SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
In the 16th century, thanks largely to Italian artists working at the court of François I, the French came to appreciate bronze for its aesthetic rather than simply utilitarian properties. During the next 300 years, the art of the bronze flourished in France in myriad incarnations, from statuettes to royal monuments. Today, however, the names of most of its leading practitioners are known only to connoisseurs. A case in point is Corneille Van Clève (1645-1732), whose career included serving as Chancellor of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture and creating numerous pieces for Versailles, notably the gilt bronze high altar in the chapel. His “Leda and the Swan,” above, is one of 125 works featured in CAST IN BRONZE: FRENCH SCULPTURE FROM RENAISSANCE TO REVOLUTION, the culmination of a decade-long effort by curators and scholars to shed light on this underappreciated subject. Feb. 24 through May 24 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art; metmuseum.org.

Los Angeles
ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT
The Belles Heures of the Duke of Berry offers a unique opportunity to view one of the finest examples of French medieval manuscript illumination in its unbound form, all of its exquisite details fully accessible to the eye. Commissioned in the early 15th century by one of that era’s greatest patrons of the arts, the book of hours was recently dismantled to allow for restoration and production of a facsimile. The 180 leaves on display contain more than 80 miniature paintings illustrating devotional texts. Through Feb. 8 at the Getty Center; getty.edu.

New York
MASTER CRAFTSMEN
Seeking to sustain its legacy of outstanding craftsmanship, France confers upon its finest artisans the title of maître d’art, recognizing both their expertise and their ability to transmit their knowledge to future generations. Earth and Fire: Master Artisans of France showcases the work of six members of this elite group through 30 one-of-a-kind items, among them a mouth-blown green crystal vase in a design by Ettore Sottsass and an assortment of knives crafted from hand-forged steel and silver, mammoth ivory and precious stones. Also on view are 60 pieces of faience by the Faucon family, whose century-old atelier in Provence closed in 2002. Jan. 14 through Feb. 10 at the French Institute/Alliance Française; fiaf.org.

New York
PARIS/NEW YORK
During the interwar period, when New York was coming into its own in many areas—architecture, music and cuisine, to name a few—it naturally looked to that long-established beacon of sophistication, Paris, for inspiration. The French capital, in turn, saw New York as a center of modernity. Paris/New York: Design Fashion Culture 1925-1940 probes the mutual admiration and rivalry between the two cities through a wide array of items, from menus, photographs and posters to clothing, jewelry and furnishings. Through Feb. 22 at the Museum of the City of New York; mcny.org.

San Francisco
YVES SAINT LAURENT
The late Yves Saint Laurent was a pioneer of modern women’s wear thanks to such emblematic designs as le smoking, the safari jacket and the culotte skirt. His willingness to borrow from the male fashion vocabulary prompted many to view his designs as instruments of female emancipation. Profoundly influenced by the visual arts, Saint Laurent also reinterpreted Impressionism, Pop Art and other movements for the runway. Yves Saint Laurent, a retrospective spanning 40 years, explores the designer’s prolific career through 160 accessorized outfits, along with drawings and videos. Through March 1 at the de Young Museum; famsf.org.

Los Angeles
LANDSCAPE PAINTING
Sur le Motif: Painting in Nature Around 1800 highlights the critical period when European artists began painting outdoors and masters such as Corot elevated landscape from its previous status as a minor genre. The show’s jumping-off point is the work of Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes, who in 1800 wrote a treatise advocating the direct study of nature, a practice that would find its full expression decades later in the Impressionist movement. Through March 8 at the Getty Center; getty.edu.

New York
IRÈNE NÉMIROVSKY
Well-known during her lifetime in her adopted France, the Russian-born Jewish writer Irène Némirovsky gradually faded from public consciousness following her death at Auschwitz in 1942. Her work experienced a dramatic revival of interest in 2004 with the publication of her unfinished novel Suite Française, set in wartime France. Woman of Letters: Irène Némirovsky and Suite Française presents the original handwritten manuscript as well as never before exhibited family photographs and other mementoes. Through March 22 at the Museum of Jewish Heritage; mjhnyc.org.

New York
EUROPEAN PORCELAIN
Royal Porcelain from the Twinight Collection, 1800-1850 focuses on pieces produced by the Sèvres, Berlin and Vienna manufactories at a high point in their artistic and technical development. Addressing both the rivalry and the creative exchange that existed among the three establishments, the exhibition is organized around four major decorative themes: antiquity, flowers, scenic views and historic events. Through April 19 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art; metmuseum.org.

Baltimore
LE ROMAN DE LA ROSE
An allegory of courtly love written in rhyming couplets, Le Roman de la Rose was composed in the 13th century in two stages by two different authors. It became one of the most popular works of the Middle Ages, as evidenced by hundreds of extant manuscripts. Ten widely varied examples are on view in The Romance of the Rose. Jan. 24 through April 19 at the Walters Art Museum; thewalters.org.

