In conjunction with the completion of major construction and renovation, the Morris Museum has opened a new wing and several new galleries. The largest of those galleries on the second level promenade of the Museum Court features the exhibition ⁓culpture by Sassona Norton and From The Collections of the Morris Museum,†on view through May.

An eye-dazzler of an event, the Wilton show has evolved over the years, presenting its well established offering of prime country wares from some of the top Americana dealers in the country, alongside Orientalia, Arts and Crafts, Modernist art and couture.

The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) Museum presents ⁁n American Idyll,†on view through next April.

The top lot at Swann Galleries†December 6 auction of maps and atlases, natural history, historical prints and ephemera was Le Neptune François, ou Atlas Nouveau des Cartes Marines, bound with the second part, Cartes Marines à l⁕sage des Armées du Roy de la Grande Bretagne, hand colored and with gilt highlights, first edition, Amsterdam, 1693, in contemporary binding. It brought an auction record price of $96,000.

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) announces the acquisition of the painting ⁐arts Per Trillion,†1987, by American artist Ed Ruscha.

An ongoing exhibition at the Morgan Library and Museum highlights masterworks from four of the Morgan⁳ six collecting areas †medieval and Renaissance manuscripts, printed books and bindings, literary and historical manuscripts and museum manuscripts and books.

From the very beginning, man has always sought ways to improve the wheel. And, like the wheel, nearly every object created has evolved from its initial concept through a continuum of refinement. Most often dictated by use, function and taste, they are presided over by artists, artisans and designers. By the early decades of the Twentieth Century, manufacturers wanting to popularize their products turned to a new group of designers who incorporated market research and the emerging science of human factors in their quest to produce the perfect combination of style and functionality. Providing a platform for the new, sleek, worldly goods, the 1925 Exposition Internationale des arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris and other expositions were widely received, whetting the American appetite for the modern. At the forefront of the stylish Modern movement in America was French-born Raymond Fernand Loewy (1893-1986), who successfully tapped into the nascent American fascination with industrial design. Celebrating the period and Loewy⁳ achievements is the exhibition ⁒aymond Loewy: Designs for a Consumer Culture†on view at the National Heritage Museum in Lexington, Mass., through March 23.

James D. Julia⁳ November 13 toy and doll auction realized more than $630,000. Of the many fresh-to-the-market rarities, it was the collection of salesman sample furniture from the Beverly Darling estate †20 lots never before offered at auction †that was among the more fascinating.

Selling for a hot $16.6 million, Joan Miro⁳ iconic ⁂lue Star†painting was a shining star at Aguttes Auction House, in association with the specialist Dan Coissard, which set new records December 21 with ten key pieces from the illustrious private collection of André Lefèvre that realized more than $30 million.

The November 4 auction at I.M. Chait was the kind of sale that keeps collectors buzzing, with highly anticipated collections of monumental ivory carvings, Japanese bronzes and woodblock prints, white jade carvings, pre-Columbian figures, Russian and American paintings and magnificent jewels on the block.