Aldersly

The exhibition, “The Cult of Beauty: The Victorian Avant-Gard 1860-1900, explores how the beauty worshiping artists of the period rejected the narrative demands and the moral codes of Victorian society to create a world of art for art’s sake.

The artists associated with what became known as the Aesthetic Movement sought to surround themselves with beautiful images, furniture and textiles, objects that had rich, nuanced color, elegant form and pattern.

However their love of sunflowers, peacock feathers and lilies as well as their shaping of the aesthetic tastes of the expanding middle class left them open targets for satirical publications of the day. The magazine Punch pictured Oscar Wilde as a potted sunflower, his face surrounded by petals.

Michael Tilson Thomas conducts Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony, which expresses the composer’s love of nature and the refuge he found there during times of depression and loss. Each of the five movements contains a programmatic inscription by Beethoven meant to convey an emotion he found in nature.

Lecturer Kim Fisher will discuss the life and times of Rudolph Valentino an actor that was perhaps Hollywoods orginal pop icon and sex symbol. Known as the “Latin Lover”, he starred in several silent film “blockbusters”, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Sheik, Blood and Sand, The Eagle and Son of Sheik.

The Marin Symphony is presenting its 100 member chorus performing Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and the premier of Rob Kapilow’s Golden Gate Opus.

In the Spring of 2011 Rob Kapilow, composer, conductor, pianist and author was commissioned by The Marin Symphony to  compose Golden Gate Opus , a piece for ochestra, chorus and recorded natural sound to celebrate the Bridge’s 75thaanniversary in 2012. Mr. Kapilow gathered input visiting the surrounding communities and schools asking the question, “what does the bridge sound like to you?”.

Cinco de Mayo is celebrated nationwide in the US and some regions of Mexico, primarily in the state of Puebla where the holiday is called El Dia de la Batalla de Puebla. In the US the day is a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride and commemorates freedom and democracy. In Puebla the date commemorates the Mexican army’s victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. Contrary to widespread belief Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico’s Independence Day which is actually on September 16th.

The Sonoma County Museum’s collection features over 22,000 artworks and artifacts documenting the history and culture of California’s North Coast region. Among the collections are:

The Tom Golden collection documents his relationship with the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude, which began when he met them during the 1974 public hearing to approve their project, Running Fence, Sonoma and Marin Counties, California, 1972-1976.

The Fountain Grove collection which includes five hundred photographs documenting the utopian community and winery established at the northern edge of Santa Rosa in 1875.

Current exhibits are, The Tsars’ Cabinets: Two Hundred Years of Russian Decorative Arts under the Romanovs. This exhibit is in honor of the 200th anniversary of  Fort Ross. Fort Ross was a thriving Russian-American Company settlement from 1812-1841. This commercial company chartered by Russia’s tsarist government controlled all Russian exploration, trade and settlement in the North Pacific, and established settlements in Alaska and Calforina.

Inez Storer: Recent Works. Inez Storer was born in 1933 in Santa Monica, California. She studied at the Art Center in Los Angeles as well as other well known California art institutions. Her work has been exhibited throughout the United States.

Jean-Yves Thibaudet, who combines “an often wild virtuosity with an almost relaxed grace” (Chicago Sun- Times), performs Saint-Saens ” Egyptian” Piano Concerto, its nickname owing to its exotic display of melodies and harmonies. The influences on Roussel’s first ballet were not just the spiders of the title but insects of all types-the result yielding “the magical elegance of Ravel and the sultriness of Debussy” (Arkimusic.com). These works are joined by Stravinsky’s dramatic Firebird Suite, an evergreen that yields unparalleled thrills!

Photography in Mexico

Exploring the rich tradition of photography in Mexico from the 1920′s to the present, through major works by Maruel Alvarez Bravo, Maruel Carrillo, Craciela Itrubide, and Marianna Yamplosky and well as international photographers who found inspiration in Mexico. The exhibit draws from SFMOMA’s own holdings and highlights recent major gifts from Daniel Greenberg and Susan Steinhauser.