Champaign, IL
JEAN LUC MYLAYNE
Between 2004 and 2007, photographer Jean Luc Mylayne spent months at a time hunkered down in the rugged West Texas countryside around Fort Davis, patiently waiting for birds—notably three species of bluebird that migrate through the area—to grow accustomed to his presence so that he could capture them on film without needing a telephoto lens. Trained as a painter, the artist invented 50 special lenses to produce meditative compositions that transcend mere documentation. Jean Luc Mylayne presents about two dozen of these large-format color images. Jan. 30 through April 5 at Krannert Art Museum; kam.uiuc.edu.

New York
BONNARD
Comprising 70 oils, watercolors and drawings, Pierre Bonnard: Still Life and the Late Interiors is the first exhibition devoted exclusively to this part of the artist’s oeuvre. Infused with Mediterranean light and color, the pieces on view date from 1923 to 1947, the year of Bonnard’s death. Many were painted at Le Bosquet, the villa near Cannes that he shared with his wife, Marthe. Jan. 27 through April 29 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art; metmuseum.org.

Pittsburgh
BARBIZON LANDSCAPES
Named after a village near the Forest of Fontainebleau, the Barbizon School of painting favored both a style and a subject matter rooted in real life—naturalistic landscapes and depictions of laboring peasants rather than the idealized imagery and historical scenes that reigned at the Salon. Its practitioners embraced plein air practices decades before the Impressionists set up their easels outdoors. The Road to Impressionism: Barbizon Landscapes from the Walters Art Museum examines the school’s place on the art historical spectrum through works by such artists as Théodore Rousseau, Jean-François Millet and Camille Corot. Feb. 7 through May 3 at the Frick Art & Historical Center; thefrickpittsburgh.org.

West Palm Beach
IMPRESSIONIST LANDSCAPES
Forty French and American paintings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries are displayed in Landscapes from the Age of Impressionism. The exhibit follows the arc of the Impressionist movement, from its origins in the plein air practices of the Barbizon and Realist schools to its full expression in the hands of Monet, Renoir, Sisley and others to its influence on American painters such as George Innes and John Singer Sargent. Feb. 7 through May 10 at the Norton Museum of Art; norton.org.

Baltimore
CIRCUS ART
Opening with vibrant posters by Toulouse-Lautrec and Jules Chéret, A Circus Family: Picasso to Léger brings together some 75 paintings, sculptures and works on paper featuring clowns, acrobats and other performers. These late 19th- and early 20th-century pieces range from celebrations of the circus as spectacle to social commentary to windows onto the lives of entertainers outside the ring. Feb. 22 through May 17 at the Baltimore Museum of Art; artbma.org.

Philadelphia
CÉZANNE AND BEYOND
Cézanne and Beyond explores the evolution of the artist’s career and his still unexhausted influence on generations of artists in France and abroad—Picasso, for one, referred to him as “my one and only master.” To illustrate how Cézanne’s vision informed Cubism and numerous other artistic movements, some 60 of his oils, watercolors and drawings are juxtaposed with dozens of paintings by such diverse artists as Braque, Matisse, Giacometti, Mondrian and Johns. Feb. 26 through May 17 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art; philamuseum.org.

Washington, DC
LOUISE BOURGEOIS
Still evolving as an artist at the age of 97, Louise Bourgeois has remained at the forefront of the contemporary art scene for some 70 years, driven in part by an enduring need to exorcize memories of an unhappy childhood. The most comprehensive retrospective to date of her work, uniting more than 150 paintings, works on paper, installations and sculptures, Louise Bourgeois illustrates the artist’s singular ability to express themes at once personal and universal and to do so in both abstract and figurative modes. Feb. 26 through May 17 at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden; hirshhorn.si.edu.

San Francisco
ARTISTIC LUXURY
Through nearly 300 pieces of jewelry and decorative objects, Artistic Luxury: Fabergé, Tiffany, Lalique compares the styles and techniques of three of the finest designers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The show also explores how these rivals for the most elite of clienteles—royals, celebrities, captains of industry—marketed their creations by presenting them as works of art rather than of craftsmanship. Feb. 7 through May 31 at the Legion of Honor; famsf.org.

Atlanta
LOUVRE ATLANTA
Louvre Atlanta, now in its third and final year, has transformed a wing of the High Museum of Art into an outpost of the venerable French institution. The concluding exhibition, “The Louvre and the Masterpiece,” brings together 91 sculptures, paintings, drawings and decorative items spanning four millennia to explore how taste, connoisseurship and the definition of “masterpiece” have evolved over the ages. Through Sept. 6; louvreatlanta.org.

Stanford
RODIN
The Cantor Arts Center opens its newly expanded Rodin galleries, which allow it to display all of its holdings by the sculptor. Rodin! The Complete Stanford Collection showcases some 200 works in bronze, plaster, ceramic, stone and wax, as well as a rotating selection of works on paper, illustrating the ways in which the artist adapted compositional ideas from one project to the next. The presentation complements the adjacent sculpture garden, home to the largest collection of Rodin bronzes outside Paris. Permanent exhibition opening Feb. 18; museum.stanford.edu.