Opening Days

A slew of blockbuster exhibits are opening this fall in museums across the state, including these five must-sees.

Blanton Museum of Art

SEPTEMBER 25–JANUARY 22: “EL ANATSUI: WHEN I LAST WROTE TO YOU ABOUT AFRICA”
The first career retrospective for the Ghana-born, Nigeria-based artist El Anatsui spans four decades and includes approximately sixty works. From his early wooden pieces etched with adinkra (traditional West African symbols, which you can see in the show’s title piece) and the shimmering, tapestry-like wall sculptures he’s best known for, most of Anatsui’s works make use of reclaimed materials, address themes of movement and language, and tie together cultural histories from around the globe.
For more information, go to blantonmuseum.org.

El Anatsui, Akua’s Surviving Children, 1996
Wood and metal
Blanton Museum of Art
Photo courtesy: October Gallery

San Antonio Museum of Art

OCTOBER 1–FEBRUARY 19: “5,000 YEARS OF CHINESE JADE”
To mark San Antonio’s yearlong celebration of Taiwan, the SAMA is showcasing this lavish assortment of invaluable Chinese jade objects, including 45 pieces from the National Museum of History, Taiwan, most of which are on view in the U.S. for the first time. Among the showstoppers—two dozen of which are on loan from the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery at the Smithsonian Institution—are an archer’s thumb ring from the Qing dynasty, a reticulated dragon pendant from the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 B.C.), and the famous Han dynasty Bear.
For more information, go to samuseum.org.

Archer’s Thumb Ring, Qing dynasty (1644–1911)
Jadeite, H1 X W 1 1/4 inches
National Museum of History, Taiwan

Kimbell Art Museum

OCTOBER 16–JANUARY 8: “CARAVAGGIO AND HIS FOLLOWERS IN ROME”
Ten of the Italian master’s most celebrated paintings will be hung alongside more than forty works by influential Baroque painters who imitated (or at least attempted to imitate) Caravaggio’s dramatic novelistic style. The landmark exhibition, which is making its only stop in the U.S., focuses on several themes, ranging from religious compositions to tavern scenes (the Kimbell is home to The Cardsharps, one of Caravaggio’s pivotal early works).
For more information, go to kimbellart.org.

Caravaggio, The Cardsharps, c. 1594
Kimbell Art Museum

Museum of Fine Art, Houston

OCTOBER 16–APRIL 15: “TUTANKHAMUN: THE GOLDEN KING AND THE GREAT PHARAOHS”
The MFAH is devoting 22,000 square feet of gallery space to accommodate this impressive showcase of more than a hundred antiquities. Many of the treasures on view, which span two thousand years, were plucked directly from the young ruler’s tomb—like the golden sandals found on his feet and a gold coffinette that held his stomach, as well as his rings, ear ornaments, and gold collar. In anticipation of larger-than-usual crowds flocking to see this new selection of older-than-Moses pieces, the museum will be open seven days a week.
For more information, go to mfah.org.

Sandals, “Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs”
Museum of Fine Art, Houston

Dallas Museum of Art

NOVEMBER 13–FEBRUARY 12: “THE FASHION WORLD OF JEAN PAUL GAULTIER: FROM THE SIDEWALK TO THE CATWALK”
Approximately 130 of French couturier Jean Paul Gaultier’s inventive—and often irreverent—fashions from the enfant terrible’s vaunted archives are on display in this unprecedented look at the designer’s storied career. Organized in six thematic sections (including “The Boudoir” and “Punk Cancan”), the exhibition also features sketches, stage costumes, and video excerpts from Gaultier’s avant-garde runway shows and artistic collaborations.
For more information, go to dm-art.org.