Will Barnet at 100
Located on 5th Avenue, the National Academy Museum, which has recently re-opened after extensive renovations, was founded 185 years ago with the mission to “promote the fine arts in America through instruction and exhibition.” Today, that original mission is realized through the museum, art school, and association of artists and architects that comprise the National Academy Museum and School. “Will Barnet at 100” is the first New York museum retrospective of this artist, who is also one of the Academy’s most distinguished members. The works on view here trace Barnet’s exploration of different styles, from realism in the 1930s to the increasingly abstract work that started in the 1940s. Then the figurative style of the 1960s that continued for over four decades, until 2003 when he returned to abstraction. Barnet continues to conduct workshops and critiques at the National Academy School. This exhibition is on view through December 31.

Latin Icons of the World
Starting this month and continuing through March of 2012, Carnegie Hall’s main stage will host a series of concerts titled “Latin Icons of the World.” The concerts will feature trailblazing artists from three great Latin music traditions. Mexican-American singer and composer Lila Downs is the star of the first concert, which takes place on November 15th. This will be the North American debut of her newest project: “Sins and Miracles.” Known for her smoky voice and magnetic performances, Downs’ work represents a unique exploration of Mexican roots music. She combines folk Mexican rhythms and native dialects with American folk, blues and rock.

Picasso’s Drawings
A remarkable, traveling exhibition of Pablo Picasso’s drawings is on view at The Frick Collection through January 8th, 2012. Pablo Picasso was one of the world’s greatest draftsmen. Drawing was the link that connected his work in a variety of media. This exhibition presents more than sixty drawings spanning the first thirty years of Picasso’s career, from 1890 through the early 1920s. Some of the highlights are: “Study of a torso,” a charcoal and pencil work from 1895; a “Self-Portrait” that combines chalk and watercolor, from late 1901, early 1902; and “Head of a Woman” a pastel on paper created in the summer of 1921.

Asuncion
Twenty-eight-year old Jesse Eisenberg is better known as the Oscar-nominated actor who played the role of Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg in last year’s film “The Social Network.” In late October, Eisenberg made his New York debut as a playwright with the Off Broadway production of “Asuncion” a comedy that he also co-stars in. The play focuses on two friends who live in a small college town in upstate New York and view themselves as open-minded liberals: Edgar (portrayed by Eisenberg), who condemns American imperialism in his blog; and Vinny (played by Justin Bartha), who pursues a PhD in Black Studies. But when Asuncion, a young Filipina woman (played by Camille Mana), becomes their new roommate, their self-perceptions, as well as their assumptions of other people, are challenged. “Asuncion” is directed by Kip Fagan and is scheduled to run at the Cherry Lane Theatre through November 27th.

Lar Lubovitch Dance Company
The internationally renowned Lar Lubovitch Dance Company returns to the Baryshnikov Arts Center with two programs, from November 9th through the 20th. The programs include: “Dvorak Serenade” a lush and sweeping ensemble work “The Legend of Ten” which maps the complex terrain of Brahms’s music, and “Men’s Stories: A Concerto in Ruins” a work in which fragments of personal history seem to gleam within layers of formal dancing.