ART

MASKS AND MATISSE A display of wooden Dan masks from the Ivory Coast paired with aquatint prints by Henri Matisse is the first joint exhibit between Pace Master Prints and Pace Primitive. Though there is no direct relationship between the works, they share basic shapes and clean lines. The masks are from the late 19th and early 20th centuries and were used for entertainment and various rituals. African tribal art arrived in Paris as early as the 1880s, and Matisse collected African sculpture and traveled to the continent in 1906. His prints on display are from the 1940s, when he worked with a “sugar-lift” aquatint technique that created a dense brushstroke appearance and allowed the artist to work directly on the metal plate. Through Saturday, March 19, Tuesday-Friday, 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Pace Master Prints, 32 E. 57th St., between Madison and Park avenues, third floor, 212-421-3237, free.

BENEFITS

GAINING GROUND Common Ground, a nonprofit organization that combats homelessness, honors Russell Simmons and Lee, Dana, and Peter Larson at its annual gala. Tonight, 6:30 p.m. cocktails, 7:30 p.m. dinner, Grand Hyatt ballroom, Park Avenue at 42nd Street, 212-471-0885, $800.

SOWING SEEDS Guests and performers at the “Seeds of Peace” charity auction will include Christiane Amanpour, Richard Holbrooke, hip-hop violinist Miri Ben-Ari, Billy Crudup, Bebe Neuwirth, Zac Posen, and Chevy Chase. The organization provides leadership training to Israeli and Palestinian Arab youth. Tomorrow, 6:30 p.m. doors open, Copacabana, 560 W. 34th St. at Eleventh Avenue, $250.

TIGHT EMBRACE A star of the film version of “The Phantom of the Opera,” Patrick Wilson, is among the performers at a concert that benefits the Matthew Shepard Foundation. Other participants in the “Embrace!” concert include Jai Rodriguez of “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” Max von Essen, and Broadway star Laura Benati and her mother, Linda. Thursday, 7 p.m., Westside Theatre, 407 W. 43rd St., between Ninth and Tenth avenues, 646-289-6864, $50 general, $100 includes post concert V.I.P. reception.

BOOKS

FASCINATING FAMILY Irwin and Debi Unger read from their book “The Guggenheims” (HarperCollins), which traces the New York family beginning with its Swiss-immigrant patriarch, Meyer, and his seven sons. Tomorrow, 6 p.m., Coliseum Books, 11 W. 42nd St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues, 212-803-5890, free.

URBAN JUNGLE Lisa Couturier’s discussion of her wildlife book “The Hopes of Snakes: And Other Tales from the Urban Landscape” (Beacon) is no ordinary reading: She’ll be accompanied by a red-tailed hawk and a falconer from the NYC Department of Environmental Protection. Tomorrow, 7 p.m., South Street Seaport Museum, Melville Gallery, 213 Water St., between Fulton and Beekman streets, 212-748-8735, $5.

DANCE

LIKE THE WIND The American Tap Dance Foundation’s weekend “Winter Intensive” features a three-part performance by Brenda Bufalino and a selection of new tap choreography. Ms. Bufalino performs some of the dances from her 50-year career in “Dancing Against the Wind, Dancing With the Wind, Dancing With the Wind at Her Back” (Saturday, 8:30 p.m., $20). The next evening, she joins Tony Waag to host an evening of ensembles and solo tap dancers on the form’s cutting edge (Sunday, 8:30 p.m., $15). Both performances: FIT Katie Murphy Amphitheater, 227 W. 27th St. at Seventh Avenue, 646-230-9564.

FILM

DENIS DAYS The French Institute/Alliance Francaise honors French director Claire Denis with a film series. Up next is “J’ai Pas Sommeil” (“I Can’t Sleep,” 1993), about a serial killer loose in Paris. The short film “A Propos de Nice,” which is in French without subtitles, opens the program (today, 12:30, 3:30, 6:30 and 9 p.m.). Ms. Denis will appear in person next week to introduce “Nenette et Boni” (1996). Ms. Denis will discuss her career with Film Comment magazine’s Kent Jones (Tuesday, February 22, 7 p.m., $15 general, $10 members). Series: Today and Tuesday, February 22, Florence Gould Hall, 55 E. 59th St., between Park & Madison avenues, 212-355-6160.

THUMBS UP The “Film Comment Selects” series screens new movies championed in the pages of Film Comment magazine during the last year. Highlights include “Los Muertos,” an Argentinian film following a man’s return home after his release from prison (Thursday, 4 and 9 p.m., Friday, 4:30 p.m.), and “Ma Mere,” a French movie in which Isabelle Huppert plays a sexually charged mother who wants to pass her wisdom on to her confused son (Friday, 6:15 p.m.). Series: Through Thursday, February 24, Lincoln Center, Walter Reade Theater, 65th Street between Broadway and Amster 696 1937 846 1947dam Avenue, 212-496-3809, $10 general, $7 students, $6 members, $5 seniors Monday-Friday before 6 p.m. and children ages 6 to 12.

