PAINTINGS

IN FULL BLUHM “Works on Paper,” an exhibit on view at James Graham & Sons, features five large-scale paintings by Abstract Expressionist Norman Bluhm. After receiving instruction in Chicago from the German Bauhaus architect Mies van der Rohe, Bluhm became associated in the late 1950s with the New York School of painters, often showing with them at the famed Leo Castelli Gallery. Selections from the new exhibit of works from the 1980s include “Drawing I” (1984), a detail of which is at right. Opens Friday, runs through Saturday, April 19, James Graham & Sons, 32 E. 67th St. at Madison Avenue, 212-535-5767, free.

ART

EASTERN PROMISES The International Asian Art Fair, a centerpiece of New York’s annual Asia Week opens this weekend. A wide range of artworks from leading international dealers spans the Asian continent, as well as Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. Museums, collectors, and the general public are given an opportunity to view and buy from the vast selection, from antiquities to contemporary pieces. New York’s Dillon Gallery, Kaikodo Gallery, and Flying Cranes Antiques are among the 33 collectors represented at the Fair. Saturday through Wednesday, March 19, Monday, Tuesday, and Saturday, 11 a.m.–7:30 p.m., Wednesday, 11 a.m.–4.30 p.m., Sunday, 2 p.m.–7.30 p.m., 583 Park Ave. at 63rd Street, 212-642-8572, $20.

FAMILY

STRINGING THEM ALONG Puppetworks presents Charles Perrault’s fairy tale, “Cinderella,” adapted for marionettes by director Nicolas Coppola. Mr. Coppola created Puppetworks in 1980 as a way to preserve classic puppet theater with an emphasis on hand-carved wooden marionettes. Reservations are required. Saturday– Sunday, through Thursday, April 17, 12:30 and 2 p.m., closed Easter Sunday, 338 Sixth Ave. at 4th Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn, 718-965-3391, $8 general, $7 children, $5 for groups of 20 or more.

FOOD & DRINK

SOMETHING FISHY Foods of New York Tours, Inc., presents “The Art of Sushi and Japanese Tapas: A ‘Sit Down’ Culinary Experience.” Participants feast on a six-course tasting menu paired with beer and saki while exploring the culinary traditions and origins of such Japanese fare as sushi and ippin ryori, Japan’s answer to Spanish- style tapas. The culinary tour offers menu items designed to please gourmands and sushi novices alike. Saturday, 5 p.m., ongoing, Union Square Vicinity (exact location released upon purchase of ticket), 212-209-3370, $65 without drinks, $75 with drinks.

MUSIC

HE GIVES WITHOUT TAKING A veteran of the screen and stage, Mandy Patinkin, performs a one-night-only program of Broadway tunes. Pianist Paul Ford accompanies. Mr. Patinkin, who won a 1980 Tony Award for his performance as Che Guevara in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Evita,” has won critical praise for his theatrical, film, and television work. He is best known to many for his recurring role as an eccentric doctor on the prime-time hospital drama “Chicago Hope.” Saturday, 8 p.m., Brooklyn College, Walt Whitman Theatre, 2900 Campus Rd. at Hillel Place, 718-951-4500, $25–$40 general, $23–$38 students and seniors, $12.50–$20 children under 12.

OPERA

ROCK ME, PUCCINI Town Hall presents a rock band with a twist, the East Village Opera Company, which performs as part of the “Not Just Jazz” series. The group is made up of a five-piece band, a string quartet, and two vocalists, and has been playing new arrangements of opera classics since forming in 2004. Past performances have featured crowd-pleasing remakes of the “Habanera” from “Carmen,” “La Donna è Mobile” from “Rigoletto,” and “Nessun Dorma” from “Turandot.” Friday, March 20, 8 p.m., The Town Hall, 123 W. 43rd St., between Broadway and Sixth Avenue, 212-997-6661, $35–$40.

PHOTOGRAPHY

ICY TRAVELS To photograph the images that would comprise his latest exhibit, Olaf Otto Becker traveled the coasts of Greenland and Iceland in an inflatable boat with only a global positioning system to keep him company. “Broken Line,” the title of his show, refers to Mr. Becker’s use of photography to study the places where land and water meet. Through Friday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m., Cohen Amador Gallery, 41 E. 57th St., 6th floor, at Madison Avenue, 212-759-6740, free.

FACE TO FACE Albrecht Fuchs first began studying photography in 1995 after becoming an apprentice to German artist Martin Kippenberger, who was known for his experimental and provocative art. After working with Kippenberger, Mr. Fuchs struck out on his own, focusing on portraiture: His latest exhibit comprises about 30 portraits of other artists whom he admires. Through Saturday, March 22, Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Mireille Mosler Ltd., 35 E. 67th St. at Madison Avenue, 212-249-4195, free.

READINGS

VINTAGE WOLFE Author Tom Wolfe celebrates Picador’s reissue of his first novel as part of the “Upstairs at the Square” series presented by Barnes & Noble Union Square. When it was published in 1987, “The Bonfire of the Vanities” was held up as the ultimate satire of the “Me Decade.” In it, a yuppie investment banker, Sherman McCoy, misses his stop on an expressway and finds himself lost in the South Bronx. Going from Wall Street to the mean streets of New York City, Mr. Wolfe captures comically and cynically the similarities among that era’s social climbers, ruling class, and underprivileged. Argentinean composer and pianist Fernando Otero performs and joins Mr. Wolfe in a conversation moderated by journalist Katherine Lanpher. Tonight, 7 p.m., Barnes & Noble Union Square, 33 E. 17th St. at Union Square, 212-253-0810, free.

LANDSCAPE PAINTINGS

OH, CAROLINA “Palmetto,” landscape painter Brian Rutenberg’s latest exhibit, is a reference to the artist’s native South Carolina. His works, which bear a distinct cubist influence, depict scenes from the Carolina coast. In an artist’s statement, Mr. Rutenberg describes cubism as the “delicious conflict between naturalism and abstraction.” Highlights include “Pine Lakes 2” (2007–08), above. Through Saturday, April 19, Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m., Forum Gallery, 745 Fifth Ave., 5th floor, at 57th Street, 212-355-4545, free.

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