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
