Calendar

PHILADELPHIA

ART AROUND THE BEND An exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, "Gee's Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt," collects more than 70 quilts made in the community of Gee's Bend, Ala., between the 1930s and 1980s. A quilt can prove more than cold-weather bedclothes, and that notion is underscored in this exhibition. While each quilt is unique, many share common fabrics and construction techniques, such as strip quilting and flying geese patterns. In conjunction with this exhibit, 13 works by leading Southern quilt makers are on display in "Quilt Stories: The Ella King Torrey Collection of African American Quilts and Other Recent Quilt Acquisitions." A former president of the San Francisco Art Institute, Ms. Torrey compiled the collection while conducting fieldwork on the quiltmaking tradition in the African-American community. Among the highlights is an appliquéd "hand" quilt commissioned for the film "The Color Purple" (1985), and Creola Pettway's quilt, "Housetop" — "Half-Log Cabin" variation (1949), above. "Gee's Bend," through Sunday, December 14; "Quilt Stories," through February; Tuesday–Thursday and Saturday–Sunday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Friday, 10 a.m.–5:45 p.m., Philadelphia Museum of Art, 26th Street at Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, 215-763-8100, $14 general, $12 seniors, $10 students and children ages 13–18, free for members and children under 12. For complete information, go to philamuseum.org.

BOSTON

IT TAKES A VILLAGE The portrait photographer Yousuf Karsh captured on film many of the leading intellectual figures, actors, artists, and statesmen of the 20th century. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, has mounted an exhibit of his works in "Karsh 100: A Biography in Images." The show, which coincides with the 100th anniversary of his birth, includes Karsh's black-and-white photographs of Betty Low (1936), right, Audrey Hepburn (1956), far right, Georgia O'Keeffe, Ernest Hemingway, and Winston Churchill, among others. Also not to be missed at the museum: the British sculptor Rachel Whiteread's installation, made up of dozens of handmade dollhouses the artist collected over several years. Ms. Whiteread's sprawling "Place (Village)" occupies a dark room, suggesting a small town illuminated after dark by the homes and buildings that are lit from within. "Karsh 100: A Biography in Images," through Monday, January 19; "Rachel Whiteread," Wednesday, October 15–Sunday, January 25; museum hours Monday–Tuesday, 10 a.m.–4:45 p.m., Wednesday–Friday, 10 a.m.–9:45 p.m., Saturday–Sunday, 10 a.m.–4:45 p.m., Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 465 Huntington Ave., between Museum Road and Forsyth Way, Boston, 617-267-9300, $17 general, $15 seniors and students, $6.50 children ages 7–17, free for members and children ages 6 and under. For more, go to mfa.org.

HARVARD REVIEW The Harvard University Art Museum's three constituent museums — the Fogg, Arthur M. Sackler, and Busch-Reisinger — join forces in creating a survey exhibition, "Re-View," to reflect the diversity of the museums' holdings. Curatorial staff of all three institutions collaborated on the show, which is on view at the Arthur M. Sackler Museum while the Harvard Art Museum is closed for an expansive renovation, under the architect Renzo Piano, that is scheduled to be completed in 2013. The exhibit features rarely seen works as well as familiar fixtures such as the Busch-Reisinger Museum's "Self-Portrait in Tuxedo" (1927) by Max Beckmann. Open run, Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sunday, 1-5 p.m., Arthur M. Sackler Museum, 485 Broadway at Quincy Street, Cambridge, Mass., 617-495-9400, $9 general, $7 seniors, $6 students, free for members and children under 18. For complete information, go to artmuseums.harvard.edu.

FESTIVAL OF SOUND The Boston Symphony Orchestra kicks off its 2008-09 season with a Russian-themed program: Soprano Maija Kovalevska sings the Letter Scene from Act 1 of Tchaikovsky's opera "Eugene Onegin." Under the baton of conductor James Levine, the BSO performs Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" and Glinka's Overture to "Ruslan and Ludmila." On Friday and Saturday, the Tanglewood Festival Chorus accompanies on Brahms's "German Requiem." In October, Maestro Levine leads three performances of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 6, which the composer is said to have dubbed his "Tragic Symphony" for its ominous tone. Opening today, 6:30 p.m., $75-$2,500; Friday-Saturday, 8 p.m., September 26-27, $30-$115, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Hall, Boston, 301 Massachusetts Ave., 617-266-1492, Boston. For complete information, go to bso.org.

