Enjoy this compendium of some of our favorite upcoming gatherings and presentations around town.
Joan Mitchell
March 6-Aug. 14
Baltimore Museum of Art
10 Art Museum Drive, Baltimore
artbma.org
Co-organized by the BMA and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, this groundbreaking retrospective exhibition includes 70 works by Joan Mitchell, a critically acclaimed artist who gained recognition in the mid-20th century when women artists were generally overlooked.
The exhibition encompasses Mitchell’s rarely shown early paintings and drawings as well as multi-panel works such as “Ode to Joy (A Poem by Frank O’Hara)” (١٩٧٠-٧١) and “La Vie en Rose” (١٩٧٩). The work is complemented by an immersive soundscape with quotes from Mitchell’s writing and interviews, as well as literature and music that held meaning for the artist.
Majolica Mania
March 13-Aug. 7
Walters Art Museum
600 N. Charles St., Baltimore
thewalters.org
Step back in time to the Victorian era in this immersive exhibition of majolica, the stunning ceramics popularized in 19th-century England and America. Including 350 works that fill the spectacular Hackerman House building, the exhibition features a restoration of a Victorian parlor. “Majolica Mania” explores themes such as nature, food, fashion, class, labor and immigration, and incorporates stories of the workers who made majolica as well as pictures of the factories and towns where it was produced.
Majolica ceased production in the mid-20th century when it was discovered that the lead-based glazes that gave the pottery its vibrant color and sheen were toxic for the artisans who created it. Commissioned by the Walters and Bard Graduate Center, the exhibition also includes a ceramic memorial to those who perished in the making of majolica by contemporary artist Walter McConnell.
Life in the Studio
April 3 opening
Raoul Middleman Studio
943 N. Calvert St., Baltimore
raoulmiddleman.com
One of Charm City’s most revered contemporary artists, the late Raoul Middleman got his start in the Pop Art movement of the 1960s. After establishing himself in New York and Paris, he returned to Baltimore in 1971. Middleman purchased a townhouse in Mount Vernon where he continued to paint while raising his family. He was known for painting his family and friends, as well as for an inimitable style of painterly Expressionism that focused on landscape and figurative representation. A teacher at the Maryland Institute College of Art for 50 years, Middleman’s paintings are included in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore Museum of Art.
The Raoul Middleman Studio Museum is dedicated to preserving and promoting his artistic legacy. The inaugural exhibition opens on the date that would have been the artist’s 87th birthday.
Blacklist: The Hollywood Red Scare
March 20-Oct. 16
Jewish Museum of Maryland
15 Lloyd St., Baltimore
jewishmuseummd.org
Originally curated by the Jewish Museum Milwaukee, “Blacklist: The Hollywood Red Scare” is a multi-sensory exhibition about an unprecedented period in American history when writers, directors and actors — many of them Jewish — were accused of being communists working on behalf of the Soviet Union. The suspected communists were compelled by the U.S. government to incriminate themselves or to share the names of others in the film industry who were “Reds.” Pressured by negative publicity, Hollywood studio executives — many of whom were Jewish — created blacklists of entertainers suspected of being communists, which kept them from being hired in the industry.
The exhibition explores the dynamics that affected Americans’ First Amendment rights of speech, religion and assembly through personal stories of those who were blacklisted, members of the House Un-American Activities Committee, and film executives of the period.
In his new memoir, piano man Marc Shaiman tells a showbiz story shaped by Jewish humor.
"Seeing the Essential" will showcase more than 100 art works collected for six decades by the local Jewish community philanthropists.
Many of this year's new children's books for Passover portray the holiday theme of opening one's seder table to guests.
With his new book "The AfterWork," Akchin explores finding fulfilment and meaning after concluding one's professional career.