My 2007 top ten list

1.) Diebenkorn in New Mexico at the San Jose Museum of Art. Small, focused shows seem to be out of vogue. This show demonstrates how they can be great. (More coming on MAN about this show later this month.) Show. Catalogue.

2.) Olafur Eliasson at SFMOMA. Uh, cool. (More coming on MAN about this show later this month.) Show. Catalogue.

3.) Robert Rauschenberg: Cardboards and Related Pieces at the Menil. What was that about focused shows, again? This was not a show for the masses. It was a very specific, occasionally challenging show. Good for that. Catalogue. MAN part one, MAN part two.

4.) Magritte and Contemporary Art: The Treachery of Images at LACMA. This was a show for the masses... but it was still focused and occasionally challenging. Good for that. Show. Catalogue. MAN I, II, III, IV, V.

5.) The Nelson-Atkins' new Bloch Building. Pilgrimage required. MAN building roundup.

6.) Ensemble at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia. Along with the Eliasson show in SF, Ensemble put the fun in contemporary art. Show. Catalogue.

7.) Jason Gubbiotti at Hemphill Fine Arts. The best commercial gallery painting show I saw all year. A smart, beautiful show that built on the artist's interest in 1970s-80s abstract painting. Show. MAN.

8.) Van Gogh and Expressionism at the Neue Galerie. Small, focused, tight... sound familiar? Catalogue.

9.) WACK! at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. There might not have been more than one legit 'masterpiece' in this entire show, but that was OK. This was art as part of our shared history. Show. Catalogue.

10) Uh... ok, top nine. There's a real gap between No. 9 and those below.

Honorable mention: Animated Painting at SDMA, Pisarro at Baltimore, Irwin at MCASD, Puryear at MoMA, Serra at MoMA, Morris Louis at the Hirshhorn, Klimt at the Neue Galerie.