“Thucydides Fever Dream” at the Hill Art Foundation, curated by Xin Wang, is maybe the smartest thing you can see in the neighborhood right now. Chinese artists were a literal hot commodity in the days when the word “BRIC” was fashionable among bankers; changing politico-cultural winds have meant that only Ai Weiwei remains as a consistent object of museum interest at this point, as far as I can tell. Full of subtle stories and thoughtful curatorial flourishes, “Thucydides Fever Dream” explores how artists from the U.S. and China influence each other in ways direct and indirect. Ai does in fact cameo here—as a subject in Liu Xiaodong‘s 1993 painting The Heavy Rain (In New York), in which the artist is shown flat on his back with plaster over his face for a John Ahearn cast, back when he lived in New York. But there are many more names and works I felt humbled not to have known. Mark off a few hours, and catch up on some art history!