Pakistani fashion designer

SARGENT AND ITALY

OPENS FEB. 2. From the late 1800s John Singer Sargent made his name rendering portraits of high-society patrons, but the Italian-born American often returned to his birthplace to paint peasants, friends, and family in exotic dress. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., 323-857-6000.

FEBRUARY TOP TEN

1 LUCIAN FREUD

OPENS FEB. 9. Oils, watercolors, and charcoal drawings examine the realist painter's personal relationships and ever-bolder brush strokes in his largest retrospective. (The Forum Gallery enters the picture on Feb. 28 with Lucian Freud: Works on Paper.) MOCA AT CALIFORNIA PLAZA: 250 S. Grand Ave., 213-626-6222. FORUM GALLERY: 8069 Beverly Blvd., 323-655-1550.

2 MAVIS STAPLES AND HER BAND

FEB. 4. The gospel mavens, along with the Blind Boys of Alabama and Clarence Fountain, will take you there. At 8. Tickets, $45-$55. Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts, 12700 Center Court Dr., Cerritos, 800-300-4345.

3 KRONOS QUARTET

FEB. 15. The foursome celebrates its 30th anniversary with Steve Reich's Pendulum Music from 1968, John Zorn's Cat o' Nine Tails from 1988, and Sigur Ros's 21st-century soundscape Svefn-g-englar. At 8. Tickets, $15-$40. Royce Hall, UCLA, Westwood, 310-825-2101.

4 11TH ANNUAL "A NIGHT AT SARDI'S"

FEB. 26. There ain't no words for the beauty, the splendor, the wonder, of the Frasier cast and Bruce Vilanch warbling hits from Hair. Emcee Jason Alexander joins Leeza Gibbons in "Let the Sunshine In." (Proceeds benefit Alzheimer's Association.) At 6. Tickets, $300-$500. Beverly Hilton Hotel, 9876 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, 310-996-1188.

5 UNDER CONSTRUCTION: THE ARCHITECTURE OF MARMOL RADZINER + ASSOCIATES

OPENS JAN. 28. Models, photographs, and drawings document the growth of the Santa Monica-based architecture firm, which built its reputation by restoring Richard Neutra's Kaufmann House (above) in Palm Springs, transforming a warehouse into TBWA/Chiat/Day's San Francisco offices, and designing pretty cool furniture. University Art Museum, Cal State Long Beach, 562-985-5761.

6 LES BALLETS TROCKADERO DE MONTE CARLO

FEB. 1. For 28 years running (and a-leaping), Ida Nevasayneva and the other cross-dressing Trocks have satirized choreographers from Petipa to Balanchine. At 8. Tickets, $12-$28. Marsee Auditorium, El Camino College, Torrance, 800-832-ARTS.

7 WORDS IN THE WORLD

FEB. 2 AND 23. Literary Hollywood finds a home when Michael Ondaatje (The English Patient) and Michelle Huneven (Round Rock) trade stories (Feb. 2) and Michael Tolkin (The Player) and Mary Woronov (Eating Raoul) dish (Feb. 23). At 2. Tickets, $6-$8. Richard J. Riordan Public Library, 630 W. 5th St., 213-228-7025.

8 WILD WHEELS: ART FOR THE ROAD

OPENS FEB. 8. Outsider art gets positive traction in the pop world when the Petersen displays a dozen-plus cars bedecked with mirrors, beads, and bizarre bodywork. Petersen Automotive Museum, 6060 Wilshire Blvd., 323-964-6356.

9 THE PHYSICS OF STAR TREK

FEB. 26. You mean tricorders really work? Physics professor Lawrence Krauss gives the coordinates along with science bloopers from the show. At 8. Admission, free. Beckman Auditorium, Caltech, Pasadena, 888-2CALTECH.

10 SAUL BASS: DESIGNER

OPENS FEB. 20. Drawings, videos, and posters illustrate the late designer's influence on advertising (remember those AT&T and Exxon logos?) and cinema (how about the title sequences for Psycho and Vertigo?). Hollywood Entertainment Museum, 7021 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, 323-465-7900.