Critics' picks - visual arts

FAITH RINGGOLD: STORY QUILTS Five narrative story quilts and related works on paper, as well as a jaunty sculpture made from fabric, show off the open-hearted but slyly witty side of this renowned African-American artist. The show complements a display of original illustrations from "Aunt Harriet's Underground Railway in the Sky" in an upstairs space dedicated to children, two superb series of prints by Jacob Lawrence (through Jan. 4), and a room dedicated to sculpture from the studio of Meta Warwick Fuller (through May 17), an African-American sculptor who studied with Rodin. Through March 1. Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham. 508-620-0050, www.danforthmuseum.org

INVISIBLE RAYS: THE SURREALISM LEGACY Fans of Surrealism can see work by Salvador Dalí, Giorgio de Chirico, Max Ernst, René Magritte, Joan Miró, and Yves Tanguy, among others, in this fun and boldly conceived show. Following the lead of Marcel Duchamp, who designed the International Surrealism Exhibition in Paris in 1938, Rose Art Museum director Michael Rush has turned down the lights and offered flashlights to visitors. Through Dec. 14. Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham. 781-736-3434, www.brandeis.edu/rose

TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH, PAINTING THE POLAR LANDSCAPE A survey of painting made during the golden age of polar exploration - the late 18th century through the early 20th - this show includes some of the most mysterious and haunting paintings ever made, by artists such as Frederic Edwin Church, William Bradford, and David Abbey Paige. Through March 1. Peabody Essex Museum, Salem. 978-745-9500, www.pem.org

THE TRIUMPH OF MARRIAGE: PAINTED CASSONI OF THE RENAISSANCE A splendid show of cassoni - narrative paintings painted for wedding chests - from the Renaissance in 15th-century Tuscany. Their subjects are sometimes arcane but always fascinating allegories from classical history, myth, and sometimes contemporary events. Through Jan. 18. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. 617-566-1401, www.gardnermuseum.org

SEBASTIAN SMEE