November Highlights By Maura McCarthy washingtonpost.com Staff Writer Wednesday, October 31, 2001

Coming

The month begins with a new look at familiar faces. The Corcoran Gallery of Art celebrates the 75th anniversary of its William A. Clark Collection with the exhibition "Antiquities to Impressionism." Featured in the show are more than 250 works of painting, sculpture and decorative arts from ancient Rome to turn-of-the-century Paris, many often on permanent view in the museum. Reunited once again, the works include Chardin, Delacroix, Gainsborough and Degas alongside 2,500-year-old ancient artifacts, Renaissance maiolica and rare, recently restored 18th-century tapestries.

"Making the Grade" may not be as easy as it sounds. The diverse, often elaborate arts associated with traditional initiation rites are the centerpiece of this new exhibition at the National Museum of African Art, opening Nov. 11. Highlights include a rare timba drum from the Baga peoples and more treasures from the museum's permanent collection. The show serves as precursor to the museum's "Spectacular Display," which starts Dec. 16 and is a showcase of visual arts created for the initiation rites of the Nkanu peoples of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Performance and video artist Marina Abramovic took the International Award at the Venice Biennale in 1997. Four years later, the Serbian-born, Amsterdam-based artist arrives at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden as the latest solo star of the museum's Directions series. Nov. 15 marks the first public showing of "The Hero," a large-scale video projection piece dedicated to Abramovic's late father, a Yugoslav national hero.

In bloom once again: The United States Botanic Garden reopens its doors Nov. 23 after a four-year renovation. Planting began months ago, so visitors will see the historic conservatory and Palm House in all their garden glory, including the Orangerie and subtropical and orchid houses. There's more to come as construction begins on an adjacent three-acre National Garden.

Going

Some of the most exciting art around town is found at area galleries this month. Conner Contemporary reflects on the bright legacy of Washington's Color School with prints by Morris Louis, Gene Davis and Thomas Downing, through Nov. 30. A more recent rising Washington star -- painter Y. David Chung, featured in last year's Corcoran Biennial -- appears at Gallery K through Nov. 24; while new paintings by New Yorker and "Neo Geo" artist Peter Halley grace the walls of the Numark Gallery until Dec. 22.

Photographic media make their mark on area galleries as well. Through Nov. 24, the Robert Brown Gallery hosts "black & white & color," a collection of contemporary and modern photography with works by Andy Goldsworthy and Kobayashi Masaaki. At the Kathleen Ewing Gallery, trip through Japanese photographer Hiroshi Osaka's other-wordly "Atmospheric Landscapes" until Dec. 1.

Need something more substantive for your next lunch hour? Stop into the Inter-American Development Bank's latest exhibition: "Strictly Swedish." Open only Monday through Friday, the gallery offers a refreshing look at the latest in everyday objects of contemporary Swedish design. Form follows function to be sure, but that hardly takes the fun out of it.

A reminder should you be planning exhibition outings for your holiday visitors: You can reserve advance tickets for the ever-popular "Impressionist Still Life" show at the Phillips Collection. Other best bets for your guests -- no ticketing required -- might be "In Response to Place: Photographs From the Nature Conservancy's Last Great Places" and "Virtue and Beauty: Leonardo's Ginevra de' Benci and Renaissance Portraits of Women."