Galleries

As part of its 50th Anniversary celebration, Harvard's own Fogg is displaying 150 of its rarest paintings, including works by Rembrandt, Botticelli, Monet, Degas, Picasso and Pollock. The chief complaint of Fogg officials is that they don't have enough gallery space to accommodate their ever-growing collection of acquisitions and their plight is illustrated in this slightly cluttered exhibition. But too much of a good thing hasn't proved fatal to any Fogg-goers lately, so pause on Quincy St. and gaze for a while at the Fogg's proudest possessions. Summer hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, closed weekends.

Another worthwhile exhibition in the area isat the Busch-Reisinger Museum on Kirkland St. This often-neglected Harvard art museum specializing in Germanic and Scandinavian Art currently is displaying the D. Thomas Bergen Collection of German Expressionist Drawings through July 15. Open 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. weekday, closed weekends.

The Boston Museum of Fine Art is one of the country's largest art museums and a must for any student of Impressionism. The MFA currently has several special exhibitions easily worth a quick ride down the green line. More than 100 of 19th century American artist Winslow Homer's works are on display until Sept. 4. The comprehensive show covers almost every stage of the artist's career including his early lithographs, his Civil War drawings and, of course, his seacoast watercolors. Complementing the Homer exhibition is "Watercolor in 19th Century Europe," a selection of watercolors by Homer's European counterparts, including Anton Mauve, J.M.W. Turner, and Millet.

The work of Shiko Munakata, a contemporary Japanese woodblock artist, is the subject of a third MFA exhibition. The museum is displaying several of Munakata's original woodblock prints in addition to photographs of many of his other works. "Flora and Fauna," a collection of about 35 prints and drawings, traces the development of natural history illustration from the 16th to the 19th century, and "Peter Rabbit and Other Tales--Art from the World of Peter Rabbit" is a show well-suited to our current age of nostalgia.

The Gardner Museum is located a few blocks from the MFA. This Venetian Palace houses the collection of Isabella Stuart Gardner, who apparently stipulated in her will that all the paintings in the collection must be left in the exact position she left them in; nothing can be re-arranged to make room for a special show. But the collection, which includes at least a smattering of almost every great master's work and several exquisite antiques, is magnificent. And if the pictures never change, the elaborate arrangements of flowers in the huge couryard do, and the gardens outside provide a pleasant respite for the visitor who begins to get dizzy from confronting works of art bursting from every nook and cranny. Open Tues. from 1 to 9:30 p.m.; Wed. through Sun., 1 to 5:30 p.m.

The Institute of Contemporary Art, a prestigious gallery exhibiting the work of today's artists, is featuring a special summer exhibit of works culled from noted private collections in the Boston area. Open Tues. through Fri., 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sat. from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m; Sun. noon to 5 p.m. and Wed. until 9 p.m.