February at LACMA

FREE TALK Diplomacy by Design: Luxury Arts and an "International Style" in the Ancient Near East, 1400–1200 BC February 3 | 7:30 pm In this fascinating talk, art historian Marian Feldman examines works of art from the Late Bronze Age in light of the extensive range of cultural, economic, and political interactions throughout the Near East and eastern Mediterranean, where the exchange of precious gifts played a crucial role in forging bonds between culturally disparate kingdoms. Reserve free tickets Free Lecture: Listening to the Courtesan—The Soundscapes of Pakeezah Sunday, February 6 | 2 pm Listening to the Courtesan—The Soundscapes of Pakeezah (Dir: Kamal Amrohi, 1971) examines the soundtrack of the highly acclaimed Hindi film Paakeezah about a Muslim courtesan, Sahibjaan. The discussion will focus on how the film’s ghazals combined with iconic sounds such as those of a train and layered noise reflect Sahibjaan’s complex inner disposition. Aparna Sharma is a filmmaker, film theorist, and Assistant Professor in the Department of World Arts and Cultures at UCLA. This program is held in conjunction with India’s Fabled City: The Art of Courtly Lucknow. Reserve free tickets Free Conversation with Artists: Artists and their Books Monday, February 7 | 7 pm LACMA curators Franklin Sirmans and Leslie Jones talk with artists about their about their favorite books, in conjunction with two exhibitions on view at LACMA- Steve Wolfe on Paper and R.B. Kitaj’s Covers for a Small Library. Artists include Andrea Bowers, Francesca Gabbiani, Alexandra Grant, Julian Hoeber, Dave Muller, and Mungo Thomson. Reserve free tickets Steve Martin in Conversation with Dave Hickey Thursday, February 10 | 7:30 pm SOLD OUT This evening of literary conversation focuses on Steve Martin's new novel, An Object of Beauty, and will explore the nature of the art business. Dave Hickey is an internationally acclaimed cultural critic, who has contributed to most major cultural publications in the country, including Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, and others. Steve Martin will sign copies of his book following the lecture. Presented by LACMA and Writer’s Bloc Learn more Free Lecture: Ellenor Alcorn on The Gilbert Collection and London’s Silver Trade Thursday, February 10 | 7 pm In celebration of the recent return to LACMA of 38 outstanding works from The Gilbert Collection, Ellenor Alcorn, Associate Curator, European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, will deliver a lecture on the internationalism of London’s silver trade as reflected in this collection. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, London was a magnet for talented goldsmiths who had trained in Continental centers such as Antwerp, Paris or Dresden. Their skills and knowledge of fresh styles were welcomed in the London workshops though few were permitted to establish an independent business. This lecture will focus on the extraordinary openness of London’s luxury trades to foreign style. Made possible by the Elsie de Wolfe Foundation. Reserve free tickets Free Gallery Discussion: The Art of Looking Thursday, February 10 | 12:30 pm Join LACMA educator Mary Lenihan for a one-hour facilitated gallery discussion on the museum's collection of Ancient Art. Offered on the second Thursday of the month, each tour offers an in-depth look at masterpieces in the galleries. Reserve free tickets Free Discussion and Book Signing: Bram Dijkstra Saturday, February 12 | 2 pm Bram Dijkstra, professor emeritus of English literature at the University of California, San Diego, will discuss his recently published study, Naked, the Nude in America, which was lauded by City Arts as “a bit of a two-for-one deal: a hybrid of controversial coffee table book and in-depth social and political treatise on American culture.” A book signing follows. Reserve free tickets Free Discussion and Tour: Clothing Across Cultures Saturday, February 12 | 9 am Curator Nicole LaBouff, the museum’s Wallis Annenberg Curatorial Fellow, and educators Kristin Bengtson and Mary Lenihan, along with Costumes and Textiles will offer a look at how artistic and cultural traditions influenced fashion, and how fashion influenced art. A tour in both the permanent collection galleries and the exhibition, Fashioning Fashion: European Dress in Detail, 1700–1915, will reveal the deep and lasting influences of the Asian aesthetic on European dress, and how European fashion found its way into great paintings. Reserve free tickets Free Book Signing: Keanu Reeves February 13 | 4–6 pm Celebrate the release of Ode to Happiness, an artist's book created by painter Alexandra Grant and actor Keanu Reeves, published by Gerhard Steidl. The artist and author will talk about their collaboration and the ideas of translation, melancholy, and friendship that inspired it. The talk starts promptly at 4:30 pm. Refreshments will be served. Check out other programs EXHIBITION OPENING Larry Fink: Hollywood, 2000–2009 February 13–April 3 Larry Fink is, among other things, a society photographer. But this does not mean he flatters the elite. Coming from what he describes as "left-wing but bourgeois" origins, Fink