PHILADELPHIA

BEYOND BALANCHINE The Pennsylvania Ballet's season opener, "Balanchine and Beyond," is a triple bill that includes the titular choreographer's "Ballo della Regina." George Balanchine's 17-minute ballet consists of rapid and precise movements set to music from Verdi's opera "Don Carlos." The company also dances its premiere of Mauro Bigonzetti's "Kazimir's Colours," a piece inspired by the art of Russian painter Kazimir Malevich. Twyla Tharp's "Push Comes to Shove" completes the program. Ms. Tharp's comic "crossover" ballet combines traditional and modern dance technique in recounting the frustrations of a male soloist who cannot seem to adhere to the structure and discipline required of a dancer. He launches instead into stunning, virtuosic moves as the music changes. Wednesday, October 29-Thursday, October 30, 8 p.m.; Saturday, November 1, 2 and 8 p.m., and Sunday, November 2, 2 p.m., Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, 260 Broad St. at Locust Street, Philadelphia, 215-790-5800, $24-$129. For complete information, go to paballet.org.

PHILADELPHIA STORIES Over four evenings, conductor Charles Dutoit leads the Philadelphia Orchestra in Hector Berlioz's 1839 dramatic symphony, "Romeo and Juliet." The concert features guest performances by mezzo-soprano Ruxandra Donose, tenor Gregory Kunde, and baritone David Wilson-Johnson. The orchestra's resident chorus, the Philadelphia Singers, also performs. Ms. Donose sang the role of Marguerite in a production of Berlioz's "Damnation de Faust" at the San Francisco Symphony, also under Mr. Dutoit's baton. "Romeo and Juliet," Thursday, October 16- Saturday, October 18, and Tuesday, October 21, 8 p.m., Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Verizon Hall, 260 South Broad St., between Spruce and Pine streets, Philadelphia, 215-893-1999, $39-$125. For complete information, go to philorch.org.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

KINGS AND QUEENS Movers and shakers of the last century are the focus of "Women of Our Time: Twentieth Century Photographs" at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. Portraits of Amelia Earhart, Billie Holiday, Marilyn Monroe, and other influential American figures are culled from the museum's collection. The exhibit showcases the best of that era in American photography, including works by Irving Penn, Edward Steichen, and Lisette Model. An installation of four full-length portraits of North American Indians is also on view beginning this fall. Painted by John Verelst in 1710, the "Four Indian Kings" depicts the men chosen to represent the Iroquoian Confederacy during negotiations of the Treaty of Paris, which effectively ended the American Revolution. The image is unique in that it conveys the subjects in a style reserved at the time for European nobility. "Women of Our Time," Friday, October 10-Sunday, February 1; "Four Indian Kings," through Sunday, January 25; daily, 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m., National Portrait Gallery, Eighth and F streets N.W., Washington, D.C., 202-633-8300, free. For complete information, go to npg.si.edu.

POMP FOR POMPEII The Bay of Naples served as a vacation spot for Rome's wealthy elite during the first century before the common era. The remains of those seaside homes are on display in "Pompeii and the Roman Villa: Art and Culture around the Bay of Naples," an exhibit at the National Gallery of Art. More than 150 works of sculpture, mosaic, painting, and other objects from earlier excavations — some of which have never before been exhibited in America — are on view. In addition, the gallery presents three photographic series by a trio of major artists in "Oceans, Rivers, and Skies: Ansel Adams, Robert Adams, and Alfred Stieglitz." The multiple series of black-and-white landscapes hang together for the first time; Stieglitz's "Music: A Sequence of Ten Cloud Photographs" was last shown in its entirety in 1923. "Pompeii and the Roman Villa," Sunday, October 19-Sunday, March 22; "Oceans, Rivers, and Skies," Sunday, October 12-Sunday, March 15; Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sunday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m., National Gallery of Art, National Mall, Constitution Avenue NW, between 3rd and 7th streets, Washington, D.C., 202-737-4215, free. For complete information, go to nga.gov.

JAZZ ON THE MALL The fourth annual Duke Ellington Jazz Festival in Washington, D.C., unfolds over five days with signature events, including Jazz 'n Families Fun Day and Jazz on the National Mall concerts. A nine-time Grammy Award winner, Cuban-born composer Paquito D'Rivera, directs the festival, which also features performances throughout the week by the Berklee College of Music Latin Jazz All-Stars — known to fans as La Timbistica — and the group Step Afrika! a professional troupe dedicated to the tradition of stepping. Harmonica player Frédéric Yonnet plays in the Sculpture Garden at the National Gallery of Art on Friday, October 3, at 5:30 and 7:15 p.m. Wednesday, October 1-Tuesday, October 7, Duke Ellington Jazz Festival, times and locations vary, 202-232-3611, admission var. For complete information, go to dejazzfest.org.

Compiled by Charlotte Cowles

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