National Gallery

LONDON -- The Irish Republican Army set off a fire bomb yesterday inside the National Gallery, one of the world's premier art museums, but none of the institution's priceless paintings was damaged, police reported.The bomb was set off about 3:30 a.m. in the bookshop of the museum's new Sainsbury wing, presumably by a timing device, but it did little damage, according to director Neil MacGregor.The National Gallery was able to open its doors to the public later yesterday, and visitors were able to see the acclaimed renaissance collection above the bookstore and a special showing of the queen's pictures in a gallery below the bomb site, which was just off the street entrance hall.

Again and again - beginning in 1882, when he returned from Paris to his native Provence, until his death there in 1906 - Paul Cezanne painted the brooding form of Mont Sainte Victoire in rhythmic brushstrokes of shimmering intensity. As a young man, his great ambition had been "to make of Impressionism something solid and durable, like the art of the museums." In Provence, he accomplished that goal and, in the process, changed the course of European art. This is the achievement celebrated in Cezanne in Provence, the major retrospective marking the 100th anniversary of the artist's death that opens next year at the National Gallery of Art in Washington.

Washington -- Writing in a 1981 catalog of a Kathe Kollwitz exhibition in Britain, essayist Frank Whitford could state, "Any kind of art with a message is unpopular today." And, he continued, "Most modern art has been concerned with other things and most obviously with problems which have to do with art itself rather than life."How times have changed. In 1992, when art about social issues is all around us, it would seem like an ideal time for a rebirth of interest in Kollwitz, to whose work the plight of a suffering humanity was central.

The place to be this summer is Washington, with all the fabulous exhibitions now in the museums, and those scheduled to open in the near future.The "Olmec Art of Ancient Mexico," opening today and running through Oct. 20 at the National Gallery of Art, promises to be one of the most important shows ever from that part of the world. Several of the pieces have never before left Mexico, and one of the monumental sculptures (15 of which are from Mexico's museums) had to be installed using a crane.

Holiday vacation week might be an ideal time to explore the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. As longtime participants in the art appreciation classes sponsored by Anne Arundel Community College and taught by Betty Knupp, my husband, Bud, and I have studied a variety of European and American art. We usually see them in slides during classes, but at least once each term we view art exhibited in several galleries...

If you're used to the usual museum exhibit, you're in for a mild shock on entering the National Gallery's "Soap Bubbles of Jean-Simeon Chardin." It's natural, when walking into any of a show's galleries, to check quickly, almost without thinking, for the door to the next gallery. Here, you do that -- and you do a double take: There isn't any door except the one you came in.This one-gallery show consists of exactly four paintings and two prints, plus supporting material. Just the opposite of a blockbuster, it is built around one work, Chardin's spellbinding masterpiece "Soap Bubbles" of 1733-1734.

Over the last 40 years, architectural historian William B. O'Neal has amassed a collection of old-master and modern drawings that numbers more than 300 works, which he has given in part and promised in part to the National Gallery of Art. Fifty-eight of them are currently on view in "Drawings From the O'Neal Collection," which makes an appropriate complement to the British watercolor show. Many of Mr. O'Neal's drawings are British, and the two shows contain works by some of the same artists, including Thomas Malton, James Ward, Francis Towne, John Varley, John Sell Cotman and John Ruskin.

Although the notion of artist-as-rebel may be a cliche, English landscape painter John Constable spent an anxious decade desperately trying to gain admission to his country's prestigious Royal Academy. The son of a prosperous gentleman farmer from the provinces, Constable (1776-1837) frankly wanted to make a splash at the academy's annual 10-week exhibition in London. His goal was to marry and support a family - and he was happy to do so on the academy's conservative terms. CONSTABLE'S GREAT LANDSCAPES: THE SIX-FOOT PAINTINGS runs through Dec. 31 at the National Gallery of Art, Fourth Street and Constitution Avenue, Northwest, Washington, 202-737-4215 or nga.gov

New artists -- Artists' Gallery in the American City Building, 10227 Wincopin Circle, Columbia, is sponsoring its first juried show open to artists around the country through March 2. The cooperative gallery, which represents local artists, hopes to extend its scope and attract new members. Michael Skalka of the National Gallery of Art in Washington selected 48 two- and three-dimensional works for the show. An opening reception is planned for 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. today. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday and by appointment.

Juried Show When the Columbia-based Artists' Gallery announced it would hold its first juried show, more than 130 artists from several states sent entries. Juror Michael Skalka, conservation administrator and coordinator of the Art Materials Collection and Study Center at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, chose 48 for the show. They include watercolors, pastels, oils, collages, photography and mixed media. The Artists' Gallery show opens Monday and runs through March 2. The gallery is at the American City Building, 10227 Wincopin Circle in Columbia.