The retrospective of paintings by Pierre Bonnard at the Museum of Modern Art is an event of such magnitude that it is nearly pointless to discuss other exhibitions concurrently on view in New York. An exaggeration? Yes, but just a bit. “Pierre Bonnard” not only confirms Bonnard’s eminence, but it also amplifies it in a way that changes the shape of art in this century. (Did someone at the Times say that he was the equal of Picasso and Matisse? If so, they weren’t kidding.) There are, of course, other shows around the city, and if none of the four discussed below offers delights on a scale with those of the French master, they do have their pleasures—and, in one case, annoyances. Three of the exhibitions seek to expand our view of art history and end up affirming the legitimacy of the established view. The fourth—“Aleksandr Rodchenko,” also at MOMA—presents a no-nonsense genius in a manner that elucidates our understanding of the modernist epoch. Few artists approach the sublimity that we see in the final galleries of “Pierre Bonnard.” But to deny those who achieve something authentic, if on a more modest scale, is to miss out on a richness that is part of art’s lifeblood.

“Judith Rothschild: An Artist’s Search”— at the Metropolitan Museum of Art until September 6—consists of only thirty-one paintings, but it isn’t skimpy. It’s the kind of prudently gauged retrospective we should wish upon those artists who may not be masters, but