American Street photographer Simpson Kalisher is celebrated in a small exhibition, Simpson Kalisher: The Alienated Photographer, on view through September 18, 2011 at the MFA Boston. Kalisher’s no-nonsense street scenes capture the spirit of 1950s/60s New York City. In 2009, the MFA received a gift from Kalisher supporter Gloria Richards of 100 photographs. 59 of these works make up the current exhibition, a selection that is at once “instantly familiar” and capable of inspiring a thousand questions.

A few more of Kalisher’s photographs follow after the jump.

“November 20, 2010 – February 13, 2011 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. In this groundbreaking exhibition, contemporary Chinese ink painters engage in dialogue with classical artworks from China’s past. At the core of this exhibition’s concept is an artist-in-residency program. Leading artists from China and the Chinese diaspora have come to Boston to study the MFA’s superb collection of Chinese art, allowing them to create new works in direct response to the Museum’s permanent collection. In the exhibition, the new works and the masterpieces they refer to will be juxtaposed in the new Gund Gallery—the ancient will historicize the contemporary, while the contemporary will revitalize the ancient. In this video, curator Hao Sheng provides an introduction to the exhibition.”

Opening today at MFA Boston, Avedon Fashion 1944-2000.

Richard Avedon was one of the greatest image-makers of the twentieth century. He revolutionized fashion photography with his imaginative, spirited portrayals of the “good life” showing beautiful women wearing extraordinary clothes in irresistible settings, as well as memorable portrayals that are both elegant and reserved. The upbeat spirit and innovative design of his compositions caught the eye of editors and art directors at Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue—the primary magazines for which he worked—while his vision of the modern American woman, one of wit, individuality, and fast-lane glamour, captivated the public. His enormous success defined the role of the high-profile fashion photographer that we know today, and many of his images have become icons of photographic history.

Avedon’s career as a fashion photographer is displayed decade by decade in this exceptional traveling exhibition from the International Center of Photography in New York, the first comprehensive survey of Avedon’s fashion photography since 1978.

The exhibition runs until January 17, 2010.

On view through January 2, 2011, Under the Skin: Tattoos in Japanese Prints at the MFA Boston connects 19th-century Japanese tattoo traditions to the prints that inspired and spread through print.

About the exhibition -

Tattooing became an important feature of Japanese urban popular culture in the early 19th century, influenced strongly by the success of a series of woodblock prints featuring Chinese martial arts heroes with spectacular tattoos, vividly imagined by the artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi. Tattoo artists copied designs from the prints and invented new designs that were, in turn, depicted in later prints. “Under the Skin: Tattoos in Japanese Prints” explores the social background, iconography, and visual splendor of Japanese tattoos through the prints that helped carry the art from the streets of 19th-century Japan to 21st-century tattoo shops all over the world.