Light Prop for an Electric Stage” (the original lies dormant on the other side of the wall). This newly acquired light display machine looks a little like a kitchen on parade, its metallic clinks audibly expressing its kinetic appeal. A six-minute film, “Light Play: Black White Gray” (1930) plays on an adjacent wall, further emphasizing the importance of light and movement, and complementing the ever-shifting silhouette of the spot-lit sculpture. In the past, the original sculpture has only been set in motion during weekly demonstrations due to its fragility, while the label directed viewers to a video made available online.



Paintings by Max Beckmann from the Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich

Through Jan. 6, 2008



The three paintings by Max Beckmann on loan from the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich each represent very different stages in the German painter’s life and career. The earliest, “Dance in Baden-Baden” (1923) is an example of his social satire at its most exquisitely cutting. Beckmann finds the gruesome in the glamorous, as bored and beautiful women in profile dance with men whose eyes they won’t meet. 1932’s “Landscape with Tempest,” dark and brooding where the other is light, could be interpreted as an ominous acknowledgment of Beckmann’s own fears—a label points out the hint of a swastika in a bent tree’s branches. “Woman with Mandolin in Yellow and Red” (1950), painted in the year of his death, is a bright, bare-breasted swan song. The 40s are represented by a painting from the Busch-Reisinger’s own collection, which rounds out an engaging quartet.



Fogg Art Museum



Kara Walker: Harper’s Pictorial History of the Civil War (Annotated)

Through Nov. 11, 2007



Billed as, “A fitting tribute to Harvard’s new president,” “Kara Walker: Harper’s Pictorial History of the Civil War (Annotated)” commemorates Drew G. Faust’s inauguration with lithographs from Walker’s 2005 black and white series. Walker reproduces images from Harper’s Pictorial History of the Civil War (1868) and overlays them with black silhouettes, commenting on the history of race relations in America. The Fogg meets Facebook in a panel of text directing student to a “group” on www.facebook.com, which provides links and a discussion forum as part of an effort to increase student involvement. In addition, five events, pointedly designated “Gallery Conversations” as opposed to “Gallery Talks,” are to take place in the exhibition this fall, the final one led by Faust herself.



—Staff writer Anna K. Barnet can be reached at abarnet@fas.harvard.edu.