DENVER, CO.- Time is running out to see Houdon from the Louvre and Daniel Richter: A Major Survey. Both exhibitions end in early January.

Houdon from the Louvre showcases 21 works by French Enlightenment sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon, including busts of American founding fathers George Washington and Benjamin Franklin as well as French Enlightenment thinkers Denis Diderot and Voltaire. There also are sensitive and loving portraits of the artist’s wife and children. Houdon from the Louvre ends January 4. In the exhibition’s live demonstration area, local artists will showcase sculpting techniques daily during winter break, December 19 through January 4.

In Daniel Richter: A Major Survey, the artist explores themes from popular culture, music, politics, movies, comics and history in colorful paintings that seem to leap out of the artist’s imagination and onto the canvas. This first U.S. museum exhibition for this acclaimed German artist features more than 25 large paintings and a selection of his small-format works. The exhibition is included in general admission. Final day to see Daniel Richter: A Major Survey is January 11.

Taos Traditions: Artists in an Enchanted Land (symposium)
Tuesday, January 6, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Hamilton Building, Sharp Auditorium
Taos Traditions, a one-day symposium exploring the art of the Taos founders, will feature prominent American art scholars, curators and gallery owners. The event complements the Museum’s current exhibition, In Contemporary Rhythm: The Art of Ernest L. Blumenschein, which celebrates the life and art of one of New Mexico’s most accomplished painters and one of the founders of the Taos Society of Artists. In Contemporary Rhythm is on view through February 8, 2009. The symposium is sponsored by the Denver Art Museum’s Petrie Institute of Western American Art in collaboration with the National Western Stock Show’s Coors Western Art Exhibit and Sale. Admission is $15 students ($10 without lunch), $40 Friends of Paintings and Sculpture members, $45 Museum members, $55 others. Reservations are recommended as space is limited. For more information, call 720-913-0025.

New and Noteworthy: The Hopkins Family Quilt in Context opened December 13 in the Neusteter Textile Gallery on the sixth level of the North Building. In the mid-1800s, Elizabeth Hopkins of Port Jefferson, New York, made an album quilt that, in addition to floral motifs, included various aspects of her family’s life: fishing at sea, a well-furnished interior and musical instruments. Passed down through generations, the quilt (a recent DAM acquisition) is now on view along with nine other noteworthy mid-19th-century quilts from the permanent collection.

Contemporary Artists, Asian Roots, a three-part lecture series, begins with sculptor Yumi Janairo Roth on January 28 at noon), continuing with Halim Al-Karim (February 13, 6:30 p.m.) and Hung Liu (March 4, noon). Contemporary Artists, Asian Roots is sponsored by the Asian Art Association (AAA), a support group of the Denver Art Museum. All three lectures are free to AAA members; $7 Museum members, students and teachers, $10 others. Reservations are not required. For information, visit www.asianartassociation.org or call 720-913-0040.