Latin Lands: NYC Events Evocative of Spain, Italy & Other Cultures

By Troy Segal

We don’t know if Latins make the best lovers, but they certainly know how to live, as these autumnal talks, demonstrations, and activities — which celebrate different aspects of the warm-climated, warm-blooded lands — demonstrate.

Master Artist: 2014 marks the 400 anniversary of El Greco’s death, which may be why lectures celebrating the ahead-of-his-time artist are everywhere this autumn. On Sept. 17, a Blanton Museum of Art curator discusses Vincenzo Anastagi, a rare early portrait of the Spanish-based master’s that was especially dear to collector Henry Frick, at The Frick Collection … A two-part lecture at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Nov. 13 & 20, analyzes the artist’s overall career, positioning El Greco as a forerunner to Modernism … also at the Met: a close look at all the paintings in the museum’s considerable El Greco collection, Dec. 4.

Photo: Guillermo Monteleone

Song & Dance: It takes two to tango — and you both can learn how, in this Oct. 3 master class sponsored by the Joyce Theater … Book Eight (Songs of Love and War) of the dramatic madrigals of Monteverdi, the Italian composer whose work marked the transition from Renaissance to Baroque music, is being performed by the Boston Early Music Festival ensembles on Oct. 10; there’s also a pre-concert talk, within the elegant confines of the Morgan Library & Museum.

Culinary Creations: Some cognoscenti claim all the foundations of haute cuisine stem not from France, but from Italy — after all, the Romans were holding banquets while the Gauls were huddling in mud huts. Upholding the best traditions of Italian cucina, along with some innovative spins, is chef Massimo Bottura of Italy’s famed Osteria Francescana — and he’s in town to talk about his first cookbook, Never Trust a Skinny Italian Chef, Oct. 14 … Closer to home, on Nov. 11, the three young restaurateurs behind several Greenwich Village establishments do a cooking demo, whipping up dishes described in their new tome, Downtown Italian … Too often in Spain’s shadow, the cuisine of Portugal also holds its own special delights, and chef/owner George Mendes of the acclaimed local eatery Aldea stands ready to share some recipes, Nov. 3. All three events are at the 92nd Street Y.

Fashion plate: The life of 1930s couturier Elsa Schiaparelli was as offbeat and original as her fashions, which in prestige and desirability rivaled those of Coco Chanel (who called her “that Italian artist who makes clothes”). Biographer Meryle Secrest relates the scandalous stories behind the stitches, Oct. 14, at the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology.