Art in the City

EDITOR'S PICK

“Raphael’s La Fornarina”

The Frick Collection

Fifth Ave. at 70th St.

Nov. 30, 6 p.m.

In preparation for and in celebration of the remarkable loan of Raphael’s La Fornarina (c. 1518) from the Galleria Barberini in Rome, Claudio Strinati, the superintendent of the National Museum of Rome, will speak about this important work and the myth that has evolved around its subject. Art historians have long noted the masterful handling of the sitter’s nudity and her diaphanous drapery, but she is much more famous for supposedly being the depiction of Raphael’s lover, the daughter of a baker (fornaio). La Fornarina will go on display at The Frick Collection on Dec. 2, the first time this work has been exhibited in the United States. —David Pullins

Art & Technology Lectures: Jon Ippolito

702 Hamilton Hall

Dec. 2, 6 p.m.

The Art and Technology Lectures examine the role technology plays in offering artists access to each other’s work. Although artists have always served as sources of inspiration for one another, in the 20th century that inspiration was taken to new levels as the practice of appropriation (including collage and sampling) became more common. While modern technology—including the Internet and file-sharing networks—has facilitated appropriation, intellectual property laws have attempted to prevent such practice. The fourth lecture in this series features Jon Ippolito, an artist, writer, and curator whose work examines the relationship between new media and contemporary art. —Brittany Kaplan

"Great Expectations: John Singer Sargent’s Child Portraiture"

The Brooklyn Museum of Art

Through Jan. 16, 2005

Even if beautiful, well-bred children aren’t your idea of the world’s most fascinating subject, the astonishing skill with which Sargent puts oil to canvas will make the mounds of satin and lush carpet in the portraits nothing short of mesmerizing. In fact, it is Sargent’s skill that saves his subjects from the danger of sickening levels of sentimental sweetness. This exhibition is appropriately small, bringing together a range of portraits from large-scale works in the manner of Reynolds for his aristocratic English clientele to smaller studies and sketches of his younger sisters executed before the artist received any formal training. —David Pullins

"Architecture Dialogues: Adam Kalkin"

Whitney Museum

Madison Ave. at 75th St.

December 2, 7 p.m.

Adam Kalkin is an architect who integrates performance, play, and conceptual art into his designs, in a manner that is reminiscent of Dadaist practices. He is most widely known for designing the Quick House, which is a prefabricated house made from recycled steel shipping containers, but he has also designed and patented other functional items such as the Video Gravestone, a headstone consisting of a flat screen monitor which continuously plays clips of the deceased person’s life. This talk at the Whitney Museum follows his publication of the book Architecture and Hygiene and will expound on his intriguing theories of functional architecture and design. —Emily Michal

"Wit and Mockery in German Art"

Neue Galerie

Fifth Ave. at 86th St.

Through Feb. 14, 2005

At the turn of the century, in a peculiar response to modernization, a number of German artists began to explore the art of the absurd and grotesque. Through the work of Paul Klee, Max Ernst, and the Dadaist Hannah Höch, this exhibit includes some of the more provocative and humorous art of this period. With paintings of figures partially composed of both hens and women, and Christ wearing a gas mask, visitors are in for a memorable chuckle. Ranging from paintings to posters, and from collage to film, this group of works embraces the strange and squeezes it with all its might. —Anna Ayeroff