NEW YORK, NY.- When the inaugural edition of October Art Week opens on October 20, sixteen of the Upper East Side’s premier art galleries will be celebrating with special openings. Within an area from East 63rd Street to East 81st Street, art lovers will have the chance to stroll from gallery to gallery, casting their eyes on topnotch Old Master, American and Impressionist paintings, as well as rare sculpture and manuscripts and books.

Here is a guide to some of the outstanding highlights that the 16 galleries want art lovers to focus special attention on:

Andrew Butterfield Fine Arts, specialists in European art, chiefly Renaissance and Baroque sculpture (exhibiting at Dickinson Roundell, Inc.) will unveil a rare marble sculpture, Bust of the Savior by Gian Lorenzo and Pietro Bernini, circa 1615-1616. Perhaps the most precocious sculptor in the history of art, Gian Lorenzo Bernini conceived this bust when he was only about seventeen years old.  Although he carved it in collaboration with his father Pietro, in its subtle yet powerful portrayal of Christ, this early masterpiece displays the first signs of Gian Lorenzo's unequalled genius both as maker of portraits and as an innovator in the interpretation of sacred iconography. 19 East 66th Street

Dickinson Roundell, Inc. aims study on an exquisite oil on canvas by Sir Anthony Van Dyck (1599–1641). Titled The Madonna, Child and St. John, it was executed sometime between 1627 and 1630, and it measures quite large: 44 inches by 58 inches. “It’s a very beautiful example of the artist’s work,” says Simon Dickinson. 19 East 66th Street

Didier Aaron, Inc. calls attention to Bibelot exotique by Belgian artist Alfred Stevens (1823-1906), an oil work the gallery fell in love with many years ago when it was hanging in a Fifth Avenue apartment owned by clients of theirs. “We at Didier Aaron are excited to participate in October Art Week 2016 and for the opportunity to welcome those travelling to New York to attend the first annual TEFAF New York fair. We are pleased to take part in an Upper East Side gallery walk, which serves to highlight the prestigious art community that we have been proud to be a part of for nearly 40 years,” says Alan Salz, gallery director. 32 East 67th Street

Hammer Galleries, In addition to exhibiting Impressionist Masters from its collection like the Renoir “Jeune fille au chapeau fleuri” Hammer will be previewing its upcoming exhibition “Modern Masters – Between the Wars” with rare and early paintings and drawings by Alexander Calder, Marc , Max Ernst, Wassily Kandinsky, Fernand Léger, Henri Matisse, Joan Miró and Pablo Picasso. 32 East 67th Street

Jack Kilgore & Co. has a hard-to-miss highlight: Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, a 4-by-6-foot oil on canvas by Vicente López y Portaña (1772–1850). The artist worked as court painter to King Ferdinand VII, and after Goya, is considered the most prestigious painter in 19th-century Spain. The work remained in an important Spanish collection until 2016 and is of high museum quality. “We look forward to participating in October Art Week because as a private gallery we are seldom open to the public, and it gives us the opportunity to share works of art that we will not have space to exhibit at TEFAF New York,” says Jack Kilgore. 154 East 71st Street, Third Floor

Jill Newhouse Gallery is pulling the veil back on a two-sided work by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. On the obverse is a delicate work titled Traveler in a Wooded Landscape; on the verso is Souvenir. Both are charcoal on paper and are stamped lower left. 4 East 81st Street

Les Enluminures is giving prominence to an extraordinary Italian Book of Hours made in Umbria around 1450. It glows with richly detailed illuminations around the borders and teems with a menagerie of creatures and lively scenes of charming putti. It was once part of the collection of the famous bibliophile Charles William Dyson Perrins, whose manuscripts can be found in renowned institutions such as the British Library, the Getty and the Library of Congress. 23 East 73rd Street, Seventh Floor

