Five opening shows of riches

While the four sections define distinctive design philosophies, the transitions from one to another, not formally demarcated, are nearly seamless. This suggests that effective design based on creative imagination rather than commercial concerns usually transcends its zeitgeist.

In this single show, visitors can range from the eloquent art deco furniture of Jacques-Émile Ruhlmann through the clean functionality of Scandinavian furniture by Alvar Aalto through the spunkiness of Italian innovators such as Ettore Sottsass Jr. to the postmodern cheekiness of Robert Venturi.

Famous architects such as Marcel Breuer and Eero Saarinen bump shoulders with designers such as Donald Deskey, Russel Wright and George Nelson, of "marshmallow sofa" fame. This exhibition is continuous enjoyment, especially for anyone old enough to remember when the more radical designs were introduced.

Perelman has one more delightful surprise, a selection of items from the museum's library and archives. Rare and perhaps unique among American art museums, the library dates from the Art Museum's founding as the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art in 1876, so it contains a lot of donated books and manuscripts from the 19th century and earlier.

The library and archive also has benefited enormously from moving to Perelman. With four times more space, it can invite the public in to use its extensive resources, including what must be the most comprehensive selection of art periodicals in the city.

To show off what has heretofore been hidden, the library has organized a three-part exhibition of representive books and archival materials that will run sequentially through the coming year. The first part, like all the inaugural shows, will be on view through February.

The first installment, called "From the Renaissance to the Surreal," covers the museum's history from 1876 to 1928, when it moved from Memorial Hall in Fairmount Park to its current neoclassical temple on Eakins Oval.

Some of the books and documents on view relate to art and design, while others are more peripheral to those disciplines or provide examples of the bookmaker's craft. The display includes pattern books, samples of splendiferous Indian textiles, a "genealogy of the gods" by Giovanni Boccaccio, a tiny and rare History of Little Goody Two-Shoes published in 1771, and a delightful group of embroideries on paper, so refined they look like watercolors - and done by a man, yet.

Just about every item in this display is fascinating in some way, from a minuscule book of engravings (views of Paris) not much larger than a postage stamp to a German book about witches to a volume designed by the children of Louis Comfort Tiffany that commemorates all his designs - everything, that is, except his lamps. Apparently in 1914, when this book was compiled, the lamps weren't considered sufficiently important to mention.

Five exhibitions is a lot to absorb in one visit, but the inaugural program makes a point - that the Perelman building is a small museum in itself that's easy to navigate. The galleries are comfortably scaled, the atmosphere is relaxed, and the quality of the art on view makes every one of these shows "special."