Currently on show at the National Gallery of Art, the large exhibition Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes, "1909-1929: When Art Danced with Music" is a celebration of the Russian impresario Serge Diaghilev.

"The Berkeley Years, 1953-1966," at the de Young Museum, is a definitive survey and the first to focus on the fertile 13-year period the artist spent in Berkeley when "Diebenkorn really became Diebenkorn."

For Ramekon O’Arwisters, a San Francisco-based, gay African American artist, racial and gender politics are realities, not abstract constructs, and they are never far from his mind or his work, where he merges his identities.

"Sometimes you have to please your own sweet self" could be the tagline for Annie Leibovitz’s latest show "Pilgrimage," now at the San Jose Museum of Art.

Still cool after all these years, the Beat Generation of the 1950s exerts a powerful hold on the romantic cultural imagination a half-century later. One need look no further than "Beat Memories: The Photographs of Allen Ginsberg."

It may be a coincidence or simply "good timing," but artists have ol’ father time on the mind this month, as evidenced by work at three city venues.

Its 25,000 LED lights strung along suspension cables along a 1.8 mile span of the bridge make this the biggest public artwork we can think of.

A portion of his prodigious output, 300 black & white photographs, is included in the show, which assembles iconic images of New York City, Texas and Southern California, and at least 100 images that haven’t been published or exhibited before.

Although the warriors are certainly the headliner, the bulk of the exhibition is comprised of 110 objects taken from the burial chambers of the First Emperor’s ancestors and areas surrounding his eminence’s tomb.

This particular body of work is based on traditional 18th- and 19th-century European portraiture of the landed gentry, but the artist gave the enterprise a significant twist and shout by adding the seasoning of contemporary youth and hip hop.

A new and unusual exhibition has landed at the GLBT History Museum.

The 35 paintings from the 17th century, an era rightly dubbed the Golden Age, are part of a collection belonging to a gem-like museum in The Hague housed inside a palace, which, you guessed it, is currently undergoing renovations.

Dorothea Tanning moved through many art styles and interests. Over 30 of her paintings, sculptures and drawings are now on view.

Whether you’d like to take a break from the madness of holiday shopping or simply escape the onslaught of relatives who have descended on your house this month, here are a few places to take a breather and imbibe some culture.