What's on at Europe's Museums

First ever show on Holbein the Younger

The Mauritshuis, The Hague

The Museum Mauritshuis in The Hague has for the first time, with help from the British Queen, put together an exhibition on renowned German renaissance painter Hans Holbein the Younger (1497 – 1543). The show includes 15 drawings from the Queen’s private collection in Windsor Castle and draws on 20 paintings and miniatures reflecting the genius of Holbein. The artists was the court painter to Henry VIII and the more than 100 miniatures and full-size portraits he completed at Henry’s court provide a remarkable documentation of that colorful period. Holbein is also well known for his richly-colored religious works and his designs for church windows. The current show also includes Holbein’s art from collections in Darmstadt, Dresden, Braunschweig, Paris and Washington.

"Holbein the Younger (1497-1543)" runs from Aug 16, 2003 through Nov 16, 2003, daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Dubuffet retrospective in Salzburg

The Rupertinum, Salzburg

The Rupertinum museum in Salzburg, Austria, is showing works by radical and innovative French painter, sculptor and printmaker, Jean Dubuffet (photo). The comprehensive retrospective titled "Jean Dubuffet – Traces of an Adventure" has been compiled with support from the Fondation Dubuffet Paris as well as the Guggenheim Museum New York and Bilbao. It takes an in-depth look at all creative phases of the versatile artist, best known for his development of art brut (French: "raw art") in the 1940s or crude, primitive and even obscene art. The show provides a whole spectrum of Dubuffet’s work from his use of "art-alien" materials, such as butterfly wings, to his later works in the 1980s.

"Jean Dubuffet – Traces of an Adventure" runs through October 19, 2003, daily 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. , Wednesday till 9 p.m.

A peek into the world of domestic Arab life

Vitra Design Museum, Berlin

An exhibition titled "Living Under the Crescent Moon" at the Vitra Design Museum in Berlin explores the myths and realities of the Arab world. Architectural models, films, photographs and ceramic works and reconstructed rooms demonstrate the diversity of domestic lifestyles between Morocco, Syria and the Arabian peninsula. The exhibit covers everything from the nomadic tents of the Tuareg or Bedouins to Moroccan casbahs (grand courtyard houses in Marrakech, Damascus or Cairo) to buildings by twentieth-century architects like Hassan Fathy, Elie Mouyal or Abdelwahed El-Wakil. The show offers visitors insights into a previously little-known realm of Arab life, namely the private domestic sphere which is traditionally sealed off from the outside world.

"Living Under the Crescent Moon" runs through January 18, 2004, Tue. - Sun. 11a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Expressionism and the city

The Royal Academy of Arts, London

The Royal Academy of Arts in London is hosting the first major British exhibition on German expressionist artist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880 – 1938), who was the founder of the famous "Brücke" movement. Focusing on works produced between the period 1905 – 1915, which was considered the artist’s most creative and innovative, the show called "Kirchner: Expressionism and the City" includes over a hundred paintings, drawings, prints and sculptures. Kirchner’s works are characterized by the use of strong, pure color. His early subjects include stark landscapes and nudes, while his later works in Berlin show a shift to a more gritty and agressive version of urban life, epitomized in his famous streetscapes.

"Kirchner: Expressionism and the City" runs through September 21, 2003, daily 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., fridays until 10 p.m.