SAN DIEGO—The Museum will be brimming with new artworks this month as it opens three new exhibitions: In Stabiano: Exploring the Ancient Seaside Villas of the Roman Elite, a unique exhibition of original frescoes from ancient Rome; American Ceramics 1884-1972, a display of the Museum's rarely seen collection of ceramics, and Contemporary Links 4-James Hyde: Luminous Platforms and Relaxed Seating, the latest installation in SDMA's acclaimed Contemporary Links series.

The Museum will also present two informative and engaging lecture/demonstrations. The first, given by Robert Farris Thompson, will take place on Sunday, February 5. In his lecture, "Tango: The Art History of Love," Thompson will discuss the roots of the Argentine tango and be joined by local tango artists. On Tuesday, February 7, international recording artist Mike Wofford explores the fine art of listening to jazz in his lecture "How to Listen to Jazz."

For more information on the Museum's performances and lectures, please call (619) 696-1966. To purchase tickets, please call Ticketmaster at (619) 220-8497. Museum members receive the discounted price for each of the events listed. Programs and artists are subject to change.

Museum hours: Tuesday-Wednesday, Friday-Sunday: 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.; Thursday: 10:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m.

Admission to the galleries: Adults, $10; seniors (65+) and active military, $8; students with ID, $7; youth (6-17), $4; 5 and under free.

Gallery tours: The Museum's docents offer free public tours of the galleries on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays at 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., and on Fridays and Sundays at 1:00 and 2:00 p.m.

SDMA offers free admission for school groups and youth organizations with advance reservations. Call the education department at (619) 231-1996 for more information.

Water's Café @ SDMA: Open Tuesday-Friday, 11:00 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Saturday-Sunday, 11:00 a.m.- 3:30 p.m. Reservations are not required. For more information, call the café at (619) 237-0675.

EXHIBITIONS

Opening
In Stabiano: Exploring the Ancient Seaside Villas of the Roman Elite
February 18-May 14, 2006
This rare traveling exhibition of Roman frescoes features 72 objects, all from the Roman villas of ancient Stabiae, an exclusive retreat for Rome's elite classes located on a bluff overlooking the Bay of Naples (approximately 4.5 kilometers southeast of Pompeii). Included in this spectacular exhibition are 24 ancient frescoes, many of the very highest quality, 11 stuccoes, as well as other significant art objects and archeological artifacts. The exhibition will also display a complete three-wall triclinium (dining room) fresco from the small nearby villa of Carmiano.

American Ceramics 1884-1972
February 25-September 3, 2006
Organized by the San Diego Museum of Art, this exhibition showcases ceramics from the Arts and Crafts and Studio Pottery movements and features works from SDMA's collection and loans from public and private collections in Southern California. During the 1930s, the Museum's founding director, Reginald Poland, began acquiring ceramics by Glen Lukens, Beatrice Wood, and Laura Andreson. In 1940 he met Getrud and Otto Natzler and invited them to exhibit their collaborative work at the Museum, their first solo exhibition. American Ceramics also presents works from the Rookwood, Grueby, Van Briggle, Newcomb, and Pewabic potteries as well as those by George E. Ohr. Ceramics by 20th-century studio potters, Marguerite Wildenhain, Harrison McIntosh, and John Mason are also included, and special attention is given to San Diego firms such as the Valentien and Markham potteries.

Contemporary Links 4-James Hyde: Luminous Platforms and Relaxed Seating
February 18-April 30, 2006
Known for his intelligent exploration of pictorial abstraction through the use of alternative materials, artist James Hyde will create site-specific domestic interventions in the exhibition space of Tracking and Tracing: Contemporary Acquisitions 2000-2005, SDMA's current installation of its contemporary collection. The fourth installment of the Museum's acclaimed Contemporary Links series, Hyde's installation features three reading areas with furniture made of Plexiglas, lighting, steel, and other materials that link the recent dialogue on abstract painting with minimalist furniture. These stations comprise recent and commissioned work by the artist as well as a curated selection of magazines and books for visitors to browse.

Continuing
Tracking and Tracing: Contemporary Acquisitions 2000-2005
December 17, 2005-July 9, 2006
This exhibition consists of approximately 90 works, plus a video program, that have come into the San Diego Museum of Art's collection through purchase or donation from 2000 to 2005. The exhibition tracks recent institutional history as represented in the acquisition strategies implemented in the last five years-during which time SDMA's contemporary collection has grown greatly-and traces links between and across these new additions to the collection. The exhibition demonstrates the Museum's collection priorities and also displays works that document exhibitions organized by SDMA.

The Eye of the Collector, the Wishes of the Donor, the Spirit of the Philanthropist: Modern European Paintings at SDMA
December 17, 2005-April 15, 2007
In honor of the Museum's 80th anniversary, this unique exhibition pays tribute to the generous individuals who shaped SDMA's collection of modern European painting. Works are grouped according to their donor, focusing attention on their interests, tastes, and connoisseurship. Pieces on display include visitor favorites such as William Bouguereau's Young Shepherdess, given by Mr. and Mrs. Edwin S. Larsen in 1968, and Joaquín Sorolla's María at La Granja, from Mr. and Mrs. Archer M. Huntington, the very first object to enter the collection in 1925.

Devotional Arts of Nepal
September 17, 2005-April 2, 2006
In Nepal's Kathmandu valley, Buddhism and Hinduism enjoyed a peaceful coexistence for over 1,500 years. A new display of nearly 40 artworks, drawn in large part from the Museum's Edwin Binney 3rd Collection, explores the fruits of this commingling of art associated with Buddhist and Hindu devotional practices. The exhibition consists of paintings, sculptures, and objects from Nepal, Tibet, and India. The Museum's upper rotunda features a related display of works highlighting the devotional arts of Tibet.