found inspirations—Lisette Model, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Brassaï—to validate his instinctive sense that critique is enriched by compassion, and that individuals are defined by context. Under contract with Vanity Fair from 2000 to 2009, Fink—who is neither paparazzo nor photojournalist—documented the magazine's annual Oscar-night party. The revelation of Fink's photographs is not that celebrities are superficial but that their humanity is profound and complex. Join now and see Larry Fink for free Reserve tickets Read a New York Times interview with Fink This exhibition was supported in part by a generous grant from the Alix Brotman Foundation of California. Free Poetry Reading: The Urdu Ghazal in Delhi and Lucknow Thursday, February 17 | 8 pm This reading offers an introduction to the cultural and social roles of the ghazal, the primary genre of Urdu poetry, with Dr. Brian Q. Silver, former Associate Professor of Indo-Muslim Studies at Harvard University. Julian Sands, well known British actor, collector, and lender to the exhibition, who will offer dramatic readings of English versions of the ghazal. This event is held in conjunction with the exhibition India’s Fabled City: The Art of Courtly Lucknow. Check out other programs SPECIAL EVENT Target Free Holiday Monday February 21 | 12–8 pm In honor of President's Day, LACMA is offering free admission, plus family activities, a performance by the Bohemians, and tours of the newly installed European art galleries—all for free! Learn more Free Committed to Print: An Inside Look at Printmaking History and Techniques Saturday, February 26 | 9:30 am Join LACMA’s curators and special guest artists for a three-session overview of printmaking history and techniques covering woodcuts, intaglio, and lithography and screen-printing. Go behind-the-scenes at LACMA for this rare chance to see original works from the collection, by artists including Dürer, Rembrandt, Piranesi, Whistler, Picasso, and others. Register for one or more sessions. Sessions will also be held on March 5 and March 12, 2011. Register here Free Gallery Conversations: Modern and Contemporary Art Saturdays & Sundays | 1–4 pm Introducing a new way to experience LACMA! Drop by the modern and contemporary art galleries for informative and informal conversations about works of art with gallery educators. Learn more ALSO IN FEBRUARY Last chance to see two exhibitions before they close: India's Fabled City and Steve Wolfe. Two gallery courses to try: printmaking techniques and costume traditions throughout history. Save the Date for the Muse Young Directors Night—March 5. Learn a new art form in the new year! Art courses in figure drawing, painting and drawing, and impressionistic Japanese watercolor start in February. In-kind media support for India's Fabled City is provided by KPCC. Untitled, 2002, Larry Fink collection of the artist, copyright Larry Fink Silver jug with a handle in the shape of a goat from Tell Basta, image courtesy of Marian Feldman Tilly Kettle, An Indian Dancing Girl with a Hookah, circa 1772, India, Uttar Pradesh, Faizabad, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. Photo © Yale Center for British Art, USA /The Bridgeman Art Library R.B. Kitaj. Towards a Better Life from In Our Time: Covers for a Small Library After the Life for the Most Part, 1969.Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Gift of S. A. Feld through The Martin S. Ackerman Foundation. Egypt, Thebes, Round-Topped Stela, mid-18th Dynasty, Preign of Amenhotep III, circa 1391–1353 BCE. Purchased with funds provided by Phil Berg, Egyptian Art Department. Paul de Lamerie (The Netherlands, Hertogenbosch, 1688–1751), Kettle, Stand and Lamp, 1736–1737; Long-term loan from the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection, Decorative Arts and Design Department. Clothing: Image: Amsterdam, Netherlands, Woman’s Robe à la Française, 1740–1760. Purchased with funds provided by Suzanne A. Saperstein and Michael and Ellen Michelson, with additional funding from the Costume Council, the Edgerton Foundation, Gail and Gerald Oppenheimer, Maureen H. Shapiro, Grace Tsao, and Lenore and Richard Wayne, Costume and Textiles Department. John Carroll, Parthenope, before 1925. Mr. and Mrs. Allan C. Balch Collection, American Art Department. Image: © Alexandra Grant Mir Kalan Khan (India, fl. c. 1734-1770), A Drowning man saved from marine monsters by a princely boat, circa 1750-60, India, Uttar Pradesh, Faizabad or Lucknow ; Fondation Custodia, Collection Frits Lugt, Paris. Photo Courtesy Collection Frits Lugt, Institut Néerlandais, Paris. Albrecht Dürer (Germany, Nuremberg, 1471–1528) The Combat of Virtue and Pleasure in the Presence of Hercules, circa 1498–1499. Purchased with funds provided by Anna Bing Arnold, Prints and Drawings Department. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Gift of S. A. Feld through The Martin S. Ackerman Foundation.Los Angeles County Museum of Art 5905 Wilshire Blvd (at Fairfax), Los Angeles CA 90036 323 857-6000 | lacma.org Directions, Hours, and Parking Your information will be kept confidential and will not be shared with others.