Supporting the Arts in Western Massachusetts and Beyond

June 16, 2017

Exhibits take residence at three Berkshire museums


Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, and GUITAR: The Instrument That Rocked the World take residence at three museums in the Berkshires



GUITAR, aka The Instrument That Rocked the World, takes place at the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield through September 4th. Strummed or picked, acoustic or electric, playing a hard rock anthem or gentle folk tune, the guitar is the most popular instrument in the world. The exhibit explores all aspects of one of the most enduring musical icons of the last 200 years. Visitors to GUITAR will experience the instrument from its history, evolution, and design to the music it has created and the technology that continues to enhance it. This exhibition covers the science, sound, and cultural impact of the guitar in a family friendly installation that contains more than 70 instruments, from the rare and antique to the popular and innovative. A special feature is the world’s largest guitar, 43.5 feet long and 16 feet wide, weighs 2,000 pounds, and certified by Guinness World Records. www.berkshiremuseum.org



Norman Rockwell meets Andy Warhol at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge. America’s most important visual communicators, Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) and Andy Warhol (1928-1987) embraced populism, created enduring icons, shaped national identity, and opened new ways of seeing during the twentieth century. This summer and fall, Norman Rockwell Museum will present the first exhibition – titled Inventing America: Rockwell and Warhol -- to examine the artistic and cultural influence of these celebrated image-makers and the continued influence of their indelible legacies. Inventing America will present nearly 100 works that compare and contrast the two artists, including portraits of President John F. Kennedy, and man’s first steps on the moon. The exhibition will also feature archival materials and photographs relating to the artists’ lives and careers. As innovators, Rockwell and Warhol each created and adapted techniques to advance their art to new ends. www.nrm.org



Picasso: Encounters, on view at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, investigates how Pablo Picasso’s (1881–1973) creative collaborations fueled and strengthened his art, challenging the notion of Picasso as an artist alone with his craft. The exhibition addresses his full stylistic range, the narrative themes that drove his creative process, the often-neglected issue of the collaboration inherent in print production, and the muses that inspired him. This special exhibit is comprised of 35 large-scale prints from private and public collections and three paintings including his seminal Self-Portrait and the renowned Portrait of Dora Maar, both on loan from the Musée national Picasso–Paris. The Clark, which owns very few Picasso’s in their permanent collection is fortunate to have received many generous loans from museums and private collections for this exhibition. www.clarkart.edu