Mark Murray Fine Paintings, will present The Storm, a remarkable watercolor by Joseph Mallord William Turner, circa 1823, one of two J.M.W. Turner watercolors featured in his gallery. “This is a replica on a much reduced scale of the large subject titled The Storm (or Shipwreck) in the collection of the British Museum,” says Mark Murray. 159 East 63rd Street

Otto Naumann Ltd. will showcase The Old Man of Castille, an arresting 1907 oil on canvas by Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida (1863–1923) that displays the artist’s signature vigor of execution and his deft handling of light, all the while connecting the viewer to Velázquez, from whom Sorolla learned so much. Says Bria Koser, “It has always been rewarding to collaborate with other galleries for exhibitions or fairs, but we’ve never done something on this scale. It’s the ideal opportunity to join together with Upper East Side galleries to build upon the excitement surrounding TEFAF New York.” 22 East 80th Street, Second Floor

Richard L. Feigen & Co. is shining a spotlight on an early self-portrait by Marc Chagall: Self Portrait with Palette, 1917. It’s just one of the multifarious elements in The Human Image: From Velazquez to Viola, an exhibition that features noteworthy artworks representing what a portrait can be, from the 16th century right up to today. “We are thrilled to be part of October Art Week and believe that Manhattan will be an essential destination for collectors,” says Richard Feigen. 34 East 69th Street

Robert Simon Fine Art is highlighting The Monk, the Novice, and the Maiden, an oil on canvas by Gaspare Traversi (1722-1770), which is part of their exhibition called “Heads Across the Sea: A Selection of European Portraits and Studies.” Says Robert Simon: “Traversi’s exquisite painting presents three figures in an intriguing dramatic triangle. A monk is lecturing a beautiful maiden on moral values while a novice peers out conspiratorially from the background. We are left to provide the backstory for this amorous vignette from everyday life in 18th-century Italy.” 22 East 80th Street, Fourth Floor

Schiller & Bodo wants visitors to focus special attention on Le Bas-Bréau, paysanne dans un sous-bois, an oil on canvas by French artist Narcisse Virgile Díaz de la Peña (1807-1876). Finished in 1856 and an iconic image of the Barbizon School, the monumental painting depicts the Bas-Breau, a desolate area of old growth within the Fontainebleau Forest. The masterwork is an exemplar of what Díaz is best known for: the so-called “sous-bois” painting, showing views of forest interiors in various light conditions. “It is one of the largest canvases painted by the artist and is painted at a scale that almost demands that you enter the space of the painting,” says Lisa Schiller. 4 East 81st Street

Shepherd W & K Galleries want art lovers to in particular heed Log House with Wood Pile, Men Throwing Stones, a newly discovered series of 13 drawings by by Carl Agricola (1799-1852). Executed in 1810 and rendered in brown ink over red chalk on off-white woven paper, the works pre-date, and possibly influenced, the innovation of the Olivier Brothers on landscape drawing after their arrival in Vienna in 1814. 58 East 79th Street

At Taylor | Graham, a large-scale and dynamic work by Sam Francis grabs attention. Signed and dated on the verso, it measures almost five-by-seven feet. “We look forward to being a part of October Art Week because we love to curate an exhibition for both our out-of-town and neighborhood clients. We have wonderful viewing rooms and it is a great enjoyment to put on a display of works that surprise and energize our visitors,” says Abby Taylor. 32 East 67th Street

Among the many tribal pieces Tambaran will showcases is a carved Fang statue from Gabon Africa. 5 East 82nd Street 

Trinity House Paintings will feature Nu Allongé sur le Canapé, a circa 1925 oil on canvas by Henri LeBasque (1865-1937), while Daphne Alzakari will present a selection of European paintings of the 20th and 21st centuries including an oil painting by Jean-Pierre Cassigneul, titled Apres-midi d’ete. Says Ms. Alzakari, “The 80-year old Cassigneul is noted for his mysterious depictions of fabulously dressed women and I think this painting stands out amongst his most accomplished works of recent decades.” 24 East 64th Street