Now Showing at a Museum Near You

With two days full of gray and rainy skies ahead of us, this weekend is the perfect time to check out some of the new fall exhibits at the museums in our area. Here is a rundown of some of the highlights so that you can get out of your apartment this weekend—without getting too wet.

Giorgio Morandi, 1890-1964: 20th-century Italian painter Giorgio Morandi came to be known as a master of still-life and landscape paintings, many of which are featured at the Met now through December 14. On display in the museum’s Robert Lehman Wing are 110 paintings, watercolors, drawings, and etchings that span the course of Morandi’s career.

House Proud: Nineteenth-century Watercolor Interiors from the Thaw Collection: Now on display at Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum is a collection of nineteenth-century watercolor drawings by Eugene and Clare Thaw that showcase the English, German, Italian, French, Russian, and Austrian interior decorating trends of the era, giving visitors a glimpse of the values and trends that dominated nineteenth-century European domestic life. "House Proud" is on display through the end of January.

Campaigning for President: New York and the American Election: Now through Election Day, visitors to the Museum of the City of New York can explore the key role that New York City has played in elections past. The exhibit features the history of New York politicians in the presidential race, as well as a wide variety of campaign memorabilia, including a coat button from George Washington’s inauguration and a “Robert Kennedy for President” paper dress.

Politics ’08: From now until October 4, the Society of Illustrators presents original art revolving around this year’s presidential election. From caricatures to collages from such publications as Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, and TIME Magazine, this is sure to be a timely and entertaining exhibit.

Drawing Babar: Early Drafts and Watercolors: The Morgan Library on 36th and Madison is now showing over 170 items, including manuscript drafts, sketches, and watercolors, that went into the making of 1931’s Histoire de Babar, le petit elephant, the first book by Jean de Brunhoff to feature the lovable elephant Babar, and 1946’s Babar et ce coquin d'Arthur, the first Babar book by Jean’s son Laurent de Brunhoff. An in-depth look at the development of the adorable Babar, as well as the working methods of his creators, this exhibit will delight both parents and children. "Drawing Babar" runs until January 4.

Frick’s Vermeer’s Reunited: For the first time in nearly ten years, three mainstays of the Frick collection are on display together: Vermeer’s Officer and Laughing Girl, Mistress and Maid, and Girl Interrupted at her Music. Accompanying the paintings is a history of Henry Clay Frick’s interest in the works of Vermeer.

Signs of the Time: This is the first of three exhibits in The Whitney’s Sondra Gilman Gallery to explore the different roles photography has played in the museum’s collection since it began acquiring photographs in 1991. "Signs of the Time" features the work of such photographers as Sam Durant, Gordon Parks, and Sara VanDerBeek.

With something for everyone, there is plenty to explore even on such a rainy day.