Tastes in Asian Art
November 6, 2004-June, 2006
View the latest rotation of some of the most significant works in SDMA's extensive Asian collection in this fresh thematic display in the Asian Court. Bringing back well-known works, while introducing new and rarely exhibited objects, the exhibition highlights the diverse tastes of different social groups-the imperial ruling class, scholars, warriors, and common people-and features a separate section dedicated to religious art. New to the current installation of Tastes in Asian Art is a recently restored Persian tile painting. In addition, the rotation features prints by Hiroshige, a fine 17th-century hanging scroll painting, and a dozen new Islamic paintings-further examining the tastes of various social classes across the Asian continent.

FEBRUARY EVENTS CALENDAR

February 1, Wednesday
5:30 p.m. CONCERT Jazz in the Park: Charlie Shoemake Quartet featuring Red Holloway
Regarded by many as the finest vibes player in jazz, Charlie Shoemake makes his first Jazz in the Park appearance with returning favorite, saxophone legend Red Holloway. Shoemake is best known for his work with George Shearing, and Holloway infuses every concert with his great playing, humor, and vocals.
$14 members/$17 nonmembers/$14 students, James S. Copley Auditorium

February 3, Friday
10:00 a.m. LECTURE "Race, Gender, and the Civil War in American Painting"
Frances Pohl, Ph.D., professor of art history at Pomona College, will begin with some general observations about images of the Civil War and then focus on two paintings by Winslow Homer, Prisoners for the Front (1866) and A Visit from the Old Mistress (1876). Part of the Docent Guest Lecture Series.
$10, James S. Copley Auditorium

February 5, Sunday
3:00 p.m. LECTURE/DEMONSTRATION "Tango: The Art History of Love"
Robert Farris Thompson, Yale University professor and noted historian of African art and culture, traces the roots of the Argentine tango to the Afro-Argentines, and back to the central African kingdom of Kongo. He will be joined by local tango artists Todd Martin and Marizabel Arango in this lecture/demonstration. Part of the Distinguished Lecture in African Art series.
Free, James S. Copley Auditorium

February 7, Tuesday
7:00 p.m. LECTURE/DEMONSTRATION Mike Wofford presents: "How to Listen to Jazz"
Explore the fine art of listening to jazz with international recording artist and San Diego favorite, pianist Mike Wofford. Mike has performed with Chet Baker, Shelly Manne, Joe Pass, Benny Golson, James Moody, and Ray Brown among many others. He also served as pianist and music director for vocal icons Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughn.
$14 members/$17 nonmembers/$14 students, James S. Copley Auditorium

February 9, Thursday
7:00 p.m. PERFORMANCE Spoken Word at the Museum: "Poets Respond to the Permanent Collection"
Presented in conjunction with UCSD, this event features two acclaimed poets who respond to works in the Museum's collection. David Antin is a performance poet whose improvised "talk poems" have been presented at MoMA, The Whitney, The Getty, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Eileen Myles is a poet, novelist, art critic, and librettist, whose opera Hell has been performed at CECUT in Tijuana and at St. Mark's Church in New York.
Free with museum admission, James S. Copley Auditorium

February 9, Thursday, 6:00 p.m.
February 12, Sunday, 3:00 p.m.
GALLERY TALK "Tastes in Asian Art"
Yi-Li Kao, Ph.D., curatorial associate in Asian art, explains the latest rotation of artworks displayed in the Museum's Asian Court. Part of the Insight Gallery Talk series.
Free with museum admission, meet in rotunda

February 10, Friday
10:00 a.m. LECTURE "David, a Portrait of a Warrior King"
Bill Creasy, Ph.D., biblical scholar and lecturer, retells the David and Goliath story and compares artworks featuring David by Michelangelo and Donatello with SDMA's painting by Stanzione. Part of the Docent Guest Lecture Series.
$10, James S. Copley Auditorium

February 23, Thursday
11:00 a.m. & 6:00 p.m. LECTURE "Under the Volcano: The Buried World beneath Vesuvius"
Museum favorite Nigel McGilchrist returns to San Diego for this special lecture in conjunction with In Stabiano: Exploring the Ancient Seaside Villas of the Roman Elite. A native of Britain and an Oxford University graduate, he has lived and worked as an art historian in Italy for over 25 years. Part of the Meet the Masters Lecture series.
$10 members/$12 nonmembers/$8 students, James S. Copley Auditorium

February 24, Friday
10:00 a.m. LECTURE "Solidity to Sensuality: The Story of How Stone Becomes Sculpture"
Nigel McGilchrist, Rhodes Scholar and Oxford University lecturer, explains the various stages of transformation from raw material to finished sculpture. Part of the Docent Guest Lecture Series.
$10, James S. Copley Auditorium

Museum Information
San Diego Museum of Art
1450 El Prado, Balboa Park
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 122107
San Diego, CA 92112-2107
General Information: (619) 232-7931/ Facsimile: (619) 232-9367
Web site: www.sdmart.org

The historic San Diego Museum of Art provides a rich and diverse cultural experience for more than 400,000 annual visitors. Located in the heart of beautiful Balboa Park, the Museum's nationally renowned collections include Spanish and Italian old masters, South Asian paintings, and 19th- and 20th-century American paintings and sculptures. In addition, the Museum regularly features major exhibitions of art from around the world, as well as an extensive year-round schedule of supporting cultural and educational programs.

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