SHORT STUFF The Oscar nominees for best documentary short subject rarely reach the big screen, but serious film fans can see all five in a row. After the Underdog Film Festival’s afternoon screening, the audience votes on which film they think deserves the statuette. And the nominees are: “Autism is a World,” “The Children of Leningradsky,” “Hardwood,” “Mighty Times: The Children’s March,” and “Sister Rose’s Passion.” Saturday, 1 p.m. doors open, 1:30-4:30 p.m. event, Anthology Film Archives, 32 Second Ave., between 1st and 2nd streets, $20. Please go to www.underdogfilmfestival.com for tickets.

FOOD & DRINK

NEW YEAR’S NOSH An eight-course vegetarian Chinese feast celebrates the lunar New Year and benefits the nonprofit White Box Gallery. Attendees at the in gallery dinner are entered in a drawing to win pieces of art by Jian-Jun Zhang and Lee Mingwei. Thursday, 7 p.m.-midnight, White Box Gallery, 525 W. 26th St., between Tenth and Eleventh avenues,212-714-2347, $150.

MUSIC

OUR MAN ARLEN Anew exhibit celebrates the centennial of the birth of songwriter Harold Arlen, who penned “Over the Rainbow,” “It’s Only a Paper Moon,” and “The Man that Got Away.” “Beyond the Rainbow: Music of Harold Arlen,” which follows Arlen’s career from the 1930s to the 1960s, includes audio recordings, photographs, posters, and caricatures. Today through Friday, May 27, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, noon-6 p.m., Thursday, noon-8 p.m., New York Library for the Performing Arts, 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, Columbus Avenue between 63rd and 64th streets, 212-870-1630, free.

EAST MEETS WEST Singer-songwriter Mia Doi Todd’s music is a blend of Los Angeles sunniness (her hometown) and East Coast smarts (she graduated from Yale). She headlines tonight at Mercury Lounge, performing a set that includes songs from her new album, “Manzanita.” Tonight, 10 p.m., Mercury Lounge, 217 E. Houston St., between Essex and Ludlow streets, 212-260-4700, $12.

CHAMBER CHAMPIONS The Young Patrons of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center presents an evening of music at the studio of abstract artist Caio Fonseca. Mr. Fonseca discusses the intersection of visual art and music with the society’s artistic directors, cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han. The Orion String Quartet performs a concert and a reception follows. Tomorrow, 6:30 p.m., 210 E. 5th St., between Second and Third avenues, 212-875-5781, $150.

FIELDS (AND FATS) DAY The New York Festival of Song presents “Fats and Fields,” a musical tribute to lyricist Dorothy Fields and pianist/composer Fats Waller. The recital’s program includes Waller’s “Crazy ‘Bout My Baby” and “My Man Ain’t Good for Nothing but Love,” and Fields’s “He Had Refinement” (written with Arthur Schwarz) and “Remind Me” (with Jerome Kern).The series’ co-founder and artistic director, Stephen Blier, is the pianist and arranger for the concert, which features performances by Jennifer Aylmer, Judy Kaye, Jason Graae, and James Martin. Tomorrow, 8 p.m., Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Center, 129 W. 67th St. at Amsterdam Avenue, 212-501-3330, $45 general, $35 seniors, $22.50 students a half-hour before Showtime.

PARTY

CANINE CAVORTING The Dog Show Party is an irreverent celebration that coincides with the last night of judging at the Westminster Dog Show. A live video telecast of the final ceremony is embellished with “expert” analysis by comedians Mike O’Brien, Jon Bulette, Jon Friedman, and Rich Zeroth. The “Dog Show Dancers” provide another distraction and singer-songwriter Nellie McKay performs a short set. Proceeds go to Rational Animal, which advocates for at-risk animals in New York. Tonight, 7 p.m., Tonic, 107 Norfolk St., between Delancey and Rivington streets,$10.

TALK

TIBETAN TRAIL The author of “Yak Butter Blues” (Heliographica), Brandon Wilson, shares his story of trekking 650 miles across Tibet. He uses slides to illustrate the journey he made with his wife to Kathmandu, Nepal, from Lhasa, Tibet. Thursday, 7-9 p.m., Tibet House, 22 W. 15th St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues, 212-807-0563 for reservations, free.

THEATER

FICKLE FELLOW Theatergoers can warm up for next month’s production of “Julius Caesar” at the Belasco Theatre, starring Denzel Washington, by taking in a production of another Shakespearean Roman tragedy. Karin Coonrod directs “Coriolanus,” produced by the Theatre for a New Audience and starring Christian Camargo as the war hero who turns on his beloved Rome when he is refused a political appointment. Opens: Thursday, 6:30 p.m. Runs: Thursday through Saturday, March 5, days and times vary, John Jay College, Gerald W. Lynch Theater, 899 Tenth Ave., between 58th and 59th streets, 212-279-4200, $60.

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