Miró and Picasso

PAINTING WILL GAIN A NEW PERSPECTIVE FROM THE PAST

By Michael BRENSON

The overwhelming focus of the 1983-84 museum season is painting - not just a random smattering of old and modern masters, although there is, as usual, a cross-section of the old and the new, but a concentrated dose of the kind of painting that can throw into perspective work being done now. By the time the season is over and museumgoers have seen Manet, Gris, Kandinsky, Balthus, de Kooning and the late work of Picasso, as well as Malcolm Morley and the best young Expressionist painters from Germany, contemporary painting will not look the same. The season also has its share of survey shows that will help place modern and contemporary painting in a larger context. The most notable will be those mounted by the Museum of Modern Art, which will become itself a focus of attention as the season wears on. The Modern expects finally to reopen and reveal its larger and more streamlined facilities next May. The first of the survey shows, ''The Modern Drawing,'' runs from Oct. 29 to Jan. 3 and includes 100 drawings from Post-Impressionism through artists like Jasper Johns, whose styles were formed before 1960. When the show ends, the museum will close down. The exhibition marking its reopening, ''An International Survey of Contemporary Painting and Sculpture,'' will attempt to provide an overview of the art of the last five years. The museum has been a muted presence in the artistic life of this city since its building program began in 1980.

New York Times • Arts • page 39 • 1,930 words