August-September Highlights

A group of Eqyptian farmers stand beneath a palm tree at the edge of cultivation

The Oriental Institute Museum
“Lost Egypt: Images of a Vanished Past”
Through Tuesday, Sept. 30
10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday through Saturday; 10 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Wednesday; noon to 4 p.m. Sunday.
1155 E. 58th St. 702-9507. Free.
The Epigraphic Survey of the Oriental Institute will display a series of limited edition photographs that recaptures images of the Nile Valley at the turn of the century. The images are from the Survey’s unique archive of over 800 large-format glass plate negatives, which were taken in Egypt between 1880 and 1930, and which provide an extraordinary impression of the land and people of the Nile Valley as they appeared before the onset of the modern era. These views include the ruins of ancient monuments still half-buried beneath the sand, details of carved and painted temple walls, fleets of feluccas on the river, palm groves reflected in flood waters, and formal salon poses and ethnographic portraits of Egyptians and Nubians.

Mark Manders, “Several Drawings on Top of Each Other,” 1990-1992, mixed media

The Renaissance Society
“Mark Manders: Isolated Rooms”
Sunday, Sept. 14 through Sunday, Nov. 2
10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Room 418, Cobb Hall, 5811 S. Ellis Ave. 702-8670. Free.
Amsterdam native Mark Manders’ exhibition, “Isolated Rooms: New Works at the Art Institute of Chicago / The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago,” surveys the history of figurative sculpture, examining what kind of icons human beings make of themselves. Set in sparsely furnished installations containing items such as bricks, coffee cups and bags of sugar, Manders’ pieces portray large, androgynous figures that appear immune to time. There will be an opening reception from 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 14, with an artist’s talk from 5 to 6 p.m.

Robert Arneson, “Model for ‘Splash,’’ 1977

The Smart Museum of Art
“Big Idea: The Maquettes of Robert Arneson”
Through Sunday, Sept. 14
10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
5500 S. Greenwood Ave. 702-0200. Free.
Robert Arneson (1930-1992) reinvented American figurative ceramics by integrating sculpture and painting in his large-scale and often satirical pieces. “Big Idea” is the first exhibition devoted to Arneson’s maquettes—small-scale, three-dimensional sketches in clay. The 75 maquettes, along with related drawings and large-scale sculptures in the exhibition, chronicle Arneson’s evolution as an artist, his freewheeling creativity and his prodigious imagination. A second exhibition, “Material Identity,” features a vibrant but often overlooked aspect of Arneson’s work, such as sketches that reflect the central themes of his sculpture. “Material Identity” runs through Sunday, Sept. 7.

Rockefeller Memorial Chapel
Carillonathon
6 p.m. Sundays, Aug. 17 and Aug. 24
5850 S. Woodlawn Ave. 702-7059. Free.
To conclude the summer Carillonathon festival at Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, Anna-Maria Reverté i Casas of Barcelona, Spain, will play a recital Sunday, Aug. 17.The University’s Jim Fackenthal will close the series with a concert Sunday, Aug. 24. Those who wish to climb the 244 stairs to tour the carillon tower should meet at the base of the tower at 5:30 p.m.